7DaysinParadise
Travel => Adults Only Resorts => Topic started by: flopnfly on July 14, 2011, 10:18:45 AM
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Isla Mujeres Palace - Mexico
We are finally here. After getting our flight times wrong, and then realizing that they they changed the departure gates and didn't announce it we finally made it to our destination.
Cancun airport was a breeze, it wasn't busy at all, and we picked up our bags and headed out to our private taxi to the ferry terminal. Our Air Canada rep escorted us all the way to the resort from the airport even though there was only the two of us.
The ferry ride was a short 20 minutes across beautiful blue water.
First impressions of Isla Mujeres was breathtaking beauty. The beautiful waters and white sand, and then there it was as we pulled into the dock......Senor Frogs :ROFL: :ROFL: The typical tourist trap.
A short taxi ride to the resort and we are here.
The Palace resorts give you a $1500 credit that can be used for excursions, diving, spa treatments etc.
We used part of ours to upgrade to an ocean front room. All of the rooms at this hotel are the same, the only difference being the view.
The room has a king bed, flat screen TV, mini bar with premium brands including wine, a giant jacuzzi in the middle of the room, and complimentary in room safe which is big enough to hold a 15" laptop.
More to come............
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Lovin' the updates already :thumbsup:
Good to hear you have arrived safely and the journey over went well. A $1500 credit on arrival that you can spend on diving, that's brilliant.
The burning, predictable question from me.....any sign of the 'you know whats' ?
Keeps the updates coming, I will be stalking 7 days this week for news.
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Hi Heather and JC
I am really...really happy that you made your flight on time! The only thing I kept thinking about was JC leaving a bag at the house! Have a great time and make sure you use all of the resort credit up. Is there any way that they will include you in the big concert this weekend, I believe it is at one of the other Palace resorts?
Cheers
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: It all sounds so wonderful!(except the unannounced gate change that is!) Thanks for posting Heather. $1500 credit :shock: Sounds good to me!
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: It all sounds so wonderful!(except the unannounced gate change that is!) Thanks for posting Heather. $1500 credit :shock: Sounds good to me!
Yeah, that $1500 is absolutely unheard of. It's mind-boggling. Thanks for updating us and we look forward to more details. Have a blast. TC :grin:
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just a quick update before dinner.
Yesterday we toured the island by boat, stopping for snorkelling etc, and today we went to see our friends.
We got on the boat this morning at 8:30, drove out about 20 miles off shore and then we got word that the sharks had been spotted. :grin: :b:
It was such an amazing sight to see, these big gentle giants just swimming around minding their own business and doing what they came to do. Eat.
There were about 150 of them in the water, and we jumped in and swam around with them. Sometimes it was hard to avoid them. One moment I turned around and the big mouth was open and about a foot away from me.
I can't even begin to describe the feeling of sharing the water with these gentle creatures, and then as I tried to get away from one of the big ones I looked down and a manta was swimming about 4 feet below me, and then another and another.
So incredible.
It's been a long day but one I will always remember. We're going back out again, :jump: :jump:
But first it's dinner and then some sleep.
John has tons of photos and we'll post some as soon as we can upload them.
Wish you guys were all here to share in this incredible experience.
..H & JC
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Wow Heather, it sounds wonderful. Would love to see pictures of the resort and your room.
Have a great time.
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Wwwoooooooowwwwww !!!! Wwwoooooooowwwwww !!!! Wwwoooooooowwwwww !!!!
What an absolute incredible day for you both, I know it's beyond words to describe that incredible unique experience you have shared........fantastic! How lovely to be able to share such an up close experience with so many Whalesharks, and then on top of that.....have magnificent Mantas join you (my fav)......Heaven on Earth, there is no feeling like it.
I have a million questions for you which I will wait to your home and then pick your brains then...lol.
Glad to hear that everything has fallen in place for you both and you have managed to share some magical time with Spotties and Mantas..... :b:
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Wish you guys were all here to share in this incredible experience.
Maybe one year we could all hook up for a dive trip here ?
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Heres a few pictures to wet your appetites until we can get the rest up. Enjoy
(http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/d/47633-2/IMG_0140.JPG)
(http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/d/47637-1/IMG_0154.JPG)
(http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/d/47640-1/IMG_0177.JPG)
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Fantastic pictures, how very exciting.
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To quote Wos: wwwwoooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!!!!! wwwwoooooooooooowwwwww! wwwwwwoooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww! is right
sounds so friggin amazing I think I'm going to crap myself!!!! 1500 credit? Really? That is unbelievable! How awesome
Heather, Im getting a visual of you getting swallowed whole LOL. Have to rename the book Spotty Dick :ROFL:
I cannot wait to see more and more and more pics!!!!!!!!!!!
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I'm back at work today, but hopefully John is sorting through the photos.
The sharks were on average about 25 feet long, some bigger and a couple were smaller.
We used up most of our $1500 credit, but we ran out of time.
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Glad to hear you had a good time!!!
Can't wait to see the pics!
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Great to hear you had such a fantastic time. Looking fowards to hear how it went and the photos.
Did you manage to do any diving with the whalesharks or was it snorkeling only ?. I know whalesharks are pelagic feeders so the majority of the time are at the surface. The noise from breathing underwater can unsettle the whalesharks, but I am interested to know if they allow SCUBA at the time they are feeding.
How often did they do trips out to the Spotties ? Did they give you a limited time with them ? Was the area flooded with boats and divers ? Did you need to book boat spaces in advance of getting out there ? Did you do any diving away from the Spotties, reef diving etc.....if so, any good, expensive ? Better / Worse than say, Cozumel ?
Were there many dive ops out there that were running trips out to the Whalesharks ? I am guessing the boats inflate prices due to the short window of oppurtunity ?
Apologies for the interagation...lol...but we have ways of making you talk Mr bond!
I am seriously considering going out there for the same week possibly next year. I am diving in the Maldives in March 2012, diving Galapagos for almost 3 weeks late June 2012, so trying to work it in for July 2012 but running out of holiday leave already....definately 2013 if I can't squeeze it in for 2012.
From the UK, the minimum package is 14 nights due to the distance, so I will book through a Canadian agent and fly into Toronto, and then fly out to Mexico from Pearson for 7 nights. I would be grateful if you could point me in a direction of an agent, I normally book via yourtraveltickets.com if I am flying out of Pearson.
Here is a picture that was taken by a diver last week whilst in Isla Mujeres, just looks incredible.
(http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu66/PacificState808/whale-shark1.jpg)
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just working on pics, I'll have them up by the end of the weekend.
Did you manage to do any diving with the whalesharks or was it snorkeling only ?. I know whalesharks are pelagic feeders so the majority of the time are at the surface. The noise from breathing underwater can unsettle the whalesharks, but I am interested to know if they allow SCUBA at the time they are feeding.
no, they don't allow SCUBA unfortunately, it would have been a bit easier rather than bobbing around on the surface snorkling, but luckily we had a relatively calm day so it was a good day to snorkle. They don't allow strobes with camera's either, however looking at some of the pro pics they have full gear so that may be a bit of a misnomer.
How often did they do trips out to the Spotties ? Did they give you a limited time with them ? Was the area flooded with boats and divers ? Did you need to book boat spaces in advance of getting out there ?
they have daily trips out there, from what we were told, all of the tour companies *must* be certified by the government to be able to run tours out to the whale sharks, the whole process is overseen by the navy and each boat is only allowed 10 people on it at a time, and only 2 people in the water with the guide from each boat. There were alot of boats out there but with the limitation on the amount of people in the water it wasn't bad. You have to arrange in advance with the tour companies, we booked our trip a day before. we used a company called happy tours. All of the legit companies also pool together to have a plane in the air in the morning looking for the spotties, and then it gets radioed in to the boats who then converge on the spot.
Did you do any diving away from the Spotties, reef diving etc.....if so, any good, expensive ? Better / Worse than say, Cozumel ?
no diving this trip, however we did speak with a guy in town who runs a dive op and it sounds like diving would be pretty good, they have wrecks, reefs, and there is a current there.
Were there many dive ops out there that were running trips out to the Whalesharks ? I am guessing the boats inflate prices due to the short window of oppurtunity ?
there were alot in town and one right beside our resort. the going rate is $130 per person, but the non legit companies were charging about $85 per person.
with it being a s dry it had been, the plankton was all on the surface of the ocean, so the spotties were all up top, but when it rains it drives the plankton down, and consequently the spotties, so it's something to watch for when you are booking your trip
as for an agent, i would HIGHLY recommend the fantastic agent that we used... oh Fred ??
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ok, here are the whale shark pics.
http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/v/Diving-and-Snorkelling/WhaleSharks/
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Great Photos !!! I wish I coulda been there!!!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Brilliant information JC, thank-you so much for taking the time to answer my 101 questions.
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Congrats JC & Heather, lovely photos, well worth the wait. Hard to capture such swift moving creatures in the ocean but the new camera has worked well.
My favourite photo is of the manta swimming away from you and you have captured it perfectly with its white wing tips really striking.
What an incredible experience.