April 9-13, Steph, Leah, Steph's best friend Thea, and I went on a girls' trip to Cozumel, Mexico. The journey for them coming from Denver was pretty straightforward. They had layovers in Houston, but then could fly directly into the airport on the island of Cozumel. For me coming from Santiago, it was a bit more complicated. For whatever reason, it was stupid expensive to fly into Cozumel. But, I could fly into Cancun, and it wasn't too bad. So, I flew on Copa Airlines 7 hours from Santiago to Panama City (same flight we had just taken to get to Costa Rica a few weeks before), and then from Panama City to Cancun, which was only 2.5 hours. From the Cancun Airport, I took a $15 bus to the bus depot in Playa del Carmen which was two blocks from the ferry terminal. From Playa del Carmen, there are ferries that run every 30 min to the island of Cozumel, $18 one way. So it extended the trip by a few hours, but it saved probably $1,000 in flight costs. And I felt completely safe 100% of the time, even as a blonde lady traveling alone. Granted, I had researched the steps I would be taking, so I knew exactly where to go, and what each step would cost. So I knew I wasn't being scammed. All in all, the trip to Cozumel was very smooth for me. I even splurged a bit by spending some credit card points to upgrade my flights to business class. This was particularly because the flights between Santiago and Panama City were overnight flights, and I wanted to try to get some semblance of sleep, especially since I had no kids to keep an eye on.
The beach in Playa del Carmen right next to the ferry terminal. Look at that water!
My ferry to Cozumel!
We stayed at an All-Inclusive called Fiesta Americana. I had never stayed at an all-inclusive before, and it was certainly nice to do for a girls trip. No cooking, no grocery shopping. Coffees every day that I was able to drink in one sitting. Breakfast had an omelette station, a taco station with handmade tortillas, and a smoothie bar. Not too shabby. They had both pools and an oceanfront area where you could snorkel, which we did one day. Lots of pretty reef fish. And we saw two sting rays cruising around.
I tried to eat as much guacamole as possible, which was easy to do. Nothing beats Mexican guac. I appreciate how much Chileans love avocados, but most of the time they just add it to things, burgers, hotdogs, toast, etc., and they don't flavor it at all. Let's add a little spice people! We had some salsa verdes on this trip that were no joke. Definitely nice to be in the land of picante again.
It was also nice to have some uninterrupted beach and pool time, where the only needs I had to worry about were my own. My sunscreen. My water bottle. My beach towel. My snacks. My sandiness. And that's it. Very refreshing.
We even got to sit and watch an entire tennis match from start to finish! I can't tell you the last time I've had the space to do that.
We definitely picked a good time of year to go. The place was pretty empty, as we went post Easter. So no spring break crowds. We didn't have to fight anyone for a lounge chairs or dinner reservations. If you're single and ready to mingle, it probably would have been a bit disappointing, as most of our cohorts were older folks without school calendars to live by. But for us, it was perfect.
On our last full day, we decided to be adventurous and rented some bikes to ride into town and check out the northwestern side of the island. We made it there with no problems. On the way home though, Thea's bike pedal and crank arm (had to look that up), came loose and literally fell off. It wasn't broken, it just needed to be tightened properly with a wrench. The bikes we were riding were brand new, and it was like someone took them out of the box and said good to go, without testing anything. So we were the guinea pigs for sure, and the result was us waiting in town for 30 min for some guy to show up on a scooter with the tool we needed. We made it home, eventually, and now we have a good story to laugh about. Adventure's out there!
The last night, the hotel had karaoke, so Leah and I took full advantage. There were like 3 other people there, so nothing to be shy about. We sang probably a dozen songs. Some worked, some did not! But now we're seasoned pros, ready for the real thing!
While we were relaxing kid free, Drew took the boys to Playa Matanzas which is about 3 hours southeast of Santiago to car camp at the beach. He went with two other families, dads and kids only, and it looks like they had a blast. Thanks babe for watching the boys so I could take this trip. Very needed and very appreciated.
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