Monday, March 28, 2011

Dreamy Cabo San Lucas!! (Feb 17)

I now get the magic of Cabo San Lucas. What a beautiful port. We knew we wanted to snorkel. We knew the names Lovers' Beach, the Arch, and Pelican Beach. We learned as we arrived in port that a basic water taxi should cost about $2, and if we wanted to use a beach at a hotel, there was one available.
But first we had to "tender" into port. The harbor at Cabo is not large enough or deep enough for a cruise ship. So the ships stop out a bit and we all ride small boats into port. We did this in Belize and the boats were provided by the port. This time the tender boats were actually the ship's life boats. Probably cheaper for the cruise line. We weren't in a rip roaring hurry, so we had breakfast in the dining room. I love breakfast in the dining room. Then we went and gathered our snorkel gear and changed into suits for the day. We had to get our tender ticket in the Queen's Lounge. I was afraid there might be a line for the boats but by the time we were ready the rush was over. It was about a 5 minute ride to the port. Once there we talked with a cruise assistant guy who explained about the water taxis and where to go and what to see band about how much to expect to pay. Because of him, we were able to make an informed decision when we were bombarded with water taxi guys. We decided to not go to the hotel, just hired a glass bottom boat. 100_0822The driver took us out and around Pelican Point,

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past Lovers' Beach 100_0823and out to The Arch. 100_0830Pretty spectacular. Lots of pelicans and sea lions. 100_0834

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The water around the point on the Pacific Ocean side is much wilder.100_0836

 

 

 

 

 

We had him drop is off at Pelican Beach, for the best snorkeling. 100_0837There we're quite a few people there, but not as many as at Lovers' Beach. We were helped out of the boat by a man who offered to watch our stuff, we could use his radio if we decided we wanted to be picked up earlier or later than what we arranged with our driver. Of course he wanted a tip right on the spot. I told him he’d have to wait till the end of our beach time, that he hadn’t done much yet. We move our things done to the other end of the beach—fewer people, a rock on which to put everything.

Frank and Dinah got right in.100_0842

100_0838This water was a bit warmer than Puerto Vallerta, but still took a minute for me to get in the proper mind set. Happily, the sun was much warmer on this day.

Caleb did much better with getting in the water from the beach, and the water was lovely and blue, and much clearer.100_0840100_0841100_0839

One thing we learned was that when you get in the water from the beach, with the flippers on, you have to back in, so the current doesn’t pull the front of the flippers up. After you get about hip deep, you just kind of sit down and roll over. Once I got in and got oriented, I was back in the mode of “I could do this all afternoon”. So relaxing to drift along and watch the fish down below. There were a few rocks out just a bit from the beach and so there were several varieties of fish hovering around the area. On my last go round, the tide was definitely going out. I had to just relax when the current was headed out, and let myself sort of drift in with the waves. It was a wonderful couple hours. All too soon, the beach attendant friend found us to let us know that our boat was approaching the beach. We gathered everything and hopped back in the boat. It was a beautiful afternoon on the water.

On our way back to the port, we saw a tender boat for the Sapphire Princess headed back to the ship. Sitting toward the back, up on top, was our neighbor, Jake Harward, and his wife. Well, he used to be our neighbor. He’s moved away now, so his parents are our neighbor! We were pretty sure it was him, and since getting home, we’ve asked him if he would have been on the boat about that time and he said he was. Small world!

As we pulled back into the dock, a little 11 or 12 year-old boy put out his hand to help us back onto land. Fine, Thank you. Then he put out his hand for a tip. I suspect he noticed that we had just tipped our driver, generously. Sorry, I won’t be tipping for giving me a hand out of the boat! Oh well, I’m sure it was a worth a try for him!

We wandered along the port, 100_0843slowly working our way back to the tender dock. Dinah found a cute bag in the “port mercado”. 100_0845100_0844

 

 

 

 

The “tender” port100_0846

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Final shot of “our” Pelican beach, taken from the ship as we were leaving beautiful Cabo.

 

 

 

It was the second “formal” night in the dining room. 100_0850

The food was exquisite—as usual.

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Dinah had Cornish Game Hen

 

 

 

                                                                                                          Sure love surf and turf—steak and lobster!

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Decadent desserts!

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The show was the Oosterdam Singers—a Broadway night. Wow! So good!

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We had to save room at dinner time because this night was the Gala Dessert buffet on the Lido Deck. The area was decked out with tables loaded with their most exotic desserts—pastries, fruits, chocolates. Incredible. 100_0863100_0864100_0865100_0867100_0868100_0869

I settled on the fruit cabob dipped in the white chocolate fountain as my favorite. By this time is was 11:00 at night. Didn’t want to overindulge. But it was quite the sight!

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