I Belize in MAGIC! MITSUGIRLY revisits the Western Route. My Novel.

[mitsugirly]

Looking forward to more of your review! We cruise Magic in January for first time...same itinerary.

 

Hi and thanks for joining. I hope you have a wonderful cruise in January.

 

I was on the week after you, and I'm curious did you notice a lot of flies in the buffet area?

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

 

I noticed some flies here and there, but not in the buffet.

 

 

Now dragonflies...that was a different story. :D

 

Loving it Kim!

You know how to keep the momentum going and the story line fresh and entertaining. Get some much deserved rest.

CB

 

Thanks!

 

Your favorite "pastry" is mine too. I have seen Carnival call them "vanilla crowns".

 

They are so yummy. I have never seen them anywhere, like the stores, before.

 

 

The breakfast pastry is called a kolache in Texas. I've also referred to them as "danish"

 

They are awesome!

[mitsugirly]

Back to the review...

 

I left off at getting ready to snorkel.

 

I told Kendra "come on" and grabbed my snorkeling equipment and waited and waited and waited. I finally gave up and started heading to the entrance to snorkeling. Kendra has to slip away from Kam when she's not looking or she'll throw a fit. I don't have anyone to slip away from therefore I no waity on anyoney!

 

Getting down into the water was a task. It was treacherous! The ocean was mad today. The waves were crashing...it was terrible. People were coming in as I was going out and they warned me about the slippery rocks. I already figured that because that's how Chankanaab was...but Chank had steps to go down in. This was some type of busted up concrete and it looked a little different than some of the pictures I had seen online. I'm not sure what happened and why it looked different, but I would look it up when I got home. I'll show you that later.

 

It took quite some time to make it out to the water where I didn't have to worry about slipping and falling. I hung on to the rail for dear life as I eased myself one step closer to the water only to get pushed back 2 steps by the raging water. I really wasn't sure if I should be carrying my flippers or wearing them. I had no idea how deep it was going to get and if I'd be able to put them on easily once I got out of this area. It was really hard to hold on to them and try to hold onto the railing. So, I did an about face and eased myself back up and put them on.

 

Ok, time to start over with one step forward, pushed back, two steps forward, pushed back. Whew! I was getting a work out.

 

I finally got to a small drop and decided I would just go for it and I made it out.

 

So...let's see what it looks like under here.

 

There's a surgeon fish.

 

 

 

Blue head wrasse down there

 

 

I looked up and here come Sakari! I don't know how she made it out so quick because she was no where in site when I started this journey.

 

 

It looks like she's nemo today.

 

 

The ocean floor here is not quite what I expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Ok, there's some coral finally. Not much, but hey it's something.

 

 

 

 

The bad stuff!!!!

 

 

 

 

I ran across 2 bicolor Angelfish. I was super excited. This is the first time I had ever seen these before. I love when I get a new experience snorkeling and see something new. They were pretty big in size too!

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the coral in the pictures are just pieces of coral in various areas and limited to a rock of different sizes. The ocean floor was not covered in rocks and coral. They were just little islands here and there sitting on a sandy bed floor.

 

 

 

OH LOOK FISH!

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

It was mostly a sandy ocean floor with just coral here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we discovered this conch. It was HUGE! Like the biggest I had ever seen before.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

Or maybe it was a snail?

 

Some beautiful big blue surgeon tangs showed up.

 

 

 

 

We came across some of the coral reef balls that had been placed out there. In my experience, usually only some damsels claim these as their habitat. I have never seen anything interesting in them in the past.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

As noted before...a bunch of sergeant major fish, which is a type of damsel. They are usually what you will find in these reef balls. They are over protective and usually have eggs somewhere. Even though the damsel fish as small in size, they won't think twice at nipping at you if you get too close.

 

 

 

My mermaid checking in with me to see how far I'm lagging behind.

 

 

You will usually see some blue striped or yellow striped grunts hanging out in areas like this too.

 

 

All of a sudden I turn around and see this huge fish coming at me.

 

 

Brayden had made it out there and started following us.

 

Would you look at the face of this sergeant major fish!!! It looked mad that I was in his territory.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Sakari just can't swim on the top of the water. She has to be down there with the fish and getting a closer look. She NEVER uses a snorkel or mask. She always insist on using only goggles and holding her breath. She can hold her breath for a VERY long time! Like super long. Her and my youngest son Kolin (who is 23) has contests on holding their breath under water...Sakari has always won if that tells you anything. I can picture her being one of those free divers in the future.

 

 

 

This was a very interesting piece of coral. I really liked it and haven't seen anything like it in the past. This brain coral was definitely invaded.

 

 

 

 

Sakari spotted this spotted trunk fish. I went right past it and didn't even see it until I felt a tug on my fin and she pointed.

 

Her pointing it out to me because even after telling me, I couldn't see it.

 

 

 

 

We had completely circled around the area. We started out by going to the right (like the picture on the map had shown), circling around, then heading to the left. We had now made it all the way over by the dock at the restaurant area.

 

There, you would find tons of fish. They were mostly sergeant majors, parrot fish and bermuda chubs.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Here's where we were:

 

 

There are steps here in this area. I ask the kids if they wanted to get out here. Brayden was totally against it. He did not want to try to climb those slippery steps with the water crashing on to them.

 

 

 

So we headed back to the entrance we came in at.

 

 

Now you think that getting in the water was hard? Wait until you try to get back out! Yikes.

 

Sakari didn't have a problem for some reason and she was out pretty quick. However B and I....whew! He was ahead of me. We had taken our fins off. We tried and tried to get out but the water was just pushing us back out and pushing us down. He was really struggling. Even after making it to the railing to hold on.

 

It was really hard to keep your feet on the ocean floor, try to balance yourself enough to take a step, try to hold on to our fins, then pull ourselves out.

 

Finally I decided I was going to throw my fins up as far as I could in hopes that Sakari could grab them before the water got them. My plan worked. Then I threw B's fins up.

 

At some point I made it up to the railing, but when the water drug B back out, he would run into me causing me to have one of two choices, let go of the railing and go back out to sea or hang on to the railing and him hitting me would cause it to knock my feet out from under me. I chose door number one.

 

I was getting frustrated. I decided to go for it and on the next wave coming in, I was going to pass him up, get around him, hang on to the railing for dear life and make it out. My plan worked. It wasn't much longer that a huge wave came and pushed B up the railing and he made it out too! WHEW! The things we do for snorkeling.

 

 

So here's a picture I found online. See how the wall comes out, then you have a concrete ramp with a railing to get in the water? Then you have another wall.

 

 

Well, this is the entrance we went in at and that concrete is all busted up now and the wall on the other side of it is no longer there.

 

Here is what it looks like now:

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

Is was nice and sunny out. I was so glad that the weather cleared up and we were having such a nice day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[c-leg5]

How much was entry to the Money Bar? We are in Cozumel for the 4th time in January and I"m trying to find something different to do :)

 

No entrance fee.

 

It is polite to buy some food and/or drinks in order to use the facilities (tables, chairs, loungers, restrooms) but we have been there when cruisers have used the tables and chairs, brought in their own rum and coke and played their own music:mad:.

[c-leg5]

 

Is was nice and sunny out. I was so glad that the weather cleared up and we were having such a nice day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe how quiet it is in your photos. I assume the times you posted were EST so by the time you finished snorkeling it was late morning?

[mitsugirly]

Security:

 

 

 

 

 

They did have free wifi there at the bar area.

 

 

 

Kendra now decides she's ready to snorkel. Notice above that Kam was with daddy at the bar and Kendra could sneak off.

 

 

Sakari said she would go out with her and show her around.

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

I had decided that I didn't want to have to endure getting in and out of the water again and would stay behind to explore and take pictures.

Sakari makes it look so easy to get in and she has the right idea. Just lay down and go. Kendra would decide to do that eventually, but the area there with the busted up concrete and uneven surfaces made it harder for an adult to just lay and go. Kendra did end up getting the top of her leg scraped up. I'm not sure if it was going out or coming back in.

Kick Kendra kick! The waves will push you back in.

CjfifWz91ac

There they go...

 

 

 

I would decide to walk on down a little bit to explore and stayed along the shoreline while watching them snorkel.

 

 

 

 

 

I think this area might belong to the hotel directly across the street for their guests.

 

[mitsugirly]

A damsel stuck in a water spot from the water coming up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I returned back to find the kids playing in the sand.

 

 

After Kendra and Sakari came back in, it was getting a little cloudy again. We decided it was time to pack up and head out for now. It was almost noon and I knew I wanted to spend a decent amount of time at Paradise.

 

By the time we got our things together, paid our bill, made it to the restaurant, it was raining again.

 

We asked the guy at the bar about calling a cab for us and he relayed this information to a guy that stands by the entrance, who called us a cab.

 

They had a little area out front that you could sit at and by the time we made it there, it was POURING!!! Like hard and a lot!

 

 

 

 

Look past Sakari and the rain pouring off the restaurant roof. It was like a waterfall.

 

 

 

We pulled out at 12:16pm according to the picture I took of my watch.

[mitsugirly]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE MONEY BAR:

 

I had been wanting to try this place out since I first went to Chankanaab and heard this place had snorkeling that was similar.

 

The place is a lot bigger than I thought. There's PLENTY of room there for a lot of people...just not a lot of lounge chairs and mostly tables, but they did have umbrellas.

 

The place was nicely laid out and landscaped.

 

The restaurant is huge as well. Pop was $2.50 a can and came with a cup of ice. I'm not sure how much alcoholic beverages was because I didn't buy any, but the guys did and I didn't ask.

 

We did not try the food since we had already ate breakfast just a few hours earlier and planned on eating at Paradise.

 

This place has a FREE ADMISSION! They just want and expect you to purchase drinks and food while you are there.

 

Now the snorkeling...the main reason I came here. I honestly didn't think it was great...or even good IMO. I really expected more than what I seen. Most of the sea bed was sandy with just rocks and coral here and there. There wasn't an abundance amount of fish either. There were a lot of fish around the dock area of course.

 

We did see a few interesting things and I did have a "first" experience with finding the snail (or conch???) that was that huge. Like it was probably the size of my arm from the tips of my fingers tips to my elbow long. It was also the first time I had ever seen any bicolor angelfish. I love first and that would make this trip worth it.

 

But coming here just for the snorkeling, I wouldn't really suggest it based on what I saw. I also wouldn't compare it to Chankanaab other than it doesn't have a real walk in beach and has steps going into the water like Chankanaab...other than that, it doesn't compare IMO. Chankanaab seemed to have a lot more fish and coral and rocks. But then again, it's been awhile since I was there and maybe I'm just not remembering it as well.

 

Would I come here again? Probably not. I'm glad I experienced it and can mark it off my bucket list. Would I suggest it? Sure. It makes for a cheap day with no admission and just eating and drinking there. It's pretty with a great view. It's less than 5 minutes from the port and can make for an awesome, cheap, close-by day for cruisers. Just don't expect awesome snorkeling.

[Rosy1013]

Enjoying the review!

[mitsugirly]

I can’t believe how quiet it is in your photos. I assume the times you posted were EST so by the time you finished snorkeling it was late morning?

 

Yes, it was very quiet and maybe only 10 other people showed up on the "water" side. In the restaurant, when we arrived, there was a HUGE family that was eating breakfast there. I'm guessing maybe 15 people there. They ate and then they left, so I assume locals or people staying in the hotel across the street.

 

 

It's probably due to the rainy day we had and maybe most cruisers didn't bother to adventure out that day.

 

 

We arrived there at 10:07am and left at 12:16pm.

 

 

Enjoying the review!

 

Thank you.

[mitsugirly]

Ok, time to get ready and head out for work. I'll return with my review on Paradise Beach in a few hours. :)

[teknoge3k]

Ok, time to get ready and head out for work. I'll return with my review on Paradise Beach in a few hours. :)

 

I'm enjoying the review... You need to call in sick to work so you can stay home and finish the review for us that are loving it. ;p

[GMRPHRN]

Enjoying your review so much I may go back and reread some of your others. This is getting me excited about my cruise in 18 days! Did you notice in the picture of the library there were a lot of games on the shelf? In ships I've been in the games have been like your experience in the kids club. Do you know if you can sit up in the area with the Cucina Restaurant during lunch if you don't order there? Love all your pictures and all your details.

[gui218]

Another great Mitsugirly review with a new family participation mix of adults and kids.

As always, we enjoy your comments and pictures. The snorkelling pictures of Money bar area are helpful in deciding to go here, yes.

Interesting coral pictures and the invaded brain coral is new to many who follow along. The tide pool critters photos and the ease of the kids entry vs adults off the shore with video was helpful.

We all look forward to the next installment.

[mitsugirly]

I'm enjoying the review... You need to call in sick to work so you can stay home and finish the review for us that are loving it. ;p

 

Actually I am sick...have been since the cruise and about 90% of our roll call got sick. But I must press on. My work already says I take too many vacations. I only work about 2-3 hours a day so I guess that's enough time off as it is. ;p

 

 

Enjoying your review so much I may go back and reread some of your others. This is getting me excited about my cruise in 18 days! Did you notice in the picture of the library there were a lot of games on the shelf? In ships I've been in the games have been like your experience in the kids club. Do you know if you can sit up in the area with the Cucina Restaurant during lunch if you don't order there? Love all your pictures and all your details.

 

Aww thanks. I'm glad you are enjoying it (and the others).

 

 

Yes, there were a lot of games in the library area (and always is). This would be the first time we did not stop and play some of the games so I can't comment if they had all the pieces there or not. Sorry.

 

 

I'm not sure if you can eat in Cucina and not be ordering from there or not. I imagine if they are closed you could. If open (like for dinner) I wouldn't think so. We did go there for lunch one day. If you go for lunch, it's free and GOOD!

 

Another great Mitsugirly review with a new family participation mix of adults and kids.

As always, we enjoy your comments and pictures. The snorkelling pictures of Money bar area are helpful in deciding to go here, yes.

Interesting coral pictures and the invaded brain coral is new to many who follow along. The tide pool critters photos and the ease of the kids entry vs adults off the shore with video was helpful.

We all look forward to the next installment.

 

Thanks so much for the comments. Glad you are here and it has been helpful. :)