There is a two story shopping center on the
south side of downtown and the 'anchor' store is a huge supermarket called
Chedraui. It's about half way home from my beach dive locations. Here is
a 'casa' about a block away.
My pal Richard has wintered in his van or
sometimes a small motorhome over the years on the street in Puerto Vallarta
without incident. There is a plan to run a auto-truck ferry from Tampa
to the Yucatan twice a week starting in February [but they didn't say which
year. =) ]. http://www.mexicoferry.com/
Richard thinking of bringing his current outfit across on that ferry next
year. On a number of occasions he has inquired about urban camping here
in the Yucatan but no one has had any experience so far. Well, check THIS
out:
One of the reasons bicycling in Mexico is
such fun is that there are tons of people and families on bikes and motos
(motor bikes and scooters) and the auto-truck traffic accommodates them.
I feel way safer biking here than in the US. Here is a locally manufactured
bicycle kiddie seat.
I have friends that take pleasure in rescuing,
refurbishing, and redistributing cast off goods. I'm glad that bug never
bit me!. . . =) Here is a group of local dumpster divers practicing
their trade behind the central market.
Love your body honey but that head. . . .Wow!
Just 'cute' you say? Consider how tough it
was to tape it off before painting. What a great job of arranging the squares.
This next part may make more sense if you
have a map to look at:
http://www.usfamily.net/web/lucky/CozumelMap.html
There is a highly variable current and eddy system along the coast next to the main current flowing from South to North between the island of Cozumel and the mainland of the Yucatan. This coastal current system is effected to some extent by the tides but even experienced ferry Captains wont make predictions. They play it as they find it. The mian current makes sightseeing almost effortless for off shore divers. They go off the boat at one end of a reef and drift along with the current to the other end. The dive boat captain follows the bubble trail for the pick-up.
Since I beach dive and like to take a lot of pictures this inshore current sysrtem isn't always an advantage. I prefer sunny windless days for the light and visibility, plus I like days with little current so I can linger around a coral head or patch reef and explore. Last Thursday was excellent. I hauled my gear from home on the Triciclo to the 'Air Plant' at 30th and 9th to pick up my SCUBA tank and rode South to La Palapita beach club by the hotel Villa Blanca and dropped off my dry goods (towel, shirt, shoes, backpack, etc) then rode another 1/4 mile South to the Sunset Beach Club, (a little over 2 miles from home). I locked up the bike to a palm tree, chat with the young bartender a while and asked him to watch my outfit. I got suited up and went into the water. I slowly drifted North with the current, exploring and photographing along the way, mostly between 15 and 20 feet deep. When I got to La Palapita I had lots of air left so I continued to drift and swim North to "Blue Angel" where I got out. They let me rinse off my gear with fresh water and lay it out to dry. Then I walked about a half mile back South to pick up the Triciclo. I make a real leisurely trip home stopping here and there visiting and picking up my gear along the way, and did some grocery shopping at Chedraui. I left my SCUBA tank out by the curb and the 'Air Plant" truck picked it up for a refill like a milkman. Out of 115 pictures I took there are maybe a half dozen worth looking at. Some of the pictures are kind of big so I'll post them on the next page to get it to load a little faster.