XtremeBigAir.com - Cozumel - Mexico 2009 Xpedition
Cozumel - Mexico: November 12 - 21, 2009
- Lucky riders on this trip:
- Kinsley and Jamie ThomasWong
Many Thanks to my friend KyroJoe for the detailed information in Cancun and great hospitality of Raul de Lille - KiteCozumel.com and Nicole of Casa Viento
Thursday November 12, 2009
We arrived in Cancun late in the afternoon. We met up with Kyro Joe and had great Tacos dinner in Puerto Morelos downtown. We then took the ADO bus to Playa De Carmen and took the ferry across and landed in Cozumel by 9 p.m. Raul picked us up from the ferry and brought us to our home for the trip, Casa Viento (www.casaviento.net). Raul and Nicole have a beautiful home with 5 units (most with kitchens) 1 block from the Country Club Kite Beach. Some units are with 2 bed rooms and kitchens so those of you with kids would be stoked to stay at Casa Viento. If you want a quiet place to stay with personal attention and great company, this is the place. They are 2 minutes to the Country Club kite beach and happy to do what it takes to make your trip a blast.
Friday November 13, 2009
Light wind this morning: We took a nice walk early this morning on the Country Club Kite beach. Raul and Nicole took us into town to the Mega Store for groceries for meals and snacks. There was no wind today so at 2pm we headed over to Playa Corona for snorkeling. This gave us an incredible afternoon snorkeling on the 2nd largest reef in the world with a killer sunset to enjoy at the end of the day. We ( and Boomer, Sarah, Jaz, Mack, Kirsten, Jim, Nicole and Raul) hung out at The Money Bar enjoying the sunset and drinks.
Kinsley gets to test out the new GoPRO HD camera. Here is a short video clip of the Playa Corona Reef:
Jaz and Raul de Lille free diving at the Corona Reef:
Dinner at Los Caranones was incredible with their superdeliciious Pastor tacos
Saturday November 14, 2009
The wind was stronger in the morning so we headed out to the lagoon at the north end of the island for kiting. Unfortunately when we arrived the wind dropped off and instead we played with some friendly racooons who were enjoying being fed. We headed back to Casa Viento and relaxed. The wind came up very light in the late afternoon. A 12m and surboard worked well. The current here is very strong and moves up to 6 knots, as well as changes based on location. Be careful dropping your kite in light wind, the current will make it impossible to re-launch. We headed into town for the 30th anniversary of the Carlos and Charlie's bar being opened on the island. It was a fun night with dinner, live music and dancing.
Sunday November 15, 2009
We woke up early and took the stand up paddle boards out for an early distance ride south down the Country Club Kite Beach. The sun was still coming up, the water was super calm and we had a great ride.
No wind today. We went out to dinner and danced at the downtown plaza. Cozumel customs that every sunday night there is always a live band performing dance music.
Monday November 16, 2009 Today the wind was light. Big Kites such as 15 to 17m would be great for today session at the Lagoon Isla de La Pasion. Jim Stringfellow left today. We went to dinner at La Choza restaurant.
Tuesday November 17, 2009
Nice wind was blowing through out the night. We woke up with the Norte wind and Kinsley went out for a solo session on the BEST 2010 Waroo 9m at 7 a.m. at the Country Club Kite beach.
By noon, wind dropped off to nothing. We went snorkeling at the reef in front of Melia resort. We saw quite a variety of fish including some rare species such as the PolkaDot Bat fish, Scorpion, Grouper, Eel, and lobsters. The wind came up again around 5 p.m. and Jamie went out on the 9m Waroo and surfboard. Everyone else was on bigger kites: 15m, 17m, and 12m.
Wednesday November 18, 2009
10mph wind this morning at 6 a.m. We explored the east side of Cozumel Island. Playa Bonita is a beautiful beach which takes NE wind nicely. We then snorkled at the Money Bar reef. There we saw some big spotted morey eels, barracuda, sea snake and tons of other fish.
Wind came up around 4 p.m. and we had a nice sunset session again.
Thursday November 19, 2009
Wind picked up to 12mph wind this morning at 10 a.m. We kited all day at the Country Club Kite beach until sunset. Most of everyone was on 14m to 17m kite.
Cozumel - Mexico - Kiteboarding essential information:
Airlines & Airports
The Airport of Cozumel is located on 65 Avenida and Boulevard Aeropuerto.
You can choose to take an airport vans or rent a car at the airport (book ahead for the best rates). If you do rent a car, all you need to do is get a printed local guide of the island or print our maps to find your way around. Driving in Cozumel is easy and traffic is very light.
Cozumel has direct flights daily with most all major carriers. American Airlines direct from Dallas-Fort Worth Continental direct from Houston Mexicana direct from Mexico City US Airways direct from Charlotte. NC United Airlines direct from Denver Northwest Airlines direct from Atlanta and Newark Delta Airlines direct from Atlanta Most direct flights are approximately 2 hours to Cozumel
Directions from Cancun airport to Playa de Carmen ferry to Cozumel: Exit the terminal and go right to where the A-D-O buses are parked. (The buses are quite punctual, comfortable with air conditioning and movies: http://www.ado.com.mx/wadod/compra.jsp.) ADO buses go to Playa de Carmen and depart every 30 minutes. They cost about 80 pesos per person. You can take as much luggage as you want without additional cost. Once you arrive in Playa de Carmen (about 50 minute ride), you can either walk or have one the men with the yellow TRI-cycle take you to the dock. When you exit the terminal, you go to the right about 3 blocks (to the end of the street) and turn left another block to the dock. Buy the ferry ticket before you get in line. A great tip to ride the ferry for those with a weak stomach is to sit on the upper back deck of the ferry where you have access to fresh air and look at the horizon. The ferry to Cozumel costs another 11 USD or 140 peso. It is a good idea to exchange money at the airport before you walk out the airport door.
If you want to go in "luxury" then a taxi will probably charge you 40 or 50 bucks or take a commuter flight ($75 book online with Maya Air) from Cancun to Cozumel.
- Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced.
- Surface Conditions: Super flat water in the bay, Wind Chop and waves.
- Wind Conditions: Good for 9m to 17m on normal day, light wind day: 13m to 17m kites.
- Season: All Year around but the best months for kiteboarding are November through May.
- Water Temp: Rashguards most of time but Shorties might needed during the winter months: December through January.
- Air Temp: 17 - 30 C.
- Nearest Town:Playa de Carmen - Cancun
- Wind & Weather: Check out Magicseaweed and Buoy Weather for the latest Cozumel wind and swell infomation. Infrared satellite images from Intellicast. shows what is developing in the Carribean coast.
Riding Locations:
Great information for all the kiting spots in Cozumel: http://www.kiteCozumel.com/
The Country Club Kite beach : The best place to stay is the Casa Viento: http://www.casaviento.net/ because the beach is 2 minutes walk from Casa Viento! This beach is big, with soft white sand and lots of room to launch (and lunch!). Private and available only to guests staying in the Country Club. The Casa Viento is located within the Country Club Estates, a residential neighborhood next to the island's Nicklaus-designed PGA golf course.
Other kiting locations are just a short car drive away, such as The Lagoon (2.5 miles / 4 km) and the Wave Ranch (15 miles / 24 km).
Cozumel has many other activities to enjoy. With some of the best coral reef in the world, snorkeling or scuba diving is a must. Deep sea fishing is also very popular. Or if you just want to relax and have fun, try one of the many restaurants, bars or night clubs.
Ixpalbarco (aka "The Wave Ranch") : This remote spot got it's nickname for a reason. Small to medium size perfect kickers with the occasional overhead + makes this the most ideal riding spot for wave junkies. A long shallow bay with no outer reef gives provide incredibly friendly waves with very little chance of getting in trouble.
Scuba is huge here in Cozumel! The area's incomparable marine life and reef structure that attract more than 75,000 divers from all over the world every year to Cozumel. With over 30 kilometers of reefs, water visibility up to 200 feet and over 200 species of tropical fish, Cozumel is considered by many to be the finest dive destination in the Western Hemisphere and second in the world. Water temperatures range from summer highs in the low 80's to winter highs in the low 70's (F). Like the peninsula, Cozumel has many underground rivers and ponds known as "Cenotes". Because of the incredible beauty and clear water of these caverns, tunnels and Cenotes, many consider them to be ideal sites for diving and snorkeling.
Cozumel's diving infrastructure ranges from small owner-operated dive shops with personalized service and small group boats to huge dive stores offering big and comfortable boat dives to most of the reefs in Cozumel.
Most of the diving done in Cozumel is practiced in the Southwest coast of the island, were Palancar, Chancanaab and Colombia reefs attract thousands of divers all year long.
Check out our January 2009 San Carlos Xpedition trip which featured recently in the KiteBoarder Magazine:
Raul's cell is : 011-52-987-103-6711 Skype is: kitecozumel
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