The ferry to the mainland crosses the Cozumel Channel, part of the Caribbean where the gulf stream gets funneled between the mainland and the island of Cozumel. This creates some choppy seas in the best of weather.
The tour description mentions that the crossing from Cozumel to the mainland can be rough and when Joe booked it he asked me if I would be ok with that. Forewarned is forearmed and I prepared accordingly. I made sure to have sea sick patches with me specifically for this trip. I didn’t need them for the cruise but for the ferry…well better safe than sorry so I put one on first thing in the morning. For the patches to be most effective they need to be on for 4 hours before you head off to your adventure.
Now we sat on the upper, open deck waiting for the ferry to cast off. It was windy with some drizzle so it was certainly expected that the crossing would be rough. What I wasn’t prepared for was how rough!.
Once we cast off the ferry wasted no time in accelerating but even so sometimes it felt like the forward progress was overshadowed by the side to side rocking and rolling and I mean rolling! We were on the top deck and as the boat rolled left everything and everyone slid that way. It felt like you could reach out and touch the water. At times I was afraid we wouldn’t right ourselves and we’d all be thrown into the cold, gray sea. But instead we bobbed back up only to roll to the other side.
It didn’t take long for those around us to start dropping. The crew handed out plastic bags and cotton balls. Joe was fine and I was too as long as I didn’t listen to the sounds around me. Water splashed all the way up to our level! My mantra was “I believe in my patch”.
I would guess the crossing took 45 minutes to an hour but it was hard to be sure. I bet it felt much longer to those who were sick. This trip was far worse than the trip to see the Puffins off the Maine Coast last summer where almost everyone there got sea sick too.
Finally docked and unloaded in Playa Del Carmen we were directed to the buses and loaded in there for the drive to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Our guide was an energetic Mexican with a great sense of humor.
Her non stop monologue could have been a stand up comedy act. She was going to make this tour a winner! As she said to us…her livelyhood depends on it.