Mike in the Wild

My first encounter with wildlife at Chankanaab in Cozumel was with two live macaws perched on display just past the entrance to the sea lion show. I didn’t bother identifying the exact species; the birds weren’t native to the island anyway. In fact, no wild macaws call Cozumel home. Nor do the California sea lions that performed twice that day. Still, despite the imported attractions, I encountered plenty of native wildlife during my visit to Chankanaab Beach Adventure Park off the Regal Princess cruise ship. Cozumel is best known for its reefs, and Chankanaab offers easy access to one just offshore. There was little sandy beach, but several ladders and platforms provided snorkelers with safe entry points into the sea from the limestone shoreline. Choosing where to enter was simple — I avoided the spots clogged with sargassum, the free-floating brown seaweed that gathered in thick mats along parts of the shoreline. In the balmy water, I swam past curious chubs and into a dense school o...

Almost two years ago, I rented a car on Cozumel to visit several beaches where I intended to snorkel reefs that were not too far off shore.  Windy conditions creating choppy seas prevented me from swimming to most of the sites.  And an aggressive barracuda scared me away from the reef that I actually almost reached off Punta Sur on the Mexican island's southern tip.   From a cruise ship on my most recent stop on Cozumel, I joined a morning tour that promised visits to two additional sites on my original must-do list that were not reachable without a boat: Columbia Shallows Reef and El Cielo.  I'm happy to report that this time the weather and marine life cooperated with my plans.  And not only did I snorkel those places, but the tour added an unexpected third stop for a close-up encounter with sea turtles. The short title "Snorkel, Starfish, and Beach" didn't quite convey how exciting my excursion turned out to be.  Of course reading the details offere...

There was nothing I wanted to do more on Cozumel than snorkel.  Ringed by coral reefs, the Mexican Caribbean island is renowned for the sport.  However visiting while on a short stop off of a cruise ship, I didn't have a lot of time or options at my disposal.  Forgoing renting a car and exploring from several beaches on my own, I settled on a ship-sponsored snorkeling trip off of a catamaran.  But I was surprised to find that even before nine o'clock in the morning, very little happens with vacationers in Cozumel that doesn't include an open bar.  Yes, it seemed my excursion was a snorkeling adventure disguised not so discreetly as a booze cruise.  Sure there was a catamaran, and yes we sailed down the verdant coast just barely out of sight of our gargantuan cruise ship.  In every direction, mottled greens and blues outlined reefs just below the water's surface.  Of course we stopped and donned masks and snorkels - some of us even fins - before ju...

My recent visit to Cozumel was focused mostly on the reef life: the fish, the rays, the turtles - anything that swam in the water.  In addition, my trip to the tropical island included seeking out the native bird life, notably wintering warblers and resident hummingbirds.  However I was pleasantly surprised to also encounter some unique land fauna, both mammal and reptile.   On my first visit to the Mexican island over a dozen years ago, I barely paid much attention to any wildlife - I hadn't yet caught the natural history bug.  I recall my ship's snorkel excursion was cancelled due to strong winds and high seas.  As a result I visited Paradise Beach, a resort where I spent most of my time lazing on the beach and swimming in the sea.   On my return three years later off of another cruise ship I was more interested in exploring the island in a car, checking out the many scenic beaches, and visiting San Gervasio, an ancient Mayan archeological compl...

I thought I knew a thing or two about barracudas.  After all, I've encountered several in Maui and Cozumel, even writing in detail about them over a year ago.  Slow, shadowy, lurking, uninterested in humans, intimidating in appearance, was how I mostly described the usually harmless, large fish.  After my latest visit to a reef off of Cozumel a brand new word entered my lexicon when describing the predator: terrorizing.  Due to strong winds, I got a late start snorkeling on my single day in Cozumel, heeding red flag warnings all morning on the Mexican island's coral reef-fringed western coast.  But at Punta Sur Ecological Park, at the extreme southern end of Cozumel, the weather and surf were postcard perfect.  It didn't take long once I arrived for me to don my fins and mask and head into the inviting and azure Caribbean Sea.  A buoy marked where a reef that's part of a separate protected park begins several hundred meters from the beach.  It's a...