Cancun Day 4: Catamaran Excursion

On our last full day in Cancun, eleven people in our group decided to go on a catamaran excursion. I was pretty nervous about how I would do on the boat. Normally I don't have a problem with being motion sick or sea sick, but since I've been so nauseous throughout this pregnancy, I really didn't know what to expect. A lot of our friends took Dramamine, but I searched through "What To Expect When Your Expecting" along with the list my doctor gave me of approved medicines and I couldn't find any information about that particular drug. It may be safe to take, but I didn't want to risk anything. So I stuck with my prescription meds along with ginger pills and prayed for the best!

Now, for those of you who don't know me, let me tell you a few things about myself. First of all, I am in no way, shape, or form what one may call a thrill seeker. I'm very much a play it safe type of person. You'll never hear me saying something like, "I want to go skydiving!" Another thing about me is that I am scared to death of deep water. It never fails when we go to the lake, we always manage to anchor out in the middle of the water and everyone but me jumps in to cool off. I would rather sweat to death. Even if I have a life jacket on. That's just how I am. I know that this is one part about me that my husband desperately wishes he could change, but it is what it is.

I knew that we were going on a boat ride. And I knew that this boat was called a catamaran. What I didn't know was what a catamaran really was. Until we were about to board. And let me tell you, it freaked me smooth out. The best way for me to describe this "boat" is to say it has two long structures that kind of make an = sign. Those are on the outside. The inside is basically made out of trampoline material. I hate trampolines. Which meant the "safest" place for me to sit was on one of the side things. With basically nothing to hold on too. To say that I was nervous before we sat sail is putting it mildly. Luckily once we got going I relaxed when I realized we couldn't go very fast. And the beautiful turquoise water was so breath taking that it was hard for me to focus on the negative.

We "sailed" for about an hour until we reached the Isla Mujeres which is an island that I believe is East from Cancun. We made our first quick stop so we could have the opportunity to hold a one hundred pound shark and have our pictures taken with it (sorry, forgot what type of shark it was). Granted, we couldn't use our own cameras, we had to have the catamaran people take the pictures so they could in turn sell them to us. Go figure. From there they took us to another spot along the island so we could......drum roll please.....snorkel!

Now, snorkeling is something I thought I'd never do in a million years. Basically the only reason I did it is because before we even left to go to Mexico, Greg asked if I would do it if he stayed near me. I was super nervous, but also excited at the chance to see some cute fish! Of course as soon as we reached our "spot" I began getting super nervous. Then the guide asked if there was anyone on the boat who wasn't a strong swimmer. I raised my hand faster than you can imagine! They told me after I put on my flippers and life belt to join one of the guides. Since I was scared, I was one of the last to get all of my equipment on. Basically I was procrastinating. By this point most everyone had already jumped in, including my husband. Then, they told me to jump in. I had a momentary minor panic attack in which I said that I couldn't do it, and Greg morphed into an authority type figure and yelled, "Get in the water!" I almost cried. I was shaking. It was horrible. Then the guide had the bright idea for me to sit on the side of the boat and slide in. That seemed easier to me since that would put me a little closer to the water. I was just scared to death of going under water.

I took a deep breath, and slid off the boat. Luckily, I didn't go under the water! The life belt worked and I instantly felt a little bit better. Then the instructor came up beside me. He had a life ring with him that I was to hold on to the entire time, which I was so grateful for. He then demonstrated how to put the snorkel in my mouth and told me to put my head in the water. I couldn't believe how much I could see! It was incredible! And I had it pretty easy since I just held onto the life ring while someone else led me around. We were in the water for about twenty minutes, but I wish we could have continued all day!

Afterwards we got back on the catamaran and they took us to yet another spot on the island. This is where we were to get off the boat for an hour for shopping time. Unfortunately, we were all so wet, then hot, and hungry, that none of us was really in the mood to shop. We half heartedly browsed through a few stores, then went back and waited to load back on the boat. Our excursion was supposed to include lunch, but I made sure to pack snacks to have with me so I wouldn't get sick. What they didn't tell us was that they don't serve lunch until around 2:00. Everyone was starving, and although I had snacks, I was trying not to eat all of them because I knew I would need some even after lunch time. I was honestly expecting sandwiches on the boat, but they took us to yet another spot on the island where they had a delicious buffet. Afterwards we were in front of a small swim beach so we all just hung out for about an hour. Unfortunately, since my eating schedule was altered so much, I started to get sick. The boat ride back to the dock seemed to take even longer and I began dry heaving/spitting up over the side of it right about the time we pulled up to the dock.

We had to take the public bus back to the hotel. By this point I was so miserable and hungry it wasn't funny. This was probably about 6:00. Then, from where the bus dropped us off, we had a short walk back to the hotel. I was so weak I was bringing up the rear of the group, being sick the whole way. I think I pretty much freaked our friend Justin out but I was beyond the point of thinking it was funny at the time. Somehow I made it back to the hotel, ate dinner, and of course was sick for the rest of the night. We did manage to go visit some of our friends in their room for a few minutes, but for the most part we spent the evening in our room watching "Legally Blond". Complete with Spanish subtitles!

**sorry, no pictures this time! I didn't take my camera with me!**