What is Hecho En Mexico?

Sarah and John found out on this trip to Cozumel that some things are made in Mexico (hecho en Mexico), while some things definitely weren’t.

Street signs aren’t made in Mexico

After celebrating Christmas in Austin we flew to Cancun for a week-long vacation in Cozumel. Upon landing, John was determined to immediately get to the local terminal to wait for our flight to Cozumel. So...we did. And we waited in a tiny terminal with no food for four hours before our 30 minute flight to the Island of Cozumel. However, we did play some new two-player games we had gotten, and were able to observe sky divers preparing for their flight. (Recommendation: Eat first, then go find your local terminal.)

After landing, we needed to secure our transportation. We finally found our “In Terminal” car rental company, obviously located across the street from the airport, and got our rental car for the week. Being super hungry after staying in a food-less terminal, we set out to find food in downtown Cozumel. We got recommendations for some local restaurants and tried to drive to those places. That was when we first found out that street signs aren’t made in Mexico, or at least in the area we were driving in. We finally found a street sign, and then counted blocks to the area of the restaurant (since Sarah remembered numbers in Spanish, she was extra helpful at this point). We walked into the restaurant and looked at the menu while the workers stared at us. Eventually one of the workers came up to us and said that the restaurant wasn’t open (apparently open and close signs also aren't made in Mexico). We hopped back into our car and tried to find another place. John struggled trying to find places to eat, and was intimidated by the parking, so he decided to drive to the condo. Groceries for us!

Relaxing warm beaches are made in Mexico

After the first night in our beautiful condo at Residencias Reef we found that nice, relaxing, and warm beaches are made in Mexico. We staked out comfy chairs on the beach, let the sun warm us up, and read books. Now that is what a vacation is supposed to be! When we got hot soaking up the sun we darted between the two pools to cool us off. Sarah wanted to try out her new snorkel so we went into the ocean and found that Residencias Reef is actually a....you guessed it.... reef with fish. The sand turned into a coral reef with small fish right off of the beach.

Amazing Scuba Diving is made in Mexico

The scuba diving in Cozumel is truly one of the best places to dive. They have a ton of coral reefs to explore. We decided to go with Blue Project as our dive shop; their motto is "valet diving." The first night we were in Cozumel, they came to our condo to greet us, talk about our diving experience, and to give us information about what we will experience diving with them. They were very personable, flexible, and kind. They never take their guests to dive at the same location twice, and they cap their dives at eight people. We decided to do three days of two tank dives and spread them out every other day. They picked us up, valet style, on the dock that was right next to our condo. Diving in Cozumel is mostly drift diving so they wanted us to have a private dive master on our first day of diving since Sarah was so new to drift diving. We met our dive master, Juan, on the boat. He was hilarious, friendly, and an amazing dive master. He was very accommodating to us and even made jokes that John enjoyed (aka cheesey jokes). John was excited for Sarah to finally see what scuba diving is all about: warm ocean water with really good visibility and incredible sea creatures.

On the first day of diving we were last off of the boat because it was our first dive with the company. After everyone else rolled into the ocean floor, Juan spent his time talking about drift diving, what we will be seeing, the plan for the dives, hand signals for the sea creatures we will see, and most important the safety stop at the end of the dive. We all three barrel rolled into the ocean and then started our descent into another world. Drift diving in Cozumel is something that every scuba diver needs to experience. The diving is like a moving walkway--you just float and let the scenery move right next to you without having to exert energy to swim. It felt like a Disneyland ride--just sit back in your car and let the car move you along while you experience the sights and sounds. Each day we dove we found new creatures, such as Sarah's first shark, sea turtles, puffer fish, parrot fish, an eagle ray, and many more colorful fish.

Temples were one of the first things made in Mexico.

We felt like we had to see one of the seven wonders of the world, we were so close to it! We signed up for a tour group that would take us to Chichen Itza. We woke up extremely early one morning and took a ferry over to the mainland (aka Cancun). The tour group picked us up in a nice air conditioned bus where we started our two and a half hour drive to Chicken Pizza, I mean Chichen Itza. Be aware how you say Chichen Itza because it can sound like Chicken Pizza to the locals. (John found that out pretty quickly. Sarah: This would be a joke Juan would like...) We were able to walk right in once we got there. The bus dropped us off right at the gate and we were able to bypass the lines. It looked like it was hard to find a parking spot for people who drove there so we were grateful to have the tour guide with us.

Once we arrived in the park we found out that El Castillo was one of the first things made in Mexico and is a marvelous site to see. El Castillo, "the castle," is one of the seven wonders of the world. There is a lot of detail on this pyramid when you get close and a lot of thought was clearly put into its construction. You can clap in front of El Castillo and hear your clap reverberate back to you with a squeak. We got to see the Great Ball Court where teams competed in a sort of soccer/basketball game. The winners were privileged to be sacrificed right after the game. There was a lot to see here! Make sure that you are prepared for the heat and lack of water, though. When we went it was extraordinarily hot and there was not much shade (nor many places selling water).

Cenotes are made (naturally) in Mexico

After the tour of Chichen Itza, our guide took us to the Ik Kil Archeological Park to each lunch and to swim in a cenote. A cenote is a naturally made pool where the water creates a deep hole in the rock. They made this cenote easily accessible by adding stairs to descend to the water. If you are brave enough to swim with the fish in this giant hole, then you can jump right in! We, of course, jumped into the cenote and were able to cool off. There was beautiful and vibrant vegetation growing down to the center of the cenote and around the sides. After swimming for awhile, we drove to the city of Valladolid and walked around a cool park named Parque Francisco Canton. The park was beautiful and how we imagined the non-touristy areas of Mexico to be.

Tortillas are made in Mexico and really good tacos!

The next day we slept in and relaxed on the beautiful beach. After relaxing on the beach we were hungry so we walked up the road to a taco stand. We discovered that delicious tacos are made in Mexico (shocking, we know). The chicken tacos were delicious and you were given a side of spicy salsa in a bag to get to the desired level of spiciness. We wish we had found this taco stand earlier and ate there more. That afternoon we dove again with Juan where we saw a spotted eagle ray, sea turtles munching on sea grass, and got to go through coral tunnels. For dinner, we decided to go into town and made a reservation for Del Sur. This was a great restaurant and was packed so we recommend you make a reservation before you go. Their empanadas were amazing and they make really good pitchers of sangria, too.

We went to a cooking class with Josefina the following day. This was such a great experience to be in a local home and see how they navigate the kitchen. We walked over to a local food market to pick up the ingredients for our lunch. We made a cactus dish, amazing guacamole, which Sarah really enjoyed (ps-she has never liked guacamole), and salsa for an appetizer. Making homemade tortillas was next on the list. After mixing the ingredients, you flatten the tortilla by hand, and then fry them on a skillet. We also had delicious margaritas! For the main course we ate chochinta pebil and had cake for dinner. We were so full from our homemade lunch and were very satisfied with our cooking experience!

Swedish Massages aren’t made in Mexico but Mexican messages are…

For New Years Eve, we wanted to celebrate it right. We did our last dive with Blue Project in the morning and then relaxed on the beach the rest of the morning and early afternoon. We then found out that Swedish massages aren't made in Mexico. We booked a couples massage, but were taken to separate rooms. We were then asked to strip down. John had quite an experience with the massage therapist. We didn't want to capture it in a photo, but will try to help you understand: She pulled the sheet over his groin area (thanks), and then put his feet on her shoulders. She then moved his legs in the air with her shoulders. John had no idea what was going on during that massage, and felt slightly uncomfortable, but definitely had a new experience! Sarah was fine :) After that adventure we walked around downtown Cozumel to see all of the little shops and plazas they had. We then ate at La Cocay for New Years Eve dinner, which was very enjoyable. They had a set menu for the dinner and gave you party hats to wear.

Amazing landscapes and great weather are made in Mexico

For our last full day in Mexico we relaxed on the beach and ate lunch at the condo. In the afternoon we decided to drive around the island and explore the east side which isn't as "resorty" as the west side. This is where we discovered that amazing landscapes and gorgeous weather are made in Mexico. The ocean on the east was extremely blue and had plenty of areas to explore, and rocks to climb! The sound of the ocean crashing onto the rocks provided atmospheric music as we explored the rocks and took pictures. We finished our loop drive by eating at Guidos for dinner in downtown Cozumel.

On our last day we woke up early, returned our car (which was a whole other adventure involving barking dogs, keys under floor mats, and workers observing), and then flew into Cancun. We ate lunch in Cancun before taking our next flight back to Austin. We can't wait to go back to Cozumel for another fun, relaxing, and very enjoyable vacation. The dive sites and beaches are still calling our names. There are amazing things made in Mexico!

What are your favorite "first-time" experiences that you have tried? Any worst stories? Those are always more entertaining ;) Do you like to try to find things that are unique to that country?

Chasing Time Zones,

J&S