Garrafon de Castillo
Garrafon is located on the south end and the admission price to get in is $150 pesos (which equals around $7.45 US) or if you are paying with US it is $9.00. See how you save if you have pesos?
We used my MapsMe and it was an easy find.
Look at that beautiful water and we haven't even made it in yet.
They do give you wrist bands to wear after you have paid.
Now this place does have a lot of steps and sits up on a hill. However, it did have a wheelchair ramp and that made it easier on me thank goodness.
We looked around for a spot to sit. There was plenty of lounge chairs in one area, but I decided to keep walking and we found a spot all alone, with 3 chairs, under a coconut tree up high overlooking the beach area. The loungers at the beach were all taken I might add. Hubby sat down and said "I hope I don't get knocked out by a coconut"
It was so hot so hija and I headed down to the water to cool off. Hubby snapped this picture of us. Can you tell I was ready for some snorkeling?
We decided it was time to head out and see if the snorkeling was any good. I had the older GoPro and Sakari had the new one.
Blue tang
Bermuda Chub
Large Blue Parrot Fish. The blue parrot fish are the ones that get the largest.
A very large school of fish. They were everywhere by the rocks.
A lonely red sea fan. It was the only one that I seen. :(
As we went around the rocks to the left, it started to get interesting. There was more coral, anemones everywhere and hundreds of schools of fish everywhere. I mean there were a lot! It was so pretty.
Yes, those are all schools of fish all over the coral.
It was time to head back. I was struggling a little bit because I didn't bring my fins out with me. The water was pushing us in a direction and it was hard to stay put for pictures. Then my hair got caught in my mask and I couldn't get it out. I had to swim back for my hubby to rescue me.
When we got back to the hubby, he detangled my hair and I told him I really needed my fins. But, when I looked in the bag, they were not there. Oops! I had forgot to pack them. So, I made the executive decision to drive back to the house and get them. Our place was a 3 minute drive from Garrafon so that made it nice.
After returning, the hubby and Sakari were laughing and said "Remember how I said I hope I didn't get hit by a coconut? Well....one fell on me after you left. Hit me in the leg" We were in the danger zone but since it was so hot, we decided we'd take our chances of another one falling. The shade was worth it.
I did go back out with my fins and that made it a lot easier. However, I have no idea which pictures I took that second time around so they are all included in the above pictures. Sakari decided to stay back on the second time and she went around taking pictures of the flowers and iguanas around Garrafon.
When I was done snorkeling, mi familia was saying they were hungry. So we decided to order 2 plates of taco's (it came with 3 on each plate) and an order of chips and gauc. When it came we ask for an extra plate and the hubs and hija took one of theirs to share with me, so we each had 2 tacos and chips. It was very yummy and it wasn't long before the iguana close to us come running knowing it was lunch time.
Our bill for our food, plus 3 rounds of drinks (and we took 2 to go) came to $45 US or 710 pesos (which would be around $35). Again...saving money by using pesos instead of dollars. Be aware that this place does add in 15% for a tip on the bill. It was the only place we encountered that did this so read your bills when they come. When the hubby paid, he came back with different peso coins and presented them to me as if he had won a trophy. He knew exactly what I was going to do with them. I have a shadow box that says "Adventure fun" and it has different kinds of money from everywhere when been that we've collected.
We decided to head out to the water to cool off and Sakari would bring her water ball with her and we stood out in the water playing ball for quite some time. Her favorite thing to do in the water over the last 2 years.
A picture looking back at Garrafon showing the beach area and chairs by the water.
It was getting later in the day and Sakari gave her famous words "What time are we leaving" and I knew that was her signal that she was ready to go. We gathered our things and said goodbye to the iguanas and headed out.
Here is my video from Garrafon de Castillo today. Please like, comment and subscribe. Hopefully you'll find it informative. It takes a full day to create these videos and put it all together...but I'm learning.