Greg J. Hipius'

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Caribbean Cruise - July, 2005:
Xel-Ha Lagoon (Mexico)

Our second excursion during Pam's and my day on our own, as well as our last excursion altogether (since our final Fort Lauderdale swampboat ride at the end of the trip fell victim to Hurricane Dennis), was to the Xel-Ha Lagoon in Mexico.  After enjoying our ocean swim so much at Princess Cays in the Bahamas at the beginning of our cruise, I had been strongly hoping for the chance to take a second swim in crystal clear waters before the cruise was over; in fact, the chance to swim in natural water so clean and clear as to see the bottom was one of my main hopes for the vacation, and while it was clean and nice in the Bahamas, it wasn't yet clear like the travel posters one sees.

Xel-Ha, in this regard, did not disappoint.  Although the pictures do not do a very good job of showing just how clear the water is, you can see how beautiful and clean it is, and how nice the lagoon is in general.  The lagoon is a mixing of ocean waters coming in directly from the ocean at one end and underground rivers coming in from caves on the inland side, and the result is remarkably calm but clear water, also with a remarkably moderately temperature as the warm ocean water mixes with the cool underground stream inlets.  We had only a short amount of time here, just long enough to stake out a spot and get in the water for about an hour, then back out again to take a leisurely stroll back amidst the indigenous wildlife and dolphin pens to the bus, but it was one of my favorite stops on the trip.  The swim was wonderful, and the sights were beautiful.  If we had more time, I would have greatly enjoyed renting snorkeling equipment to explore the lagoon's fish (including another docile barracuda, swimming peacefully amongst the tourists); you can even snorkel right into and down through the caves of the underground rivers and streams.  I enjoyed this stop so much that I just might seek to go back and spend a full day there if I am ever back in that area of Mexico again.

On the way back to the bus, we walked past an area with several very colorful tropical parrot-like birds, as well as dolphin paddocks where we observed a strange phenomenon: when left alone with no trainer or other person to bother them, dolphins were doing breeching jumps and  flips in synchronized swimming, three together at a time... apparently just for fun. 

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Note: All photos in this gallery are in an adjusted, altered format from the originals, in order to conserve disk space on the server.  If you would like a copy of the original, higher quality file, maybe because you or someone you know is in any of these pictures, or maybe just because you're a little strange, email me and I'll do my best to accommodate any reasonable and non-spooky requests.

Oh, yah, one other note.  We're pretty loose about who does the shooting... I don't personally take credit for all these shots, as it isn't unusual at all for Pam or one of our friends to fire off a few too... just to be ethical about everything (Do you REALLY want me taking all the shots?  Didn't think so.).

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Questions?  Comments?  Email me at gjhipius@twcny.rr.com.