VIVA MEXICO DAY #6: Aukmal

VIVA MEXICO DIA NUMERO SEIS

also AUGUST 4th

also our anniversary

6 years and counting
Go us!

I have watched the sun set over the ocean a number of times.  But it isn't very often that I get to watch it rise over the ocean.  So waking up to this each morning was amazing.

Today's Anniversary agenda

1. Aukmal
2. paddle board
3. relax in the sun
4. order up more free drinks
5. Mmmmm...ceviche (a new found favorite)
6. Edward Jones good-bye dinner on the beach
7. Enjoy our last night and our anniversary

We had heard from a few people that Aukmal was a great place to snorkel.  Especially if you wanted to see turtles.  So we decided to check it our for ourselves.  

Within being in the water for 2 minutes we saw our first turtle.  And we chased him.  Until he went under a boat. 

This one is of a barracuda we saw.  Unfortunately you can barely tell because blogger is making all my pictures and videos look grainy lately.  They look fine on my computer and then once they hit blogger... BAM...grain city.

and some lovely Squid

After a few hours we decided to head back to the resort to relax.

View of our resort, Grand Velas from the beach

One of our favorite eats on this trip was Mexican ceviche.  When the butler was making his rounds on the beach we ordered us up some drinks and ceviche.

This was my only complaint about the resort.  We were told that all NON-motorized water sports were free to use (i.e. kayaks, etc).  So when we decided to take their paddle boards out for a spin they told us that it would be $60/board for one hour!  Since when did paddle boards grow motors?  Last time I checked our at home then didn't have motors.  Maybe they grow them different here in Mexico.  Thanks to my quick thinking I plead the "but its our anniversary" card and got them to knock the price down a lot!  It wasn't free, but it was way better than $60 a board for an hour.

That night we went to the farwell dinner on the beach.  After dinner they had a DJ and dancing.  If you know us at all you know that we don't dance.  So we promptly excused ourselves and left.

At Grand Velas we had our own personal concierge/butler assigned to us for the entire stay.  He seriously catered to our every need.  Literally EVERY need.  If we had needed assistance in the bathroom, I'm sure he would have helped out with a smile on his face.  When we had issues getting a response from the company that booked us for the Whale Shark tour he took matters into his own hands and got confirmation and instruction for us.  His name was Jullian and Clayton fell head over heels in love with him.  He even wants to name our first born (male or female) Jullian.

Clayton had snuck out at some point during the day (without me knowing) and told them that it was anniversary.  He asked them if they could do anything for our anniversary, like drop off a rose or something. 

After we snuck out of the dancing we headed back to our room and found this beautiful bouquet.

This might be TMI, but they even filled up our tub and put rose pedals.

Anniversary card from Grand Velas

There was also a single rose on the bed.

Needless to say it was a very special night.  I am so thankful for a husband that even on vacation (because that in itself is special enough) he will go the extra mile to make things memorable.  Also thanks to the wonderful people at Grand Velas who went out of the way to help us celebrate this special day.