Flew down on CO 464. Not a seat to be had in the back so I had to cockpit jumpseat and lo and behold it was ship 416, a 900ER, one of the newest in the fleet! No crushed coffee cups or old charts fell out of the jumpseat when I folded it down and locked it into place! Everything was clean as a whistle, the paint on the dash wasn't chipped, even the little decals on the knobs were there! The nav display had a new wrinkle, not only would it give you the standard God's eye view of the route but also a horizontal display that would show the angle of climb, waypoints as you passed them, and would give a red area showing terrain and angle of climb to clear. It would also show if you were below the MEA, MOCA, or MRA for a given sector. But enough of the techno talk. Approach into Cancun was fun, vectored into a 100 degree turn to intercept the ILS,whatup wit dat? Very gusty cross wind made the short final real work for the captain. The landing was firm but right on the centerline and with the wind blowing the way it was, I would not have wanted to try it even in a sim.
Never having been to Cancun before I was thankful that the FO had and explained I had my choice of transportation to the town, expensive, and ridiculously expensive. I give the Mexicans credit. They know when they have a fish on the hook and how to play it! 50 bucks for a cab ride or 12 for a minivan. I took the 12 buck option. I'm sure there must be a city bus that goes out that way but I didn't have time to investigate where to find it. Not all of those airport workers must own a car. The scenery from the airport to to the beaches was nothing to write home about. Fortunately it is a short trip since not only was there no real scenery to look at but a woman in the back of the van was doing her best to keep up the traditional belief that all Americans are boorish. So I asked to be dropped at the beach and the driver obliged!
The wind was really blowing down by the water. Had to be a steady 25mph with gusts to 35mph. Right off the water too so the waves were stacking up. I haven't seen surf like this since I was out at the north shore of Oahu. The red flags were flying! But even with the wind the temp was perfect at around 80F.
But even all the warnings didn't stop at least one idiot from thinking he was bullet proof. Rather than find a nice spot to cozy on up to his girlfriend he was seriously contemplating going out into the surf. There are rocks all along the surf line and farther out I'm sure under water. Not the place to be getting tossed about by angry waves!
I decided to leave before he got into trouble and I got stupid trying to save him.
Farther down the beach, a hotel bar with swings for seats! Thankfully for the bar the sand is soft.
I was surprised at how narrow the beach is. In some spots no more than 20-30 feet wide. The surf on this day would run all the way up to the hotel foundations.
But even though it was rough, it was still a beautiful color!
If the beach was too rough for you, there was always the hotel pool to retreat too. I saw several very interesting ones this is just a sample.
Didn't make it all the way downtown as I was only on the ground for 4 hours when you discount arrival and departure prep time. I started thinking on my way back I should have gone there first since that shoreline would have been on the lee side of the wind and the beaches would have probably been a little nicer. Oh well next time. No new 900ER on the way back. It was a trusty 300 and there were plenty of seats available in the back. That was good since after all that walking I was tired. Had the row to my self so I stretched out. Hope the pictures warm you popsicle's up a little. It was a fun day indeed, thanks for coming along!
- I know you only post these things to annoy me !
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Perhaps he can make the self-loading cargo with your crown of jewels move into his office. Of course anyone with an ounce of taste will recognize thy royal crown as tacky, gaudy, and demeans us lesser peasants. But that is the point, so well done with your choice 
