Cayo Coco, Day One.

If you ever find yourself in Cuba, looking for something to do for the weekend, hop in a car for 6 hours, and drive to Cayo Coco. Seriously, you will not regret it.

Cayo Coco is a caye just northeast of the mainland of Cuba, with a handful of resorts scattered around the island. Our home for the weekend was called Hotel Iberostar, and it was great - decked out with pools, a spa, a couple of nice dining areas, a mini gym, a cigar lounge and direct access to the beach. There were even daily and nightly activities to partake in, had we so desired (think water aerobics and evening dance shows). The hotel was also full of Europeans and Canadians. Lots of Canadians.

The entrance to the hotel.

This sweet car was a permanent fixture in the lobby.

Of all the traveling I've done, not much of it has been spent at resorts, so it was pretty exciting to be in an "all-inclusive" hotel. You can not imagine my joy at discovering that we could get hot dogs and french fries at any time of day. The last time I was at an all inclusive hotel was when Daniel and I went skiing in Uludag, Turkey. While it's incredibly convenient to have everything taken care of, it's just a style of traveling to which I am unaccustomed. Needless to say, it was nice.

After we had dropped our stuff off in our rooms, we proceeded to do things in order of greatest importance. So, obviously, we hit up the restaurant by the pool for hot dogs and french fries, first. When we had finished eating, a guy came around to our table with a hawk perched on his arm, asking if we wanted to pet and hold the hawk. It took us about a second to think that one over.

Hawks = Awesome. Also, check out my shiny, new engagement ring! :)

Our next mission: Find the beach and do a whole lot of nothing.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Missing this view, right about now.

As you can imagine, we were pretty spent after our tough afternoon of frolicking in the ocean. We cleaned ourselves up, and made our way to the main restaurant area for some dinner. We managed to catch the last little bit of the hotel evening show, and I stopped in at the hotel gift shop to pick up some post cards, but we didn't stay up too late. Much to our excitement, we had some scuba diving to look forward to the next morning!

A 90 mile swim.

As I type, there is a woman in the final stages of her swim from Havana, Cuba to the Florida Keys. If she makes it, Diana Nyad will be the first person to have made the 90 mile swim without the use of a shark cage, setting a pretty incredible record. She calls it her "Xtreme Dream".

All I could think about when I saw the headline was how staggering a task that really is. I am no long distance swimmer, so I can't say I know what she's going through. I have, however, battled the currents of the Cuban waters while scuba diving along Havana's coast, so I can attest to the fact that swimming against those waters is unbelievably difficult. No doubt, it is beautiful, but those currents are strong.

For example, on one of my last days in Havana, a few of us were hoping to go for a dive just off of the rocks in Havana. It was a sunny day, but the waters were pretty rough, so we weren't sure if we should go. Ultimately, we were up for an adventure, so we just decided to go for it.

That dive was easily the hardest dive I've ever been on.

Getting in the water proved difficult from the get-go (that should have been our first sign). The waves were mildly rough, but we jumped in, put our gear on and had a solid drift dive. The plan was to drift along the coast for a couple hundred meters (about 50 minutes), and resurface where we could climb out in an "easier" location (with some rudimentary steps leading out of the water). As it happened, we missed the exit point by about 50 meters. We inflated our BCDs and surface kicked against the current for what seemed like hours. Most of the time, it felt like we weren't even making any progress. But alas, we made it to our originally planned exit point. We got battered by waves coming in, and took a few tumbles. Once we reached the exit spot, we realized that there wasn't really an exit (*facepalm*). So, we threw our gear over a ledge, hopped over a wall, and walked across a wave-bashed cove, bracing ourselves whenever a big wave hit. We finally reached a spot where we could lift ourselves up and onto the street.

The dive information from someone's logbook that day.

It is no surprise to me that there has yet to be a successful attempt (perhaps today is the day?) at swimming the 90 miles between Havana, Cuba and the Florida Keys. Having experienced even slightly the natural elements of those waters, I am even more staggered by Diana Nyad's attempts. Seriously, more power to her. This is her website, if you want to follow her in her last few miles.

4pm Update: Just before 2pm Eastern time, Diana Nyad becomes the first person to successfully complete the swim from Havana, Cuba to the Florida Keys without the aid of a shark cage.
http://us.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/americas/diana-nyad-cuba-florida-swim/index.html?hpt=hp_t1