Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Playas de Mexico

We spent most of last week in some of Mexico's popular beach districts: Playa del Carmen, Cancun and the surrounding islands. Although very touristy, it was a nice way for us to relax before travelling to some more hardcore backpacking areas.

Last Monday (9 dec), day 6 of our 95-day trip, we arrived in Playa del Carmen and relaxed on the beach and in the city. Tuesday was a beautiful (hot) day so we went to Cozumel and went snorkeling at the coral reefs - see the pictures below! On Wednesday we went snorkeling in Cenote "dos ojos" which was a very cool experience. The water was superclear in the cenote, which allows you to see the formation of the rocks under the water. You can swim from one cave to another, although it's so narrow that you may hit your head. After that, we wanted to go snorkeling with turtles in nearby beach Akumal, but due to a very heavy storm we were 'forced' to sit in a beach restaurant for a few hours :)

Last Friday (day 10) we went to Isla Mujeres, a small but gorgeous and less touristy island off the coast of Cancun. The island is only 7 kilometers long and 650 meters wide, but the difference between the rocky coast with heavy waves on the east (ocean side) and the quiet, beach coast on the west and north side is huge. On Isla Mujeres we also visited turtle farm Tortugranja, where turtles and their eggs are protected from predators with help from the government and a visitors fee. This island also offers a nice sunset and delicious food :)

Saturday, we moved to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, a beach town even more popular for Americans (mainly young party crowds). The city is basically a road with a few kilometers of all-inclusive beach resorts. Beaches are nice but the ocean waves were crazy, which is superfun but don't bring any items into the sea.. lost one pair of sunglasses there :(   Our friend Alvaro (jr) flew in from Amsterdam and his family was there to spend the Saturday and Sunday at the beach and pool, before starting a long, long busride via Belize into Guatemala (where we currently are). More about that on the next post!

Our favorite beach was on isla de mujeres: quiet, not too touristy and amazing white sand between the palm trees! 







 Iguanas here are big and there are many



 Isla Mujeres' nice white sand beach.. Paradise! 




 Baby turtles! :)




Cancun !!!