Isla Mujeres & Playa del Carmen
November 24, 2010
I can highly recommend visiting an island in the Caribbean… see pics below to see why.
The ferry crossing from Cancun was only 30 mins, so we grabbed the opportunity to have a cold beer and take in the splendour of the inviting Caribbean waters. Our hostel (PocNa) was a 5 minute stroll over to the other side if the island and we settled into our 2nd floor room overlooking the sea – and we even had a balcony!
After waking up at the crack of dawn due to the sun streaming into our room, we made our way to the beach – and what a beautiful beach it was… glorious! Sandbanks everywhere, so you could walk quite far out. I purchased my own snorkel kit, so we spent hours in the rock pools visiting the locals.
Unfortunately our daybag got nicked off the beach just meters from where we were snorkelling – so after running around and checking all the dustbins, we dashed off to the hostel to make the necessary card cancellation calls. We were gutted – my camera, wallet (not much cash), and Dyl´s sunglasses were the most annoying losses, so we spent the rest of our Sunday afternoon in the police station filing a report for our travel insurance. Luckily one of the tourist people were called in for translation assistance otherwise we would have been there all night…
The following day we spent at the beach bar – updating the blog, calls home, re-ordering bank cards, and generally not going back to the beach where our bag got stolen. It was time to move on.
A quick bus trip to Playa del Carmen – what a delightful little tourist spot for our American friends, but nothing compared to Cancun!
Our hostel (Popul Vuh) was a super little place, meters from the beach and very chilled. Out of all the many hostels we´ve stayed at, this breakfast was by far the most impressive – the restaurant bit situated right next to a Mayan ruin – an old lighthouse back in its day.
After a fabulous swim, we took a stroll down the main street to check out the neighbourhood, and managed to find Dyl some new sunglasses and a new daybag for me. It felt good to start replacing the things we´d lost.
We decided to move on to Tulum the following day – we´d read about the amazing ruins on the beach, so we looking forward to heading out.
Our chariot awaits - ferry from Cancun to the Island
Friday afternoon commute - tough job but somebody has to do it.
Commute continues, fighting our way through the crowds and traffic on the island.
The view from our room at hostel Poc Na
Field kitchen being put to good use - fresh guacamole and nachos for din-dins.
Our morning exploration of the island yielded some pretty cool views...
Obligatory island self shot.
Yip, looks like its beer o'clock - you can tell from the angle of the sun through the palm tree fronds.
Creature from the deep lurks in the shallows
Yes, thats me in the distance!
Lots of snorkelling.
Tough day at the office..
Look, its a mermaid!
Pencil fish lurking in a rock pool
Baby zebra fish and a sea urchin
The fish don't give a toss how close you get.
Two types of sea urchin and a black starfish creeping round the back on the right.
I finally bought my own snorkel kit - yay!
Close up of Nemo's house, unfortunately Nemo was out..
Baby ray chilling in the shallows
Think its a little sand shark or another type of ray.
Pelicans doing their thing.
Iguana, no zoom required, just move in until you're nearly touching it.
Extreme close up, thick spined sea urchin and a black starfish from about 3cms away.
Tiny little green crab with the hairiest legs ever!
Ray zooms past.
Post "stolen-bag-lets-have-steak-to-cheer-ourselves-up" dinner
Inside the restuarant - the lights look even prettier after a strong margarita!
Hails at the beach office with a bottle of "island coffee" close at hand.
They are right, these open plan offices really do promote productivity!
Leaving the island, Dyl wearing my aviators after his Von Zippers were nicked. Playa del Carmen, here we come!
Arriving in Playa del Carmen. Our hostel is just past the pink flamingo's on the left, just before the beach at the end of the road.
What a great mo shot.
Mmmmmm tasty resfreshing ice cold Sol with lime and salt - perfect for sundowners on a caribbean beach near you! In supermarkets for only 50p a can.
Dinner is served, pasta carbonara and salad under the palm trees outside our room.
Breakfast with Mayan ruins in the background. Hard to make out, but it was an old lighthouse used to direct the boats over to Coruzol.
Do my sunglasses make me look cool? Damn skippy!
If you’d like to see all the pics in a gallery, click here for the picasaweb gallery.
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1.
Bok | November 25, 2010 at 1:42 am
OMG how is that water?? Woah I am so jealous. LOVE the mermaid pic Bud. So yo, Christmas. Let’s make it happen peeps. Ideas? I need to book flights soon so let me know what you think. Heather and Jim are also really keen. Lots of love, me. xxx
2.
Baffy | November 25, 2010 at 10:36 am
Dude, not so sure on the frogskins……
3.
mccdyl001 | November 25, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Pfffftttttt…. Jealousy makes you nasty lol! Actually they’re my backup pair, it only took me a day to replace the polarised sunnies – on beaches with sand this white and with all the island hopping we’re doing polarised is an essential.