Days Six, Seven & Eight: Playa del Carmen, Mexico October 28 – November 4, 2017

Day Six

With only a few days left in Cancun, Jake and I had two days of excisions left. On day six, we got up pretty early with a couple of our friends and met up with our guide, who took us out on to the beach to a small fishing boat waiting in the water. We were going to do a half day of some fishing! I get pretty sea sick, but I was hopeful I wouldn’t this time (not a smart move, should have bought that Dramamine).

The four of us climbed on board and we set off to about 200 yards from land where the water was choppy, but no where near as rough as it would be farther out. I didn’t last five minutes before I started getting nauseous. While the two fishermen set out lines to find the fish (called Trolling), I chummed for them, a few times; I’m pretty sure they thought it I was pathetic.

After about an hour of no bites, and me heaving over the side of the boat, we dropped anchor and got in the water near the shore where the water was calm and some beautiful coral reefs were below the water. Sadly, we did not bring our go pro so we were not able to get many pictures, which I was very disappointed about.

Once we were back on the boat, we took off back to the resort. Thankfully, I did not get sick on the ride back, I contribute this to the fact that we weren’t idling down the coast, we were moving quickly over the waves, which I thoroughly enjoyed. When our feet were back on dry land, we headed inside to take showers and lay out by the pool for a little while (where Jake and I promptly fell asleep under a canopy for a couple hours). The entire wedding group was going out to dinner that night (as most were leaving the next day), but after Jake and two of our friends (the same two who went fishing with us) went out to the touristy area to visit one of the local restaurants that also happens to have a cenote.

On the way, we came across a really neat art exhibit that was set up on one of the side streets by several artists. I found one guy that I thought was really cool (Daniel Violante Paramo), and I plan on purchasing one of his pieces; one day, when I have the money haha.

When we arrived at the restaurant/cenote, we found out we were not allowed to just sit and have drinks, but they did allow us to go in a see the cenote, which was very neat. This one wasn’t like the one Jake and I went snorkeling in, it was dry, so we were able to walk around in it.

Since it was November 2nd, All Souls’ Day (Los Fieles Difuntos), the local shops and people were gearing up for another celebration that night. There were many “alters” set up on the streets with offerings, including food, candles, flowers, incense, liquor, photographs, food, and personal belongings of the deceased. Other offerings include painted skulls (probably why so many of the shops sell them) and death drawings.

Calling it a night, we headed back to the resort. The next day we were heading over to Cozumel, a little island where many cruise ships dock.

Day Seven

Thankfully, we were able to sleep in a little bit on Friday before walking to the ferry that would take us to Cozumel. I bought some Dramamine the day before so I was ready for another boat ride across the very choppy, but beautiful, water. We walked for about 20 minutes down Calle Quinta Avenida, where we were asked probably 50 times if we wanted to buy tickets to Cozumel (which we already purchased from the guy who sold us the excursions packages on Day Two).

I was so overwhelmed by all the people trying to sell us things I felt like I needed a nap. I get it, selling is their livelihood and it’s how they put food on the table and support their families, but I was so over it by day seven.

Once we arrived at the ferries we were surprised that there were many different companies. We found our line and waited only a few minutes before we were allowed to board. We headed up to the top deck and found our seats. I was getting a bit nervous because our snorkeling reservation was at 11 AM and as we left the dock it was just about 10:15 AM. We also we unsure of where to go once we got to the island, so my anxiety was a bit high; I do not like not knowing.

When we made it to Cozumel and were off the boat, we headed in the direction of the tourist excursions. We finally found a guy wearing the same shirt as the man who sold us our excursions and he pointed us in the right direction. We had only five minutes to run to our boat for our snorkeling excursion, but we made it. I was super excited!

Then I saw our boat. It was tiny, and the glass bottom that we were supposed to be able to look through to see the colorful Gulf of Mexico floor was covered in a layer of algae that no one could see through. The start of the day was not going well. But we paid for the excursion, so might as well go and attempt some snorkeling anyways.

Our boat loaded up with about 15 people or so, way more than I thought could fit, and we set off for some coral reefs. We past several cruise liners (which are enormous when you’re at water level looking up) and finally made it to our first spot to jump in. Right before we were in the water, we discovered that somehow (Jake) the GoPro card was not put back in the GoPro (Jake) after uploading the videos and pictures to the laptop (Jake). So this was so be our second trip snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico without the GoPro; I was not happy, but at least I wasn’t sea sick this time.

After the initial shock of not being able to use the GoPro, we jumped in the water and began exploring the waters beneath us. I was hoping that there would be more sea life than there was the day before, but we were a little disappointed to tell you the truth. Of course there were some neat things to see, but I had set my expectations so high it just wasn’t at all what I expected.

Luckily, one of the guides was taking pictures and we were able to get some pictures together, as well as pictures of some of the sea animal life.

About an hour in the water, we all headed back to the boat and took off back to the dock and unloaded. I was happy to be back on dry land, and even happier to go change into some dry clothes at the near by Hard Rock. Once we were both changed, we headed to a scooter shop where we had reserved a scooter (on Day Two) to ride around the island. Initially, I was going to ride with Jake because I have never driven a scooter (or motorcycle) before by myself, but somehow Jake talked me into renting a second one to drive all by my lonesome. I was terrified. And I do mean terrified.

When the paperwork was completed, we had our keys, and the employee showed me how to work the scooter, we were off. I was still terrified. At one point I had meant to slow down at one of the traffic circles and ended up speeding up instead and cutting off some people (sorry!), so I was really glad when we were able to get to the side of the island that had no traffic. Jake and I even raced a little bit, which was great fun! And of course, Jake is always able to get the most ridiculous videos of me; at the suggestion of one of my friends I even added the theme song from Sons of Anarchy…

When we reached the east side of the island we stopped to take a couple pictures…

…then headed on to eat some lunch at a little sea side restaurant called Chen Rio. Of course the food was, once again, excellent! We even saw an alligator chillin’ in a little cove.

Once we had our food babies, we hopped back on the bikes and set off back to the western part of the island. We passed some of our friends on their scooter as we headed back to turn in ours. All in all, it was a great experience, but I don’t think I enjoy driving in Mexico. If you think DC traffic / driving is bad, go to Mexico.

We headed back to the ferries as the sun was starting to set, and the cruise liners were heading out as well. They were incredible floating cities to see as they started up their engines, blew their horns, and glided through the water to their next port.

When we landed back in Playa del Carmen, we began our walk back to the resort. Of course we stopped in a few shops along the way to grab last minute gifts and souvenirs. My favorite shop was the JellyFish lamp store. These lamps are made from materials natural to the Yucatan Peninsula. “Regional gourds (Langerina Sicecaria) and local jicaras(Crescentia cujete) are combined with seeds, seashells, stainglass and blown glass to make beautiful lamps.” We bought one for our neighbors for taking care of the pup while we were gone. We should have bought one for ourselves, but packing space was limited, so we didn’t.

We also stopped at the Tequila House (or Tequila Hacienda) where they also had a Tequila Museum where I have never seen more tequila in my life. So naturally, we bought some.

Then back to the resort we went, satisfied with the amount of alcohol we purchased. We also bought some at the duty free shop the next day once we reached the airport. So we were not lacking the in the tequila department.

Back at the resort, we took some showers and headed down the the resort’s cigar bar where we relaxed with the Bride and Groom and some friends before we departed the next day. It was the first time in our entire trip when it sprinkled for a couple minutes. After a few drinks we decided to call it a night and we all headed back to our rooms for our last night in paradise.

Day Eight

Our last morning at the resort was bitter sweet. We had everything packed and ready to go by 9 AM, luckily our flight wasn’t until about 3 PM so we were able to order some room service then hang out by the bar until our shuttle picked us up around noon.

Then we were off to the airport. It was bitter sweet leaving, we absolutely loved our time at The Royal in Playa del Carmen, but we missed our sweet pup. Jake says he was ready to go back to every day life, but I was secretly trying to figure out a way to stay and start my own business so I’d never have to leave. Any ideas?

When we left the Cancun airport it was a sunny 80 degrees; our flight back was smooth and quick. We landing in DC around 8:30 PM (EST), where it was 45 degrees and raining. Bleh. Welcome back to reality.

Stay tuned for our next adventure!

Click below to read about our other adventures in Mexico:

Days One & Two: Playa del Carmen, Mexico October 28 – November 4, 2017
Day Three : Playa del Carmen, Mexico October 28 – November 4, 2017
Days Four & Five: Playa del Carmen, Mexico October 28 – November 4, 2017