Last week was a sad week for us, but the arrival last Friday of our friends, Nikki and Mahesh, pulled us out of our slumps. They were only here for a few days and wanted to do diving, diving and more diving. Libby, although certified and having 15 or so dives under her belt, wasn’t feeling up to joining them. But John jumped at the chance to finally get some scuba diving in.
The first day was spent ocean diving south of Playa del Carmen. Although the water was extremely choppy, our group was still allowed to head out. The first site was called “Tortugas” (or “Turtles” for you gringos!). Normally, one can see 10-15 turtles on a dive – we only spotted 4. The second site was called “Barracuda Reef”, a reef with many curves to manuever through. Although we didn’t see many barracudas, we did spot a gigantic eel taking a siesta. We’ll have to try these dives again under calmer waters for a chance to see more marine life.
The following day, our diving posse spent the day exploring some nearby cenotes. Cenote diving is similar to cave diving, with the exception that you are never “very far” from safety. The two dives began at a site called “Dos Ojos” (or “Two Eyes”). The location gets its name from the two similar entrances to the cenote located close to each other. With our flashlights in hand, we played follow the leader through the water filled tunnels, exploring the various stalagmites and stalactites. During the second dive, we stopped at an air-filled dome called “The Bat Cave”. Cenote diving is amazing; we definitely recommend it!
Special thanks to Dave, Karl, Alex, Luis, and Oscar at Abyss Dive Shop for the wonderful experience.
In addition to diving, we also introduced our foodie friends to the many culinary pleasures that Playa has to offer — brownies at Ah Cacao, oh so tender arrachera (grilled, marinated steak) at HC de Monterrey, mojitos and noodles at Babe’s and yummy tacos al pastor. They were impressed, and are already planning their next trip to Playa.
Hanging with Mahesh and Nikki put us back into tourist mode, and we are now planning a few trips. Today, we snuck into Dreams Tulum Resort, an all-inclusive, to spy for our friends Catherine and Brian, who plan to get married there in April. Should be a wonderful wedding. Congratulations on your engagement, guys!
On Monday, we plan to return to Merida where we stayed for one night before initially arriving in Playa del Carmen. We really liked the city and wanted to spend more time there, but at the time, we were anxious to make it to our final destination. Now that our camera is broken and Merida has the closest Canon repair center, we have the perfect excuse to go back. We also hope to finally make it to Akumal for some snorkelling sometime next week.
glad to hear things are looking up – keep smiling and enjoy everyday