playa del carmen and isla de mujeres

As a backpacker, traveling in tourist-spots can always be overwhelming. Maybe I had some of these thoughts in South America when we visited Cusco, Peru (Machu Picchu), or Patagonia in Chile. However, this is totally different. We arrived in tourist-central Playa del Carmen and although no one immediately said so, I think we all wished to turn around and head back to Tulum. We were on the main avenue in Playa surrounded by obnoxious vendors, tourists wearing stupid Mexico shirts and other paraphernalia, and there is a Walmart across the street from our hostel. This is not what we were looking for. The beaches are crowded and dirty. I can’t walk down the street without a store owner yelling at me to look at his necklaces. Why did we come here? Well, I have no idea why we did, but if we are here…we might as well take advantage and do what’s best…go Scuba Diving.
The diving was brilliant. There is something so special and amazing about Caribbean water. The visibility doesn’t get any better and the variety of marine life is astounding.
We saw about 8 giant sea-turtles which made the expensive dive worth it immediately. Our hostel is filled with a great international crowd and as usual we find ourselves having a blast with Israelis, Swedes, Serbians, and Aussies. After 3 days we decide to move on to Isla Mujeres, a small island off of Cancun. The 20 minute ferry ride takes us to another paradise-island…still touristy but not as bad as Cancun and Playa del Carmen. The entire island is 8kilometers so my new running pal, Aussie Jeremy and I take on the island. Everyone rides around in golf carts and I am just another American here in a Mexican resort town. More importantly, we watched the Giants game last night against GreenBay…and you know what that means…my GMen are going to the Superbowl! Epic night. Rough morning. Irish Paul and Aussie Jeremy and myself are heading to a new destination tomorrow. Where we are going I cannot say (although I DO know), because it may or may not be illegal. No worries though, Mom and Dad know where I will be and I have contacts. There will be updates next week after I return. Jess leaves next Sunday which is sad. We have been together for almost 6 months now and I think it will be really weird without her anymore. However, she is moving on and heading to London for work so after a long amazing time together, will be parting ways.