I landed in Cancun, but that was not my final destination that day, so I made my way outside to the ADO Bus terminal and sat in the scorching heat for two hours until my bus came.

I took the bus to Tulum, and had my first party hostel experience there, which turned out to be an experience that I didn’t wanna necessarily repeat.

Tulum was very nice though. I got around on a bicycle, went to stunning beaches and then decided I wanted to go scuba diving again, so I researched that and found a good place. I booked two dives for one day, one in a Cenote and one out in the sea on the second largest reef in the world.

The day of, I ended up being the only diver that my instructor was taking out, so that was amazing for me. We started in the Manatee Cenote, which sadly didn’t have any Manatees anymore. We waded into the water and went over the techniques and signs, since I hadn’t dived in two years.

When my memory had been refreshed, we fully submerged ourselves and let the air out of our vests so that we would start sinking.

As soon as we were at our desired depth, we started swimming towards the biggest part of the cenote.

We swam around and looked at the fish and the algae, when all of the sudden my instructor motioned me to look up but not to make any sudden movements.

I did, and saw a crocodile/alligator swimming right above me, which was at least a meter bigger than me. After getting over the initial shock, it was really amazing to see an animal like that from below.

Soon after we got out of the water again and had some bananas and sandwiches, while we drove to the beach to be picked up by our boat. We had to wait for a bit but thankfully we were in a beautiful resort with hammocks over the water, so the waiting was quite pleasant.

Then the boat came and we piled onto it. We drove for about 30 minutes before anchoring and getting ready to dive. As soon as we were ready we fell of the boat backwards and started our descent. The reef was absolutely gorgeous and I even had the chance to see my air turn silver and stick to the roof of a rock tunnel.

That was the moment I decided I definitely wanted to get certified, so I would be allowed to dive deeper and in more places.

The next day was my last full day in Tulum, and I cycled to a secluded beach after having the most amazing breakfast at an italian bakery.

The beach was gorgeous and I spent my day swimming, reading and sipping cold drinks.

Afterwards I headed back to pack my bag, as I was leaving early the next morning.

On said morning, I walked to another ADO bus that would take me to Playa Del Carmen, where I spent an awkward four hours walking around, before my ferry to Cozumel came. I originally planned to go to Cozumel to dive, but ultimately decided against it, as the currents are too strong for a beginner diver.

Therefore, I spent the next days snorkeling, which was stunning, as I saw pufferfish and rays without having to swim out.

I also explored the island on foot, finding amazing small restaurants and shops off the beaten path.

Then it was time to go back to Cancun.

My first impression of Cancun was that it seemed like a cheap Las Vegas, and I still stand by that. I did not like Cancun much, but I did meet some amazing people there, and we ended up going on a Chichen Itza Tour together.

The tour guide was unfortunately not that great, as he spent most of the tour talking about his family instead of the temples around us, so we did not learn a lot about them. It was still astonishing being surrounded by these enormous temples and imagining how they must’ve looked when they were still colorful.

After we were done with the tour, we were driven to a Cenote, were we had to jump in to get in, which ended up being really fun, albeit the water was a bit too cold to stay in.

On the bus back to Cancun we decided we would go for a sunrise swim in the sea the next morning, which we did end up doing.

Unfortunately there wasn’t much of a sunrise at all, so it was a wasted effort, but the sunset that evening was absolutely stunning.

That was also my last night in Mexico, as I was going to Guatemala the next morning.