Isla Mujeres – Bridge To Avalon
November 23rd – 25th
This is our relaxing bit of the journey so we spent several days by the pool, shopping and organising the next part of our voyage. On the Sunday we took a boat trip out to Isla Mujeres, a small island about 8 miles out from Cancun. The ferry ride is only 20 mins or so but we all managed to catch the sun in this short space of time, even with the cream on. After all this sun and I am still not brown. I curse these freckles and pale English fluorescent glow every time I see anyone bronzed – yes you know the type who just has to look at the sun and they change colour. I still look like I have arrived straight off the plane.
Isla Mujeres has a chilled vibe about it so I immediately knew I was going to like it. You can hire golf buggies to get you around the island and the buildings are all painted in pastel shades. We are lucky in that our hotel in Cancun has a resort on the island which could use free all day so it was straight there to check it out. A wooden bridge separates the hotel from the island – to bring in yet another film analogy it reminded me of the island where Jaws was filmed – fishing village.
We had hoped to snorkel at the hotel but although the sea was very nice there was not much wildlife about so I arranged a snorkelling tour for the afternoon. The tiny boat was shared with us, another couple and a group of Americans who were doing their first scuba dive (they had been practising in the pool all morning). The boat took us out to the reef (a very fun,bumpy ride) and it was snorkellers out the boat first – fall backwards fashion. I half managed this and sort of half fell, half belly flopped into the water which was really not elegant but a huge source of amusement to the kids. We had life vests on so did not have to worry about treading water. We snorkelled following the divers underneath us which was good fun as you played with all the bubbles coming up. I was very jealous of the divers who all made it look so easy and plan to that (one day…………….). The water had quite big swells so it was also a new experience doing the caterpillar with your body – as your head was underwater you didn’t notice the waves , only when your body moved. I kept a very close eye on the kids as I could imagine sticking my head up and everyone gone………..Fish were bountiful but not as many species as Hawaii and still no turtle for O. Great time was had by all with the exception of 1 American who gave up after 10 mins due to a hangover – he didn’t talk to anyone at all after that.
Other highlights – we ate at The Hard Rock Café as promised for O’s birthday and the treat of dessert too. The food to me is nothing special but I do like to have a good look round and the terrace is right on the beach so you can’t beat the view. It’s ridiculous, I think back and already the days just pass in a blur. I hope the memories of this trip last a bit longer.
Tags: Central America, Travel
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