Cancun is balmy in the summertime
29/Aug 2010
Jamie and I spent the first week of August in Cancun. It was our first time to Cancun, and we really enjoyed it! As usual, our “let’s just relax” trip turned in to “oh, I guess we did a lot” trip… happens every time.
The worst part of the trip was the heat and humidity. It was sweltering with >90% humidity. That’s a brutal combination. To top it all off, every time you went inside is was freezing cold and dry. All of that change did its number on me and I wound up getting a cold. Luckily it was towards the end of the trip. It really screwed with me when I was diving though; I had a very hard time equalizing. Diving off of Cancun was actually really good. I don’t think they have too many sites, and everybody wants to sell you trips to Cozumel. We’d already dove Cozumel, so we decided to stay close to Cancun. The reefs were great, and we saw a ton of fish. I honestly didn’t see much of a difference. The only exception was that Cozumel has deeper dives with larger coral formations. We also did our very first wreck dive in Cancun! They sunk a Mexican Navy ship off the coast. It sits at about 85’. Our divemaster took us inside the wreck, which I thought was a blast (although Jamie wasn’t took keen on that).
Our first big trip was the “Jungle Maya Expedition.” This tour was big and burly. It’s definitly geared to active people (although anyone can do it). We traversed zip lines above the jungle, snorkled in 2 different (freezing cold) cenotes, road “Mexican” mountain bikes through the jungle (dirt road), hiked through the jungle, took a 4 wheel trip in a Unimog (hella bumpy), and rappelled into a cenote. It was a long tour. To top it all off, someone (not in our group) started having seizures while we were waiting for our ride home. It was pretty scary. It took the ambulance 45 minutes to get there. She kept going in and out. I feel bad for her; we hope she’s doing well.
The last long trip we took was to Chichen Itza with a stop at Ik Kil cenote. This was the hottest and wettest I had been all week (and I didn’t swim in the cenote). Chichen Itza was pretty amazing. The main building, El Castillo, isn’t as tall as the Nohoch Mul pyramid in Cobá, but it’s still pretty impressive. I was a little sad that we couldn’t walk to the top like we could with Nohach Mul, but it’s better to preserve it anyway. The grounds of Chichen Itza are massive. We had about an hour and a half to explore it. I think was saw it all, but it was hard. We definitely recommend this tour.
Here’s a quick rundown:
- We stayed at the Royal Islander: Not all-inclusive (which we kinda like), but the layout was really odd; it was hard to get to the beach. I’d give it 3⁄5 stars. The staff was amazing; food was average; it was really far from downtown
- Jungle Maya Expedition: This was pretty fun, but it took all day. 4⁄5 stars
- Scuba diving: Nice warm water with lots to see. 4⁄5 stars
- Chichen Itza & Ik Kil Cenote: Awesome to see that kind of stuff. 5⁄5 stars
- Perico’s Restaurant: What a fun place. They have huge margaritas, great food, and a fun atmosphere. What more could you ask for? 4⁄5 stars
- Terraneo: An incredible restaurant in Cancun. Loved it! The “vacio a la mantequilla de ajo” was out of this world. 5⁄5 start
- La Dolce Vita: An Italian restaurant with excellent food and service. 4⁄5 stars
