Isla Mujeres, Cancun beach life and New Year partying

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A few more days were spent on the beach before we decided to take a day trip to a nearby island called Isla Mujeres, from where we are staying in the hotel zone the port where you get the boat is only 5mins away and the trip to the island is only around 30mins. When I arrived to the port it seemed a bit familiar and after a while I realised that I have been to the island before although last time it was in the night and also for a booze cruise so slightly different circumstances this time.

As soon as we set foot on the island after listening to a Mexican bloke with a guitar during the crossing we were immediately pounced upon by different tour people trying to sell their tours to us. We didn’t really have anything planned for the day so when one of the guys mentioned a snorkelling tour we showed some interest and signed up, the price was £15 which was quite good for a few hours snorkelling and lunch included. We waited a few minutes while the other victims were gathered...when we eventually got on our little boat we were joined by 8 other people who all seemed to be Mexican so the whole boat was full of Spanish speakers including the guys taking the tour apart from 1 guy with minimal English so we just sat there pretending we knew what they were on about for the 1^st half an hour and it wasn’t until we were about to get in for our 1^st snorkel that they realised we didn’t understand Spanish so the 1 guy who knew a bit kindly translated some info about what we were about to do which helped us out. When we did get in the water we did manage to see quite a lot of fish, all shapes and sizes and different colours which was really good and we had a good 45mins to have a swim around, it was quite strange though as only me, Karl and 2 others went into the water to snorkel and the rest stayed on the boat...bit weird to pay for a snorkelling trip and you don’t actually go in the water! We then made numerous attempts to try and get a picture of us next to the fishes under the water...after a lot of hard work trying to dive down deep enough while holding our breath we managed to get a few snaps but I think we are going to have to work on our underwater photography skills as most pics had half of us in or no fish! We then motored our way round to another snorkelling hot spot and spotted some more fish before having some lunch. The lunch was on a little beach with crystal clear waters and a great view of Cancun in the distance, we had some fresh seafood which was delicious and I spoke to a few people that were on our tour with my limited Spanish before boarding the vessel once again...there was an area where you can get in the water with sharks but there was a lot of people waiting and also we thought it didn’t look that great having a bloke just hold a shark while you get in the water for a photo as im sure you would have to pay to go in and its a bit of a false environment. Just as we were about to get back on the boat a Mexican woman that was on our boat (got to be in her 50’s) wanted a picture with me and Karl (don’t know for what reason!) so we agreed but she didn’t want our autograph’s which we offered....strange haha! It was back to the departure point after that and then the boat back with another Mexican onboard to entertain us but this time it was just a singer and we couldn’t hear a word he said because of the wind so we didn’t tip that geezer.

A few more beach days and not doing much else passed before we ended up giving in to our ‘no going out because it’s too expensive’ stance after a German bloke called Toby and 2 German girls Corinna and Sonia from our hostel persuaded us to go out with them as it was all their last night in Cancun...we did all agree we didn’t want to spend too much money so we went in search of a bar that is busy and also where we can get in a cheap as poss. After speaking to the girls we found out that most nights that had gone out, told the bouncers they have no money then have been let in for free...as we all know getting in free happens all round the world but only for girls! They did try getting us guys in for free too but we had to settle for a bit of a discount so it wasn’t too bad...they did well! In Cancun every bar has a cover charge then open bar once you’re in so we ended up paying around £10 for this place called Congo which is a bar but has a dance floor and is open till 4am so could be classed as a small club as well I guess. We all had a great night but it was a bit strange having American music playing again after only really hearing the Latin American stuff for the past 3 and a half months so my new dancing style couldn’t really fit in to the environment so we had to adapt our moves but is was soo busy that it didn’t really matter near the end with everyone having about 2 foot of space so we left and headed back to the hostel...with me and Karl using words like ‘Argen Vargen’ on the walk back purely because we didn’t know what the others we saying as they were all speaking in German...they found it quite funny, apparently it sounded more Dutch but im pretty sure it wasn’t any form of language.

The next day we said our goodbyes to the others for now as we may see them again on the road, chilled out during the day with some table tennis at the hostel and then in the evening awaited Alfie’s arrival who is a friend from back home that is coming out to meet us for a month or 2. After around half 12 at night Karl came back into the dorm room and said there was no sign of him so we went to sleep and thought we would find out whether he is in a different dorm or something in the morning as there was no way of getting hold of him. The next morning which was new years eve I rose from my bed to make my way to the showers and with my eyes just about open I glanced to my right looked into the lower bunk and there was someone looking at me but I couldn’t work out whether it was Alfie or not so I turned round then he called my name so a checked back again and it was him....he said he had got in around quarter to 1 so we just missed him. It was a bit of a shock to see him there and he said he wasn’t sure if it was me at first due to my growing fro on my head ha. We then all got up and took a stroll to watch the football which didn’t go too well...enough said, then we hit the beach...it was then that I realised I do have a bit of a tan for the first time ever at the moment after standing next to Alf. An hour or 2 in and we decided to hit the shopping mall as we were all turning a bit rouge and we didn’t want Alfie getting 3^rd degree burns on his 1^st day. A visit to a few places then led to hooters for dinner before going back to the hostel getting changed and heading to a club called Dady’O’s where one of the members of the Black Eyed Peas was going to be performing to see the New Year in. We had managed to get ourselves VIP passes which included a table for a lower price than the standard ticket as the bloke who sold them to us worked in a bar where we have been watching the football so he did us a favour. We weren’t sure whether we would actually end up getting the VIP treatment or not but when we arrived and saw the queue backed up quite a way we went straight to the front showed our wrist bands and we were let straight in...result! I’m sure some of the people at the back of the queue would of still been outside at midnight because it still took us a while to get to our table, once we were there we had our own waiter who served us all night and as it was an open bar all the drinks were included. We had a great view of the stage where Alp.de.ap from the Black Eyed Peas (probably one of the most unfamous out of the group) was and he did a good DJ set although we thought he might of got more involved with the crowd than he did, we then danced the new year in along with the thousands inside the club.

Next day it was more beach time and also sorting out the next few days where will be heading to a nearby town called Playa del Carmen...

Happy New Year and all the best for 2012 !!

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