Banco Playa

I left Valladolid almost a week ago. Since then I am dealing with a flu 🤧 which I probably have been carrying since Christmas.
I choose Cozumel - a small island off Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s east coast - for my recovery ❤️‍🩹

Before my Bus to Playa del Carmen departed from the ADO bus station in Valladolid, I went with Lisette (from Ecuador) to the „Casa de los Venados“. That is the house 🏠 of two art collectors who have gathered various pieces from all over Mexico and offer a guided tour through parts of their home to the public. It is a nicely decorated building with a lot of interesting paintings, sculptures and furniture. Unfortunately, I had to leave at 11 am sharp so that I didn’t miss my bus 🚌 to Playa del Carmen. In Playa del Carmen, I walked from the bus station straight to the ferry terminal - passing through the VERY touristy area close to the beach. I still had 40 min. until the ferry’s departure. So, I went with all my belongings (including my backpack) to the beach. Spending the waiting time like that was really not too bad 😅 At 6 pm I arrived on Isla Cozumel and walked 15 min. to my hostel (Casa Samay). I was soaked in sweat 😰 since the weather was very hot and humid. A shower later I met Tommy (from Germany) again - which I already knew from Valladolid - as well as Chris (from Canada) who was Tommys neighbour in his Hotel at the time. We had some beers 🍻 and went to the decent restaurant „Casa Cozumil“ for dinner.

Isla Cozumel is a well known diving spot 🤿and I also want to take the opportunity to see some eagle or stingrays and other sea animals here. But due to my flu I still had to be patient. Instead, Tommy and I rented bicycles 🚲 on the next day and cycled to the Sky Reef beach club. We enjoyed the sun and snorkelled in the area. There were many fish 🐟 and also some corals 🪸 near the coast. But snorkeling is simply not the same as diving. 😅

In the following days I made a day trip to Playa del Carmen to see Huesun (from South Korea) again before she would continue her trip to the US - I also already knew her from Valladolid. We went to Akumal beach together to go on a snorkelling tour with big sea turtles 🐢 Before we went into the water she asked me if it’s ok if she can’t swim. I was really surprised 😮 since she told me that she is even a PADI certified open water diver. I wondered how that is possible but she assured me that she is OK with a life west or a BCD (buoyancy control device) - that you typically wear when SCUBA diving. The tour guides where also fine with it 😅
Unfortunately, it was quite windy that day. So the visibility underwater was pretty limited (the video I included is already the best I could do!). But we made it a fun experience anyway.

On another day, I went with Laura (from the UK) to the Tequila Beach Club in the northern part of the island. We decided to go by foot 🦶 it should only have been an hour walking distance but I have entered Tequila Beach Bar in google which is in the opposite direction from our actual destination. So we walked for 2 hours along the coast. It was really unfortunate that two places are called so similar but far away from each other 😕
At the beach club everything was quite pricey though: Beer 🍺 - 5 US$, Guacamole 🥑 - 10 US$, Piña Colada 🍸 - 20 US$, … Anyways, we had a good time and that was the most important thing 😊😎
In the evening we went to dinner in the restaurant „Casa Cuzamil“. The food and drinks were delicious but later Chris invited us to a BBQ of his diving instructor César at his house (César would also become my diving instructor later). They had really good meat 🥩, cheese 🧀, wine 🍷, beer 🍺, tequila 🥃 as well as pecan nuts 🌰 and dates 🌴 - kind of crazy that we were invited although César haven’t even met us before. This shows the hospitality of Mexican people 😊
It should have been an early night because we wanted to rent a car 🚙 to drive around the island on the next morning but instead we stayed until 1 am and I was in bed by 2 am 😅
On the next day Laura and I teamed up with Jack (from the UK) to rent the car. We got a Jeep Wrangler and went to the light house 🗼 in the „Zona Arqueológica El Caracol“ in the south of the island. From the light house we had a great view across the blue water of the ocean as well as the „Laguna Colombia“, the sandy beaches and the green forrest of the archeological site. We spent quite some time ⏱️ there due to the „Bajo el Sol Beach Club Cozumel“ which was also part of the archeological site. Towards the end of the day we drove along the rough coast pointing to the southeast before we drove back to the city and returned the car. 🚙
In the evening, we went to a little food market for dinner that has become my favorite place here on Cosumel. I refrained from alcohol 🚫 the whole evening and went to bed early because - finally - I had recovered and I was ready for my dive on the next day. 😌Read more