A quick walk around from the hostel to the ferry port then a hop over to San Pedro to check out of Belize. The ride over was smooth and we arrived in Mexico for strict checks by a dog to ensure we had not smuggled in any fruit then two different desks until we were officially in Mexico. The options for getting to Tulum were either waiting 6 hours for a bus or a private transfer - I went with the second option as it was less than £20 and Chetumel did not look exciting with a load of luggage.

As there weren't many people going to Tulum they took us in taxis - I ended up in a taxi with 3 large Aussie guys so rather squashed for the luckily short (ish) ride of 3 hours to Tulum.

Once in Tulum I settled into the dorm, had a dip in the pool then went out to organise a dive for the next day. As I missed lunch I decided on a snack before dinner but the helping of guac and chips was so large that I didn't really have an appetite for the community meal at the hostel.

Up bright and early for my cenotes dives the next day and found it was only me and the dive instructor - Ken from the UK. This was great as the cenotes are not large spaces and I won't be crowded out of what there was to see. The first dive was a 30m dive in the Pit - a deep cenote with a halocline (where salt and fresh water mix) and a gas bootom from the vegetation that falls into the pool. The dive was amazing - the water is so clear that it doesn't look like it is there at all and the other divers just look like they are flying in the air. Looking up through the water you see rays of light coming down creating amazing effects and divers air bubbles rising straigt to the surface like jewels. There are also stalagtites and stalagmites and even some Mayan pottery. Due to the depth of the dive only advanced qualified divers could do it which did reduce the number of people doing it.

Next two dives were at Dos Ojos - shallow dives and loads of snorkellers in the entrances to avoid. One dive led to a rather strange model of a crocodile eating a Barbie doll (the Barbie line) and the other to enormous bat cave - no sign of Chritian Bale or Michael Keaton but loads of bats trying to sleep - cool!

Really glad to try another type of dive and a good way to end the diving part of my trip. Now to relax and enjoy the beaches after a quick tip to the Tulum ruins the next day. These were small compared to Tikal but huge in visitor numbers - loads of bikini'd tourists straight off the beach and their all inclusive hotels. Because of this the site lost the mysticism of the other sites I had visited and I quickly headed to La Eufemia beach club where I spent the next day and a half relaxing, drinking, eating, chatting, swimming and reading.

I loved the relaxed vibe and quiet beaches of Tulum and hoped my trip to Isla Holbox would not be a disappointing end to the trip - particularly as people were saying the whale sharks had moved on around to Isla Mujeres - my main reason for going there. We would see....