Day 66 - 67 Playa del Carmen, Mexico

We flew into Cancun and got a shuttle bus down the coast about an hour to Playa del Carmen. It was bloody hot and the sun was intense. We found our hostel which was 20m from the beach, dumped our stuff in our room and got a recommendation for some good local Mexican for lunch. The 10min walk to the restaurant left us sweating like crazy and even more hungry and thirsty.

The restaurant, El Fagon, didn't disappoint. We ordered the chicken fajitas to share and a few cold drinks. The food was amazing, so much flavour and so fresh, the salsa and guacamole was great and we knew we would be coming back.

We wandered the main streets of 'Playa' and booked a day tour for the next day. We were off early in the morning to go snorkelling with whale sharks off the northern coast of Mexico.

The van picked us up from our little hostel at 6am. We continued to drive up and down the coast for the next hour picking up more people from enormous resorts. By the last one we were starting to get alittle peckish so while waiting for the next couple of tourists to jump on board, a few of us ducked into the lobby where they had coffee, tea and pastries for residence of the hotel, and hungry Australians passing by.

The van was full and we were now able to head up the coast to a small port, just north of Cancun. We ate some breakfast, picked up all our snorkelling gear and jumped into a boat that fit the 10 of us (a German and a Dutch couple and a family of 4 hilarious Americans), the captain and our guide. We were off to find the whale sharks. The sun was shining, the water was a beautiful blue and the day was perfect. Not long into the hour and a half boat ride out to the middle of the ocean, the seas started to get alittle rough. The Dutch couple swapped places with us at the back of the boat as it was all alittle too much for them as we charged over a few big waves. The next event was the young American girl broke a seat going over a big wave and then proceeded to screech at her dad that she never wanted to come on this trip and she was going to die. All the while Brendan and I along with the German couple were smiling and just trying to make the most of it.

After a few jokes were made and spirits lifted, we made it out there and everyone was still smiling besides a few now being sea sick. There were about 15 boats out there, filled with sea sick snorkelers vomiting over the sides of their boats and only some getting their gear on. We were about 25kms out to sea and the depth was around 600 feet. The water was a brilliant dark blue but so clear. We were not sure about how much of a personal encounter we were going to have with the whale sharks with so many people around but within minutes we were reassured. Surrounding us were between 30-40 whale sharks, all just coasting around feeding on Plankton and showing us their beautiful spots. They ranged in size from 8-18m. You could only go 2 at a time in the water with the guide, Brendan and I were the first ones in.

We jumped in and before we knew it we had a 12m whale shark swimming towards us, its huge mouth opening to take in 6 tons of water an hour. This was just incredible. We didn't think anything would come close to our experiences in the Galapagos but this was right up there. We snorkelled right next to them, above them and dove down to look at their huge gills, their enormous size and stare straight into their eyes. They look like they are just cruising so slowly through the water but you have to really work to stay up with them. They have so much power with their huge tail. I was floating above one as it passed just a metre under me and then I forgot about its huge tail until the last minute. It swept right past my body, my hands touching its fin, this thing was MASSIVE!

Brendan and I were the last ones back into the boat too as most were still feeling quite sea sick and only went in the water a few times. By this time there were no other boats out there either so we had the whole water and whale sharks to ourselves.After having a number of different chances to snorkel with them and being so close to such enormous animals, we jumped back in the boat with beaming smiles. Who would like a beer, the captain asked, 'yes please' we all replied. We headed back to a small island called Isla Mujeres for another opportunity to snorkel but this time on the reef. While we all jumped in the shallow green water, and snorkelled around for another 30 minutes, the Captain and guide prepared ceviche for lunch.

Brendan and I bought another underwater camera and took, what we hoped, would be some amazing shots of us swimming with the Whale sharks. However, I then accidently did a very stupid thing. As I threw the camera off the boat to Brendan to take the last few photos on the reef, it hit one of the side canopy bars of the boat and a small piece broke off. Obviously a piece that makes it waterproof. The camera was now filled with water and we had lost all the photos of the whale sharks. I felt horrible and there was nothing I could do. So everyone is just going to have to take our word for it that they were absolutely amazing and just enormous.

The day ended with some great ceviche, cold beer and a last minute swim in the warm Caribbean water before we went back to the port and onto the bus back to our hostel. It was an amazing day and well worth every dollar.

We had had a great time in Playa and we are now heading to Tulum, another hour down the coast.