After the cave-adventures in Tulum we went straight for the peak of the yucatan and the tranquilo islands of Cancun. Unlike its mainland neighboor, who is best known for tequila-shotting college-kids from the states, Isla Mujeres is a very small, laidback place. The award - winning hostel just about every traveller goes to also plays its part in making this place a great destination. It has a large beach area, with a bar, sand - volleyball field, ping pong and nice people. We arrived at the island in the later hours of the day, and strangely as it sounds the first thing we did after we arrived was to rent a golf cart to cruise the island for an hour. I had been regretting not getting one in Caye Culker, and when I saw that also here people get around on golf carts, I couldn´t resist.
On our sightseeing tour we drove past a tour-operator who was offering a ride out to see the whale-sharks feeding of the island this time of year. Yes!
I was told that this is the only place on earth where you find large steams of whale - sharks staying in the same area, at the same time of year every year. Wether this is true or not, I´m not sure of, but i definately choose to belive so.
So after a night of socialising with parts of the massive pack of argentinians staying at the hostel we were of for a full - day whale-shark excursion!
Unlike the last time me and Karen were supposed to get on a boat, we were the first ones to show up at the pier, ready for a close-encounter with the biggest fish on earth.. I was kind of disappionted to see the amount of boats that were cirkeling the area when we arrived about an hour - long boat - ride after. The captains communicate on radio to locate the sharks, and being a fan of the non-turisty scene this was a bit much for me. Nonetheless, dozens of sharks shoved up shortly after and before I knew it I was in the water with a 11-12m shark swimming towards me. My fellow snorkler, Karen, didn´t notice it as she was fumbling with her mask. The monster shark came at her mouth open, and I tried to grab her arm and drag her out of its way. The shark didn´t seem to be bottered at all and just pushed her out of the way himself. Despite of its size, and the fact that its mouth is more than big enough to swallow a human being whole, whale sharks only eat plankton, krill, fish eggs and other tiny things. So even though we all got a bit worked up, the situation was pretty harmless.
Swimming side by side by this massive creature is a very humbiling experience. Out of respect for the animal, I never touched it, but I was smore than close enough to do it..
The tour was wrapped up with free coronas and ceviche at the gorgeous beach of Isla Mujeres. At this point I had very mixed feelings about how the day had turned out. Obviously very excited about what I´d just done, but also a bit sad about sponsoring the already way to touristy whale-shark exhibition in the open water. Not knowing anything about whale-shark behaviour i don´t know wether the amount of tourism on their feeding-grounds bothers them or not. All I know is that I would have hated it if a throng of eager peekers showed up at my dinner-table, running around and taking pictures of me. It was all just a little bit to much..

I spent two more days on Isla Mujeres with Karen just reading on the beach, playing volleyball and eating tacos. The beach is stunning, the people very pleasant and the atmosphere very open and relaxed. I´m left with new acquaintances and great memories from the Mexican island adventure. Now yet again a sole traveller my course is set west towards mayan ruins and the border-crossing to Guatemala.