Saturday, 20 June was our last day in Puerto Merelos. We packed up our room, put on loads of sun cream and walked down the beach towards the fancy hotels... the ones that cleared the seaweed. We had yet to have a proper swim in the stunning turquoise water. After an hour of walking past lots of fancy hotels and not so fancy ones, we stopped for a swim. The water was absolutely gorgeous - warm and clear. We rinsed off in the hotel's outdoor showers and wandered ho...

After breakfast we joined the Americans, Eve and Servern, for a day at the Cenotes. A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. They are hundreds all over the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and definitely a must-see when visiting the area. Some cenotes are open, like a pool, while others are under ground and require you to climb down below the surface and into a cave to explore the...

We woke up early with the warm air coming into our room. We went down for breakfast and, after eating our full of fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice and scrambled eggs, we cycled into town. We explored the town a bit and then went searching for the white-sand-seaweed-free beaches. Honestly, I think people's expectations of "white sand" are pretty low. Cape Town really does have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. So, chalk one up for Cape Town fo...

We flew through the night and landed bright and early in Cancun. So early that nothing was open.... not ideal! We picked up our luggage and made our way outside. As we stepped out of the aircon airport and was greeted by a wall of hot and humid air. Phew... hello Mexico! Hello Summer! After a bit of negotiating we got a good price on our taxi to our first stop - Puerto Morellos. We showed our taxi driver the address of our hostel but he pulled over just outside...