We had a rather hectic summer, what with our trip of a lifetime to Canada and Alaska, and then a summer full of gigs, we decided as we’d got some dosh left over that we would try and grab a last minute trip somewhere hot and let someone else do the cooking and washing up! Remember when we did the same last year?
This year, we bagged another bargain courtesy of Tui and hopped on a plane from Gatwick to MEXICO 🇲🇽 Ariba!
We travelled with Tui, and were staying at an adults all inclusive, El Dorado seaside suites. Our objective for the week was to sit on the beach and do very little.
Of course, by our third day we were crawling the palm trees and craving some adventures, so got busy booking some excursions for the following days.
First up, we booked to go snorkelling with whale sharks, the largest fish in the world. We were terrified and actually nearly didn’t book it as we were genuinely just too scared. But, not ones to let fear get to us we put our brave faces on and booked it! Pick up was 6am, and the mood on the minibus was anxious lol. An hour in and our guide got the call, it was too rough as a storm was rolling in. Back to the resort we went- deflated but secretly happy haha! We rebooked for our final day, and then booked straight onto a swimming with sea turtles adventure that left later that day.
This experience was amazing, despite it being stormy and the visibility not so good, it was phenomenal. See our video here. We were so close to the turtle it took my breath away. We were in the middle of the sea, and the turtles completely wild, not in captivity and it was just a magical experience. Afterwards we were taken to an underground dramatic cenote in the middle of the jungle, where we got to do more snorkelling in the caves. It was fab!
That evening was Mexican night at our hotel – there was a large mariachi band and lots of superb Mexican food. Yum!
Thursday dawned an early one again, we had booked to go for the day to UNESCO world heritage site, Sian Ki’an- a natural biosphere and area of outstanding beauty. We raced on speedboats through mangroves and travelled trough crystal clear water where we saw more sea turtles and dolphins and then got to snorkel on the second largest coral reef in the world. It was fantastic!!! See our videos here and here
Friday was the main feature; another UNESCO heritage site and one of the seven wonders of the world, Chichen Itza. This was a 4am pick up! But by doing this we got there as it opened at 9am and there were no crowds at all. We spent two hours discovering the huge site of Chichen itza, which was just phenomenal. Words cannot do it justice! Afterwards we were taken to a small traditional Mayan village – we love excursions that allow us to get an insight into the country itself. We brought some hand crafted goodies and met some of the locals. It was brilliant. See our video here
Saturday arrived and it was the rescheduled whale shark swim day! We were very nervous AGAIN! And most of the 2 hour drive to Cancun was spent in silence 😂. We transferred to small boats and were taken out an hour into the open were warned that we may not see these humongous creatures as they are wild and here because they are feeding. But the ocean is huge and we may not find them we were warned.
Luck was on our sides, and before we knew it, we were told to quickly get our fins and masks on. We were to go in in pairs alongside a guide. Guess who got picked to go in first…..! Yup, us. S**T! We were warned not to dilly dally, when they shouted jump, we should jump! The whale sharks were 20ft long – they didn’t need to swim fast for us to struggle to keep up. It was now or never, in we went.
Watch our video here. I’m pretty proud of this video I must say!
Terrified is not the word! Incredible, awesome, mind bogglingly superb are not the words either. We could not have been prouder of each other – the experience rocketed up to one of the best things we’ve ever done- I know we have said that a lot recently!
Afterwards, we were taken to more section of the coral reef for a more relaxing snorkel before being served lunch IN THE SEA! Using life jackets as tables we were served fresh ceviche. What an incredible incredible way to finish our weeks relaxation (ahem!)
The food in the hotel was fabulous. There were numerous ala carte restaurants and you could eat there whenever you liked. The Mexican was our favourite.
The drinks flowed and the beach was great. The beach bbq was the best place to start our mornings for breakfast and mimosas.
What a brilliant week we had and what incredible adventures we’d found ourselves enjoying!
