El Tukan Condotel Suites & Beach Club Playa del Carmen

... the rest of my three days diving and what superb diving it is. I see a nurse shark, octopi, manta rays and sea snakes. Over the few days I also mark up a personal best for deepest and longest dives but best off all I have my first night dive. So much life underwater at night, amazing capturing a moving octopus with the beam of your torch resulting in it glowing white and purple as it flows across the sea bed. Five of us come to ...

... br>The nightlife on Cozumel is limited, many of the visitors are just there for a day but we have one touristy night out drinking too many oversized margaritas at Jimmy Bufffet’s Margaritaville and then a yard of something frozen at Senor Frogs. Cozumel is not somewhere we could spend a long time but if you hire a car (or a dune buggy!) the beaches on the other side of the island away from the main town are lovely, sandy and very quiet.

... that are of interest. We are at the Dos Oyez area and take two lines, the Barbie Line and the Bat Cave. In the latter we surface in a huge cavern, full of bats that can only be reached by underwater tunnels or a small hole in the roof. Its an amazing experience and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone passing through the area. There are thousands of miles of Cenotes along the coast, we barely explore a kilometre.

Sunday, 30 August, Day 219<br><br>Playa Del Carmen, Mexico<br><br> Ze Germans got off the bus an hour before me to see some more ruins on a beautiful beach, but I kept going and got off at about 8:00am in the party town of Playa Del Carmen. A Caribbean resort town, Playa Del Carmen was like a backpackers version of Cancun. It was very touristy with expensive everything and no culture. Still, I loved it. After wandering around for half and hour I found a hostel and ...

... on my way for the short hour trip. The air-con on the bus was welcoming but about 15 minutes into the trip I my teeth were chattering... brrrrr... Ride was uneventful - definitely not an interesting countryside.<br><br>Arrived in Playa and made the 500m trek to the hotel El Elefante. I checked in and dumped my bags and met the girl who was sharing my room - Teryn, then headed down to ...

... from a supermarket far from the main tourist drag so we managed to enjoy ourselves, but the dollarfied prices of everything meant that as poor backpackers we were unable to fully enjoy what the town had to offer. If I'd been able to spend my 'until I get a job budget' in a week here would probably have loved it! Aha, also is hurricane season and the recent threat of hurricane Ike swooping over from Texas and washing everyone away probably contributed to the quiet atmosphere.

... 2pm, it started raining, and we took cover, then decided to go snorkelling, Liz had 2 masks, so I didn't have to pay any overblown prices. We spent about 45 minutes in the water, and saw 3 beautiful turtles, and a skool of fish. Definitely worth it. I just arrived, had a shower, and am going to go and look for apartments,-I've been told it's possible to rent a room for 100-200 US dollars a month, which would suit me perfectly, oh and eat something. Peace Out

... and will forever be in our hearts. May the wind and waves of the sea wash away the pain and may their footprints in the sand lead Jill and Sara towards new horizons at each new dawn. Love lives on!

... is fed by the Ocean and an underground river and is far cheaper. We make it to the collectivo stand and they pack you in the bus driver doesn't really speak English and there are only about 4 non-Mexican's on the bus. I will say though ALL the Mexican's here are very friendly and we feel absolutely safe everywhere. So we tell the bus driver where we are going and we have a little map to help us along. We drive about 20 ...

... tells the driver which Akumal stop we need. We are dropped off on the side of 307, and follow the nice sidewalk back toward the arches. Our first stop is at Lucy's, but she's apparently not open yet and there's no camera sitting outside at the tables. So we head under the arch and stop at the bar. Chris can explain our situation in Spanish, and so chats with the bartenders at Lol-Ha. They are very nice and helpful, and not ...