Our flight from Mexico City landed in Cancun a little after 9 pm. Once we collected our bags, we faced the challenge of getting to Playa del Carmen. First, we attempted to call an Uber — no luck. It’s banned in Cancun. We tried another app called DiDi, which looked like it would work but apparently, they don’t allow ride-share pickups at the Cancun Airport, so we ended up having to find a bus.
Getting into Playa del Carmen past 10 pm, a taxi took us the rest of the way to our accommodation, a cute but windowless apartment with a full kitchen. We were looking forward to doing our (Wini’s) own cooking again!
The next morning, our mission was simply to stock up our kitchen. We walked to the nearby Soriana’s grocery store. Wini was still feeling under the weather from our time in Mexico City, so we spent the rest of the day eating home-cooked meals and working on our blog/planning the next steps of our travels.
Feeling better the next day, we set off for Esmeralda Beach. It was a peaceful 45-minute walk along a touristy promenade that led us to a gorgeous beach.
We found a spot close to a hotel guard to drop our bags and towels and we ran into the waves. It wasn’t the warmest day (with some alarming-looking clouds in the sky), but we floated out in the water, taking in the beauty of our surroundings.
After our dip, we pulled out our Kindles and had a nice day reading by the ocean. After a couple hours the rain clouds got closer, and the atmosphere shifted; we quickly decided to pack up and start our walk home.
Only a couple steps into our walk, the sky opened up on us. We had to hurry under a nearby cabana to cover Wini’s camera bag with her rainfly. However, we accepted our wet reality and started on our journey back in the downpour.
Luckily, these tropical showers don’t last long, and the rain stopped, revealing a rainbow over the ocean! #gay
Back at our cozy place, we realized we had run out of drinking water, so I ran out to the grocery store for water jugs, while Wini whipped up a delicious dinner. We settled in for an early night, as we had planned a trip to the nearby island of Cozumel the next day!
We got caught in torrential rains on the way to the ferry but made it on time for the 8am sailing. We boarded and took seats on the top deck, which ended up being a mistake because soon after departure it started to rain! We had to make a mad dash to find new seats, but then it was a beautiful 45-minute sailing to Cozumel.
Our search for a scooter rental worked better than we had hoped. I read online that you’d need to haggle for the best scooter price and they would charge you anywhere from $25-75 USD for the day. When we bought our ferry tickets they tried to convince us to rent from them for $75 because “they would charge more on the island”, but we turned that down. So when we rocked up to the first scooter rental place we saw and he offered us one for $25 plus complimentary flippers, we were immediately sold! (Shoutout Geraldo at HTL Rentals).
We rented for the day, and drove around the island, getting caught in the chilly rain a couple of times.
The west coast of the island is largely dominated by resorts and amusement parks, but when we rounded the southern tip of the island, the east coast was a peaceful escape. We pulled off the road several times to take in the deserted beaches and breathtaking views.
We found a secluded beach to enjoy our lunch in a makeshift hut, watching the rain come down in the distance.
After doing almost a full loop of the island, we decided to backtrack along the east coast, and we stopped in at Coconut Beach Bar that was mentioned in some of the blogs we read.
We continued down the road to find a good stop to snorkel. We navigated to one of the areas Geraldo suggested: Sky Reef.
Despite the beach itself being public, the access was blocked by a restaurant/beach club charging a fee to access through their property, so we walked a little up the road and found a free access point.
We snorkelled around, enjoying the smiley fish and gorgeous soft corals! We’ve never seen this kind before. It was so relaxing to watch it flow back and forth with the waves.
After getting our fill of snorkelling, we made our way back to the town of San Miguel, returning our scooter, and walking around the bright and lively town centre.
The ferry ride back to Playa del Carmen was gorgeous and relaxing. Not only did we get to see the sun go down, but there was also a little piece of rainbow in the sky!
When we arrived at the port, I was going down the stairs to get off the ferry my AirPods case fell out of my purse, dropping one of the earpieces on the deck below! Thankfully, it didn’t fall into the ocean, and a woman picked it up and returned it to me. Such a close call!
As we walked onto shore we saw a drum and dance performance starting up with people with intricate costumes and body paint, so we stopped for a while to watch the show. Then, exhausted but so happy with our amazing day trip to Cozumel, we headed home.
The next day, we visited the tourist shopping area because the zipper broke on a pair of shorts, and when you live out of one suitcase, every article of clothes matters! After a successful shopping trip, where I replenished my shorts supply, we headed to a beach near our place.
Unfortunately, the tide was up very high, leaving not much room for us to relax, and the water at this beach was seaweedy and rockier than the beautiful white sand at Esmeralda Beach the other day. We still enjoyed a little swim and some reading time before heading home for the night.
After a lovely few days enjoying Playa del Carmen, we packed our bags and walked to the bus for our next stop: Tulum!
