After two weeks in Cuba, we were gagging for a menu with veggies, lazy flop-and-drop days and a chance to do some washing. I think this made it all the more sensational when we hit the Cancun peninsular. The water was crystal clear, sparkling all different shades of translucent blue; it’s hard to impress an Aussie with beach but that clarity of colour was up there with the best I had seen! The ferry from Cancun took about 40 minutes before it reached our kitch little Mexican island where we would spend the next four days.

We quickly learnt people measured everything in blocks, so “four blocks to the left and four blocks to the right” And we had reached our highly recommended hostel, Pocna. You could see why people frothed – it was a beachfront spot on the other side of the island with a big common area, live music at night, volleyball nets and hammocks swinging from every tree. Our 8 bed dorm was excruciatingly hot with seriously limited air flow, but worth the cheap rate we were paying for it.

We lapped up the beach, healthy menus and cheap tacos here, appreciating the stark difference to Cuba life. Isla Mujeres had been described as a backpackers Cancun and I could see why – hoards of tourists were there by day, catching the ferry over in the morning and back again in the afternoon. The markets were colourful and “stereotypical” selling everything you think a Mexican market would be full of – skulls, ponchos, sombreros, ceramics.. but it was all delightful. Restaurants donned brightly coloured chairs and striped table cloths and guacamole served in a purple cabbage leaf was on every menu. It was great to be able to slow down the pace, feel lazy and not have to rely on the phrase book to make conversation.

D I V I N G

Isla is known for diving. Most backpackers who pass through here come to complete their Open Water Dive Course for a slightly cheaper price than home.  Having not dived before and a little cautious of not wanting to spend the money so early, we opted for the Discover Scuba. This allowed us to experience two dives in a day, ultimately seeing if we liked it or not.

And… it was out of this world good! The first dive was over the Underwater Contemporary Museum of Art (MUSA) – the largest underwater museum in the world. This dive was mind blowing! There are over 500 sculptures all fixed to the seabed to stimulate and promote coral life and we were able to be down there with them! The expressions on some of the faces blew me away!

The second dive was over the reef which felt like I had stepped inside the home of Nemo. Turtles and coral and fish would just float around us contently, like we were all one and the same. Sam and I kept motioning to each other that our brains were exploding from our minds because we were absolutely gobsmacked at how beautiful this world was!

Four days was definitely enough time on this little island. Prices were not that cheap, but it was a great environment to make some friends, eat good healthy food and discover a whole new underwater realm to play in!