Tulum

I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate completing my Master’s than a vacation. This is my first time returning to Mexico since I last visited family over 20 years ago… right before starting kindergarten.

Tulum is a serene coastal town located on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is known for its beautiful white sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise waters, and ancient Mayan ruins overlooking the sea. Tulum was the perfect location to visit because it has a unique blend of natural beauty and cultural history. You can learn about the history of the Mayan civilization as you explore the well-preserved archaeological site of Tulum just a bike ride down the road or visit any of the others sites that are just a couple hours drive away. You can explore any of the freshwater cenotes found nearby, hike in the jungle or nature preserve, swim in the ocean to see turtles among the diverse wildlife found there, or just relax on the beach. I like to have variety, alternating between both adventure and time to just relax, so this was perfect .

Day 1

But that’s getting ahead if ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning. We landed in Cancun’s airport and had to get to Tulum, which was about a two hour drive. Once you’re off the plane in Cancun, the humidity and heat just hits you. My glasses fogged up immediately. At the same time also get hit person after person yelling and coming up to you, all trying to sell you rides to your hotel. I don’t know, this felt kind of sketch. You want to make sure you don’t get charged some ridicules amount for the trip to the hotel, and ours wasn’t as close since we weren’t staying in the same city. Luckily we had done some research and booked a private care ride with a company that didn’t end up costing much more than a taxi for the same distance.

The drive to our hotel near the beach would be a couple of hours. I was nervous, but also really excited. It was the first time flying to a different country where the sole purpose was not to visit family, do research or present it for school.

As soon as we got to the hotel, I realized it was on the beach itself. We left our luggage in our room and immediately made our way to the ocean before it got dark. All it took was stepping out the back door of the room and there we were on the beach, with the ocean only a couple hundred feet away. The water was perfect. Not cold, not hot. It was also really clear, and not too salty. This all felt too good to be true, I just tried to take it all in.

Day 2

Our second day we still no had real plan on what we were going to do for this trip.It was hard knowing how everything was going to work out and where we were going to able to go so we decided to wait until we got there to start actually planning the days. This was officially a relax day as we went through our options. We sat on the beach outside the hotel room and enjoyed the delicious food and drinks from the hotel restaurant. We went swimming in the ocean, walked down the beach (in the middle of the day — not our best idea because of the heat). We did a late night dinner date that we got dressed up for so that was fun.

Day 3

First adventure day. We planned to swim in the ocean and our first (cave) cenote. For me personally, it was a little intimidating. Adventuring is definitely something I want to do but getting over the hump to actually do it is always hard. So here I was, sitting in a truck going to our first location after signing a waiver. Being put on a boat and going off into the ocean. They gave us a safety vest and flippers to put on along with a snorkel (little did I know that using a snorkle was not as easy as it looked on tv and I had never played around with one — this became my downfall). We jumped into the ocean and immediately I was unable to breath, because the snorkel covered your nose so to breathe in I had to use my mouth. I freaked out for a bit but I was able to get a hold of myself and focus on the beauty in the ocean. Were we saw all different kinds of fish and turtles!!

This was followed to a drive to a cave system with bats and everything, which we explored mainly through swimming. The water was cold… really cold. This was with a wet suit that was supposed to keep us warm. It was a little creepy not being able to see that well. Not sure what was around us. But I had so much fun exploring.

Day 4

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