The First Taste of Adventure

by Peter Best (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Mexico

My wife and I never traveled much when we were younger. As we have seen success in our careers though, we have had the itch to travel more and enjoy experiences other than what the Southwestern United States has to offer. While we started off with what we felt were safe choices of locations to visit in the United States, we slowly began venturing out of our comfort zones. After seeing a great deal for a hotel package on Groupon, my wife and I booked our first trip to Cancun. I was definitely hesitant to travel there, as there seems to be constant negative media attention of Americans dying while vacationing in Mexico, even in resort areas, such as the Cancun hotel zone and the surrounding Riviera Maya. Numerous travel forums painted a different picture of Yucutan, though, as a place tourists could traverse freely and safely. We arrived in Cancun and made our way to our hotel. After settling into our room, we spent the remainder of our first night wandering around the hotel zone and enjoying the incredible weather and beautiful beaches, but we yearned to do a significant amount of sightseeing around the Yucatan during our vacation after reading about the beautiful jungles and Mayan history. The following day, we decided to follow the advice given by fellow travelers on various travel forums and tune out the media's negative portrayal of the area, rather than taking the "safe" route with a tour group. We took a day trip south of Cancun to seek out an adventure. We took the public bus from our hotel in the Hotel Zone to the main bus terminal in Cancun and then boarded a colectivo, which is a system of vans mainly used by locals to travel up and down Quintana Roo's main highway. It was a very inexpensive and efficient way to travel this highway, and it quickly became apparent the advice given by fellow travelers would pay off. We began travelling south, and our first stop was in the beach town of Puerto Morelos. We hired a boat to take us snorkeling in the morning and saw the beautiful underwater ecosystem of the Caribbean, including coral and countless fish. After a short snorkeling tour and an early lunch, we again boarded a colectivo and continued south until we reached the town of Tulum. Tulum is home to some magnificent Mayan ruins overlooking the Caribbean Sea. These are some of the Yucutan's most visited ruins, and it is easy to see why. The incredible architecture and the spectacular setting make for endless photo opportunities. We spent about two hours admiring the ruins and gazing out over the Caribbean before it was time to leave to continue our adventure. From the Tulum ruins, we took taxis to a couple of nearby cenotes. These are underground lakes revealed by limestone that has collapsed into the Earth. The water is a little cool and crystal clear. One of the cenotes had various holes you could jump into, with water about eight feet below. The other cenote was more "touristy" and had steps that had been built leading down into the water. Both were a refreshing break from the scorching hot Yucutan weather. While swimming in them, we were surrounded by small fish and turtles. After finishing swimming, we caught another taxi back to the main bus terminal in Tulum. From there, we rode a bus for the two hour ride back to the main bus terminal in Cancun and then caught the connecting bus back to the hotel zone. We then relaxed with a drink in our hands in the comfort of our hotel. It was the end of a spectacular day. Not only did we have the time of our life seeing beautiful sights and interacting with wonderful people, but it was also a good reminder to tune out much of the negative events covered by the media. It was the starting point for many more adventures of exploring on our own, rather than being tied down to the time tables and pre-made schedules of organized tours, and it inspired us to continue to seek out new adventures on every vacation we take.