Cancun: June 8 - 9 ❤ First whole day and Isla Mujeres

I got into Cancun late on June 7th.  Juan's friend Pikachu, as I call him, (Juan calls him Pokemon though his name is really David) came to pick me up from the airport.  Juan and I thought it was better to use his days off to spend the entire days together instead of having him pick me up and only be able to spend a day and a third with me.  It worked out well since Pikachu had the day off.  He helped me with my bags and to find the bus that took us into the downtown part of Cancun.  We took a taxi to Juan's apartment where he left me.

Juan got home really late and in the morning we went to eat at our favorite breakfast restaurant, 100% Natural.  It's so yummy.  Afterwards we walked around Mercado 28 and ended up getting a few gifts as well as these bracelets.  I was tired from traveling, so we just spent the rest of the day relaxing

Our "tourist" bracelets.  You can tell by the shade of skin that I got one with Juan's name and he got one with mine.  Cancun hadn't given me my tan yet...  ;)

The next day, I was rested and ready to go to Isla Mujeres, an island that's a short ferry ride away from Cancun.  The water is absolutely gorgeous as you can see from the pictures from the ferry.   The beaches on Isla Mujeres are like in Cancun, white sands, beautiful!!!

On the ferry going from Cancun to Isla Mujeres.

Once we got there, we got bombarded by the people trying to sell us boat tours down the coast of Isla Mujeres.  I thought we were going to walk around for a little bit, so we turned down the first offer.  It was a good thing we did because the next one was better.  Juan told me that it would take a few hours to do the boat tour, so it would be a good idea to take this offer since it was already past noon.  The tour promised us two areas of snorkeling, a look at the dolphinarium, and a chance to hold a shark.  It was only us and another couple from the northern part of Mexico.  The two guides gave us life vests, snorkel gear and swim fins.

Before going snorkeling.

We got to see a lot of different fish while we snorkeled as well as some reef and reef dwellers.  I loved the big yellow fish and I'm pretty sure we saw barracudas.  Actually I know we did, but I'm glad I didn't know that's what they were until we were out of the water because I may have freaked out a bit more instead of just pointing in amazement at how big and shiny they were.  :)  I was proud of myself that I snorkeled in open waters.  It was already a big hurdle to go snorkeling in Xel-Ha where the place we snorkeled was naturally enclosed.  It was different to jump off of a boat to swim and snorkel against the currents.  I did okay though, only bruised up my leg a bit getting back up in the boat the first time.

After we snorkeled in two areas, they brought the boat up to the side of the Dolphinarium so we could watch the people having their "dolphin experience."  The dolphins were pulling people across the enclosure and performing tricks.  It was cool, but the poor dolphins looked like they were working so hard.  Juan already says that he works like a donkey (because in Spanish it's working like a burro), so after seeing the dolphins working so hard, he adopted the phrase working like a dolphin.  :)

Our next stop was to the place we were going to eat the lunch that was included in our tour.  The only thing not included were drinks.  We were also able to go into an enclosure to hold a shark.  We just had to pay for the photo if we wanted it.  We decided it was worth it, since it's not every day that you get to hold a shark.  :)

Holding the shark on Isla Mujeres.

Juan and I played a game of pool while I sipped a piña colada and he drank a beer.  I won.  ;)  We went to eat our lunch that our guide had cooked.  Juan asked what type of fish it was and he told us it was a barracuda.  We had the fish, rice, tortillas, and noodles.  I was wondering where the idea of noodles came from.  They were good though, just didn't know they would be part of a Mexican meal.  They encouraged us to eat more fish since they wanted to use up all the fish they had cooked.  Juan ended up eating most of my second helping.  :)

After lunch we went to back to the boat and our guide told us some of the history of Isla Mujeres before he dropped us off at the North Beach, the best beach on Isla Mujeres.  Juan and I lay down on the beach and ended up falling asleep for a half an hour, before heading back down toward the ferry terminal.

The sign for Isla Mujeres with a Barracuda and a swordfish displayed overhead.

We got an ice cream before we got back on the ferry back to Cancun.  It felt good after all the heat and humidity.  And that ended our trip to Isla Mujeres...

Our feet pointing the way back to Cancun after our day at Isla Mujeres.