Next Trip: Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Posted in Backpacking on Monday, February 8, 2010
Since coming back from New Zealand in November, I haven’t really had a single trip. I had a quick road trip from where my family live in Texas back to my home in Utah, but was in a hurry and didn’t make it much of a road trip. Also, since I started back at my job, I haven’t accumulated much in the way of vacation days yet, so when I saw that President’s Day was coming up, I knew I had to book a trip somewhere to satisfy my serious case of wanderlust. Plus, after having three consecutive winters in a row, I was more than ready to go somewhere warm.
Being a holiday weekend, flights everywhere in the US were much more expensive than usual. I eventually came across a deal to Cancun on Frontier Airlines with a non-stop flight from SLC to Cancun that was only $50 more than most of the domestic tickets I had been seeing. I gave it a day to think about it and decided to book it. It’s my reward for paying off the little bit of debt I accumulated from my seven months not working while traveling in New Zealand.
Why Isla Mujeres?
I’ve been to Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen already and found Cancun and Cozumel to be a little too touristy and expensive for my taste. I pulled up a map and found the island of Isla Mujeres, just off the coast of Cancun. Since I could only stay for 3-4 days, this met my need of being fairly close to the airport so I wouldn’t waste my entire trip getting there. After some research, it looked like the perfect destination – just a 15-30 minute $3 ferry from the mainland, a laid-back, small-town place with far fewer high-rise hotels, resorts, shopping malls, and American restaurants than Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa.
Where I’m staying
I found the Poc Na Hostel after a quick search of hostels on the island. It is on its own private beach, a few hundred meters from the most popular beach on the island, right in town, and has a bar and restaurant on-site. Most of the reviews seem to say it’s quite the party atmosphere, which is what I’m looking for on this short trip. I did splurge for a private room, however, so I’m not completely drained when I get back to work. Instead of $8/nt, I’ll be paying $20/nt. I’ve got a job again, so I think the extra $36 should be well worth it.
What I’m doing
Scuba diving has been something I’ve been really excited about learning how to do, so I’m planning to take a Discover Scuba class along with a few open water dives. The reef on the Yucutan coast is the second largest in the world (second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) and stretches all the way to Belize. I’m also considering a boat trip to Isla Contoy or snorkeling at Garrafon Park, but that all depends on whether I can tear myself away from the beach or not.
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