Honestly, I'm not a beach person. Mainly because my usual only access to a beach is Galveston which if you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. I don't enjoy water theme parks and I'm not much of a tanner. My impatience of laying down on an uncomfortable towel in the blazing heat is the reason for my paleness. But being in Playa del Carmen made me open my eyes to the beauty of the beach and its wildlife. I was lucky enough to experience swimming with whale sharks (I repeat. Sharks. Not whales) which I was a little hesitant to do at first having watched the eye opening documentary Blackfish. But they weren't in cages, we weren't allowed to play with them or touch them, and we weren't even allowed to wear sunscreen due to fear of oils contaminating the water. We were on a boat for 45 minutes before reaching where the whale sharks were eating and just that time being in the back of the boat and seeing the stretch of the clear blue ocean was beautiful enough. Once we reached the spot, we went into the water with all our snorkeling gear and swam right next to these 40 ft long beautiful sharks (which only eat plankton-not humans). I had other adventures including zip lining the tallest zip line in Latin America (I think that was exaggerated but whatever), snorkeling in the coral reefs of Isla Mujeres, swimming in caves full of stalactites and stalagmites, as well as just relaxing and taking naps in hammocks by the beach. All of this was in Mexico, the place I consider half of myself. It all was an eye opening experience to see the beauty of this country which I only get to see in familial circumstances in urban cities with little or no feeling of a tropical paradise. I now consider myself a beach person. But only in Mexico.
Viva Mexico!
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