The very first thing I did after getting to our hotel in Mexico? Ran to the BEACH!!! I ran into the water, almost tripped over coral, and nearly squashed a stingray in the process. And almost choked to death on saltwater. Oops! It definitely took a while to adjust to the Caribbean – it’s not quite like the lakes back home. It’s BETTER! My family and I spent just over a week in the Riviera Maya, Mexico, and it was the perfect way to unwind after a long race season.
My sister riding the spinnaker
We spent a day sailing on a catamaran to the beautiful Isla Mujeres, and skin diving over coral reefs. I even saw some baby sea turtles! At the end of the day, we had enough wind to unfurl the spinnaker; an extra sail that we attached a swing to. As the wind caught the sail, you rose in the air and got swung around – sometimes very unpredictably! We definitely witnessed some wipeouts, although I didn’t get any on camera. However, if you caught the wind just right, you could get pretty high in the air, and the view was totally awesome.
Another catamaran with the spinnaker out!
Mom and I on the catamaran
We also went exploring the ruins of Tulum; an old Mayan village on the coast.
The "temple of the wind" on the edge of the Caribbean
The largest building in the middle is the castle!
We also went on ziplines through the jungle…
Kenzie getting a boost off the zipline tower
Kenzie loved the jungle!
But the best part was getting to skin dive in a cenote! Turns out Mexico has about 95 miles of freshwater rivers…but it’s all underground! The rivers flow underneath a layer of limestone, but when the stone erodes and caves in it creates a cenote; a sinkhole. The water stays right around 25 celcius year-round – perfect for swimming in. We went exploring and saw gorgeous stalagmites, stalactites, and other rock formations.
Some parts of the cave were tall enough to stand in
Not a good place to get claustrophobic!
We also explored the streets and buildings in Playa del Carmen.
One of the fun buildings in Playa del Carmen
We spent an amazing amount of time in the water – swimming, body surfing, snorkeling, and above the water in kayaks and hobie cats.
My Dad out for a kayak in the surf
My sister and I tried to learn how to windsurf. Well, we DO know how to windsurf…thoretically. Putting it into practice was slightly harder! I got pretty sore after falling off the board so many times, but it was totally worth it.
Getting a little help from a friend!
It was a wonderful vacation and now I’m looking forward to a few more weeks of chilling out before winding things up for the summer!
