Unbelievable day today, we booked a trip to Isla Contoy which is known as Paradise Island around these parts. Its odd, we booked the trip on Isla Mujeres which could easily claim to be a paradise island in itself so expectations were high for Isla Contoy. We bargained hard for a discount on this trip so we could go (luckily for me Sarah is ensuring we stick to budget) and we were glad we did.
First up we went by boat to do a bit of snorkeling over the reef. Isla Contoy is the beginning of the second largest reef in the world (2nd to Great Barrier Reef of course), it extends all the way to Honduras and is about 1,000km long. The reef and Island itself are protetced so after a lecture on how long it takes a reef to grow back if you break some off, we hit the water (hit it gently!). It takes 150 years for coral to grow 1 metre if your wondering. Saw plenty of Nemo like fish and beautiful coral during the snorkel and then back on to the boat to make our way to Contoy. Myself and Sarah sat over the front edge of the boat on the trip to Contoy and luckily we did as we saw several giant turtles, baracuda's, sting rays and some starfish. On the island we did a guided tour and saw some crabs, giant land birds (some fly over 150 km/h) and the local pet sting ray Mariana who returns each day for lunch and is happy to allow people to pet her in exchange for some pescados. Shockingly soft to touch, I know what my next slippers will be made of! We had a savage BBQ'd white fish on the beach and wandered aimlessly for an hour by ourselves.
Back on Isla Mujeres we sorted out our accomadation for our next stop on The Yuacatan, Playa Del Carmen, more beaches, Cenotes (cannot wait to see/do) and general laziness. We finished up a great day on the beach while watching the sunset over the ocean. Oh and somehow we adopted a dog that followed us everywhere, even sat beside us for dinner (Thankfully, he looked most unrabid like). Next up, boat back to Cancun and Collectivo to Playa Del Carmen...
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