Riviera Maya - Mexico Diary 2018

It's been almost three weeks since I've returned from Mexico and I can honestly say that I've got the holiday blues. Mexico was such a beautiful place, I'd go back tomorrow if I could. We flew with Thomas Cook from Gatwick and it was such a great flight. They were always coming round with meals, snacks and drinks. Even the movies and music were great on the plane too! And the movies were different on return, so you don't have to worry about watching the same movies twice. After around six hours on the plane, I started getting a bit restless, bored and frustrated. I got about 10 minutes of sleep and just wanted to get off. Flying doesn't bother me at all, but after a 10 hour flight, you just wanna get off haha. 

When we got to the hotel, we queued up to check in and got served with drinks, which were so refreshing after a super long day of travelling. The hotel itself was just so beautiful, it was huge. We stayed in the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum which was all inclusive. Being in the rainforest, all we saw were animals, monkeys and iguanas especially. Even using my jungle formula, I still got bitten a few times from mosquitos but it's expected. 

As we were there in their hurricane and rain season, the weather for us was amazing most of the time. Luckily, we never experienced being in a hurricane. But, when it rained, it rained. Their rainy spells only lasted for about 10-20 minutes and then it got out hot and sunny again. When the heavens opened, most of the time I stayed in the pool and chilled on the sunbeds because it was still hot and it was so refreshing. 

I never got bored of the hotel food until the last week of the holiday. Believe me, they had loads of options to choose from. But after two weeks of having the same breakfast, it gets boring. Oh, if you haven't tried Canadian bacon, TRY IT. As well as eating from the hotel buffet, we also ate out at different restaurants on the resort which was really nice as they were all different. 

The beach was beautiful but unfortunately the ridiculous amount of seaweed made it a bit of a let down. Apparently, the whole of the Caribbean has had problems with seaweed within the last couple of months which is really sad. There are people all day and night clearing the beach, they worked so hard bless them. Mexico also has nesting patches for baby sea turtles ready to hatch. Unfortunately we didn't see any hatch but it was still amazing seeing their little nests all along the beach.

We didn't really watch much evening entertainment because there was just so much to see and do. But when we did, they put on great little shows. We watched a circus one night at their theatre in the hotel and then we went to a Mexican night in the Hacienda where they put on a big show and had candyfloss, popcorn and little games - it felt like I was at a carnival.

When we went out to Fifth Avenue, we found it most places quite expensive. Everywhere take both US dollars and Mexican pesos which is handy if you don't know which to take. I took a bit of both and spent it all. The Mexicans also love their money, they love to be tipped and they always greet you in every store you walk into. 

We done quite a few excursions. I wish I done more but we just didn't have the time or money! At Emotions Native Park, we done zip lining over the jungle which really didn't seem that high at all which was a shame. We jumped into cenotes and explored caves as well as quad biking around the jungle. 

When we went to Xel-ha, we jumped off of cliffs into the water and I paid extra to scuba dive down in the cenotes. We swam and communicated with dolphins which I've always wanted to do since I was little so I was such a big kid when I got the chance to do that. We also looked around the Tulum ruins which were amazing to see. We weren't allowed to go up many because they were so fragile. Liam also took me jet skiing in the sea which was so fun. I was too much of a wimp to go on one by myself so I hopped on the back of his.

 

I made so many memories in Mexico that I'll forever cherish. I just wish I had an extra week out there to explore Mexico a little bit more and do a few more excursions. Have you ever been to Mexico? I want to go back :(