Cancun

By Bridget Marquardt on May 21, 2009 8:57 PM | Permalink | 15 Comments

I started my Mexican excursion in Cancun. I have been to Cancun a few times before and always have an amazing time but it has been years since I was last there. The people are friendly, the water and the sand are beautiful and the party never ends! Especially this time because I was in Cancun for Spring Break and you would be hard pressed to find a place more wild and lively than Cancun for Spring Break. It truly is the place to go to let loose!

As soon as I checked into my hotel, I immediately went out to the pool, which of course was full of college students having a good time. So I swam up to the pool bar to see what everyone was drinking and get their recommendations for what I should do while I'm here. The "in" drink to be having was called "the monkey" - a sweet, milky concoction of white rum, Kahlua, banana, coconut and pineapple. It sounded like a hangover to me, but because they were served in a hollowed out coconut shaped like a monkey… I couldn't resist! The spring breakers had a lot of fun ideas for me and I couldn't wait to begin my sightseeing!

The first thing I did was to try parasailing again… I know… I must be crazy… but it is so cool to see the coastline, the water and the city from above. It really puts things into perspective and gives you a better sense of where you are. This time I was on a plastic couch and I didn't have to worry about doing a thing. It wasn't worry-free though; there were no seatbelts, harnesses or lap bars to keep you in… just gravity and my white knuckles. I was nervous at first but the beauty of the scenery eventually put me at ease until the landing. Ideally, you land on the back of the boat but as we were coming in for a landing the couch didn't quite look like it was going to make it on the boat, but alas, it did and everything was fine.

Next, I visited Xcaret. It's about 40 minutes form Cancun and it is a very hands on, ecological theme park that is well worth the trip. While I was there, I met some girls from Tennessee at the Tiki Bar. We decided to explore the park together starting with a Sea-Trek. A sea trek is really cool… it's kind of like snorkeling and kind of like scuba diving only it's neither. You have a huge heavy helmet on similar to something you might see on an astronaut. The helmet has oxygen being pumped in so you don't have to worry about using a regulator or clearing a snorkel. Your hair stays dry and you literally walk along the bottom of the sea slowly declining to about 20 feet down. Down there you get a "fish eye" view of lots of tropical fish. They feed them while you are down there so the fish are all around you! I got to hold a sea urchin, which was really weird, and I could feel it moving around on my hand!

Then we went in the Stingray tank. I wasn't so sure about doing this but I'm one that doesn't like to pass up an opportunity so I jumped in. It was feeding time and at first everything was really cool. Their skin is like very coarse sand paper and their tails are as sharp as razors. They have very weird eyes and their mouths are actually underneath their body. We were feeding them fish and they began to crawl all over us. One was in my arms getting fed, one was over my feet, one climbing up my leg and another on my calf. When all of a sudden I felt a chomp on my leg! The stingray bit me on my calf!! I didn't want to panic and scare or hurt the other stingrays, but as soon as I could, I got out of the water.

There was a definite bite mark and it started to bleed. It was really embarrassing because the park paramedics came and had to clean it up, etc. For the record, I do believe this is a very rare occurrence. The park staff was very sympathetic, helpful and concerned for my safety. Xcaret has a lot of activities to experience from extensive butterfly and exotic bird aviaries, to snorkeling and sea trekking, an underground river and a replica of an ancient working Mayan city. It is definitely worth the 40-minute ride to get there! One thing the Yucatan peninsula is known for is its cenotes or underground rivers. Rio Secreto which means "secret river" is one of them. It is literally a river that runs through an underground cave. They are gorgeous and an awesome thing to explore. Some of the caves, like the one I was in, the water gets so deep you actually have to swim through it to get to the next part. It was a fun experience and it is very close to Xcaret!

My last night in Cancun I had to go out with a bang! So I went out to the club that everyone was talking about and spent the evening at Coco Bongo. Coco Bongo is a lot of fun and its not just dancing and drinking although there is a lot of that, too. They have Vegas style entertainment with trapeze artists, cover bands (like KISS, Beyonce, Elvis and Moulin Rouge) go-go dancers and comedians! The club is enormous and holds 2000 people. I was so excited when the general manager offered to let me come out on the trapeze bar!!! It was thrilling!! I would have loved to stay up there all night!! They lowered me onto a bar in the middle of the club handed me a bottle of champagne and told me to let it spray! I have never done that before but it was really quite fun and I felt like such a rock star!! LOL. It was a great way to end my stay in Cancun!!! No matter how many times I've been there, I still LOVE it!!!

Tags: bridget , cancun , xcaret , the monkey , sea-trek , stingray tank , butterfly , exotic bird , coco bongo