cenote cokey

There is tonnes to do in Tulum, there are Mayan ruins, fresh water caves you can dive in called cenotes and great beaches. Luckily we managed to do all these things in our time there (even with Ralph laid up for the day with Montezumas Revenge).

We went on a snorkelling trip to the Dos Ochos "two eyes" cenote and it was amazing, they are quite good at trying to keep the freshwater as clean as possible and people are encouraged not use suntan lotion or the water as a toilet!

The water was an amazing colour and for us not too cold (others from warmer clines found it a bit too cool)

There were loads of stalagmites and tites

Some parts of the cave system were dark so we were given torches for the second part of the tour.  There were bats in the cave and also fungus gnat larvae which hang like little worms on slimy vertical webs which catch passing insect prey.

When we stopped for food after our trip a black tailed iguana was doing the rounds for scraps of tortilla

At the ruins they have the fantastic flying men 'voladores'.  When I saw pictures of them I thought they did bungee jumping but I was relieved to find they gradually lower themselves down as the structure spins and the rope slowly unwinds from around their bodies.  The worst bit was watching them climb the wobbly pole. One poor guy who has to keep the structure spinning has to stay at the top all the time while the ones who have' flown' down get to have a 15 minute break.  So rather than a death defying leap its a very sedate activity accompanied by a catchy, yet strangely sad, pipe tune.

I was a bit nervous watching them approach the ground with their heads

the voladores in action

Overpriced coconut- estupido gringos

As soon as we went on to the grounds of Tulum ruins we saw two snakes - first this green headed tree snake

and then this huge Indigo snake

The ruins were very nice but not as dramatic as Palenque with its jungle surroundings and massive structures.  

This poor iguana had lost its tail in a fight

However the ruins are home to a fantastic, if somewhat crowded, beach and we had a lovely swim

We chose this hotel in Tulum purely based on the entrance

 Unfortunately there were scorpions on the bed - ho ho

We also went to a lagoon down the road from the turtle beach

It was full of fish and strangely had a number of spots with warm currents

This is a terrible picture of this really beautiful fish, see below for better image!

This fish was huge

Sargent Major fish

Ralph got bitten by a dog on the way home - we think it was scared by the flippers he was carrying