The Caribean is really paradisiac, but of course quite touristy (and with the corresponding price structure). I was tempted to stay on the beach all day and swim, enjoy the sun and the beach bar - but in the end I actually could not do it since I would be bored quickly - and I wanted to see as much as I could before returning home. So I did a subterranean snorkeling tour through a few of Yucatan's thousands "Cenotes" (natural ponds), which turned out to be amazingly beautiful stalactite caves.There I got to know an equally amazing Californian biker couple, that did the same tour together with a gorgeous girl from Austria. After the fiasco of my first all-alone snorkeling tour, I was quite satisfied with this one - and when they proposed another snorkel tour at a beach nearby for the next day, I joined in quite happily.

Hurricane Wilma apparently destroyed most of the famous coral reefs but still I saw a swarm of beautiful blue fish (among others), a stingray (Rochen) and a couple of seaturtles. Quite beautiful and a unique experience! (And of course much better than my very first snorkel adventure a few days ago!) What also made this snorkel tour unique - and very healthy - was the annoying litres of salt water that I inhaled through my nose (the diving goggles leaked): This is actually supposed to be an ideal cure for my (usually very dry) nasal mucosa (Nasenschleimhaut). The healthy effect of this adventure was somewhat compensated by the decent sunburn I caught (well, this happens if you refuse to use sunscreen ;-)).

The Californian couple just matched with the experience I had had up to now (mostly on Mexico's coasts) with people from that part of the world: Those I met were so suprisingly open-minded, laid-back and affectionate, you just have to love them ;-) So California climbs steadily on my personal want-to-visit charts - and this is not only because those guys stated (to my entire surprise) that smoking pot is more socially accepted in California than smoking tobacco. Sounds like a really interesting place...

After the tour we said good-bye and the next day I continued my ride northwards, getting into more and more touristy areas. I made a quick stopover in Cancun to make a hotel reservation for my last days in Mexico and to check with the forwarding agent for the motorcycle transport - and then returned a few km to Playa del Carmen, since the car ferry to Cozumel should leave the next day from a nearby pier.

I actually wanted to see famous Playa del Carmen but got fed up with it within just a few minutes. It seems to be for the US-Americans what El Arenal/ Mallorca is for the Germans. I found it just overcrowded, "overtouristed", overpriced and all in all horrific. Luckily I just spent one night there...