Almost two years before, when we were returning from Bozeman,Montana we stopped in Salt Lake City on a layover. Delta offered each of us $400 flight vouchers if we opted to take a later flight that day. Naturally, we couldn't turn it down. We weren't sure where we would go or when, so we sat on our tickets for almost the whole year we had them. Finally, we decided that we would just go back to Cancun, as it would be an easy and affordable option.

We both wanted to learn how to scuba dive, and since our first time in Cancun was a little bit of a hot mess, we thought this would be a great opportunity for a redo since Cancun seemed like the perfect place to learn how to dive since we loved our snorkeling trip on our last visit(read about it and more here). So, in February we packed our bags and headed down south back to the Mayan coast. We were staying at Villa del Palmar Cancun which I knew was a bit of a ways from the airport and far from the main drag, so we rented a car so that way we would be able to drive ourselves to and from our scuba lessons, and had full freedom in our down time. What I didn't realize was how secluded our resort actually was. I had done the research, I studied google maps... However, realistically, it just didn't compare in real life.

Our hotel was great. It was clean, had delicious food, and no one was trying to convince us to buy a timeshare! There was no water aerobics or kid's pool parties, the beach was delightfully sandy and the wading & swimming area of the beach was comfortable. Our only problem was that it was rather distant from the main hotel strip which was where our scuba lessons were.

We had a 3 day scuba course scheduled with Scuba Diving Cancun, who was very highly ranked at a 4.9/5.0. We had a really funny instructor named Alejandro who was very passionate about his job. He was great at keeping us calm and walking us through everything we needed to know. It's safe to say that we definitely learned a lot from him, and would have him take us out on other diving excursions whenever we go back.

The dive training were surprisingly exhausting, but so incredible! Training in the pool made it seem so simple. After a few laps around the pool, and going over standard practices, we headed to the boat. We were in the ocean in the first day in our scuba gear, which was surprisingly unnerving at first. I found that I was having to concentrate on my breathing and calm myself down.

The few days we were there the ocean was fairly rough. In other words, we were experiencing slight sea sickness and getting pushed around by the currents. They were great conditions for training, I truly believe that it made us better divers from the start. ( because this was scuba training, we did not take any photos or videos)

The first 2 days were intense. We'd be at the dive area around 9AM and we were finished around 3PM. Although it doesn't seem that long, It is a pretty draining activity. When we were finished we would head back to our hotel, shower, get cleaned up, and track down food, as our only really meal during the day was granola bars. Early dinners were officially our thing. As the sun set the coastal breezes would kick in, and the temperature would drop making me wish I had a sweater, and forcing us to the room early.

We had a day off after our two days of diving tutelage... It gave us a moment to relax, so we laid on the beach & just hung out together. It also gave us the time we needed to complete our work book & all the quizzes. We ate massive plates of Mexican food and had a couple cocktails. It was my kind of heaven.

On the fourth day, our last day there, we headed back to the Scuba facility to do our final review of all the quizzes, and finalize all the documents for our certification. It was pretty easy, and felt like a weight was lifted once it was complete. We passed with flying colors and were able to celebrate!

We got back in the car and continued on down the main road to see what gems we could find. Once we found an intriguing area (don't ask me where), we found a place to park and took to the town on foot. We wandered in and out of small markets, and past large restaurants/bars that you know are packed with tourists as part of the wild nightlife. We however, wanted tacos... and good tacos. We found a small taqueria, that looked adequate, and it more than was. The tacos were simple, but with an astounding flavor and their chips & salsa were MIND-BLOWING! ... sometimes, I dream about them. The sad thing is that I don't know what it was called, nor do I remember exactly what it was near.... but I can taste the chips and salsa, and slushiest thirst quenching rum-a-rita.... Perfect on that hot Cancun day.

After our refreshing light meal, we found a great souvenir shop... It was huge with tons of options for any type of consumer.... Shot glasses, Guatemalan embroidered items, Mexican blankets, snacks, and let's not forget the tequila.

Eventually, we found our way down to the beach, and I was flabbergasted by the view in front of me. The jewel tone waters looked positively scrumptious.... like a tangy candy that you can't wait to consume. After about a half hour on the beach, and the sun starting to change Brad's skin color to vivid pink, we decided it was time to turn back. It was searing hot, Brad was burning, and we had a decent drive still ahead. We still hadn't had enough though, so we got back in the car and continued to drive down the main road to see what else we could find. We quickly passed by the final hotels on the strip, and found various tourist attractions along the way, but nothing for us in that moment. Instead, we began to hunt for a quiet gem of private beach.... We found one very quiet beach, and although the water looked inviting, the beach was covered in rotting kelp, and there were tons of gnats waiting to pester us. So after that brief experience, we did call it quits. We headed back to our hotel for the rest of the evening.

We had good a good meal, and got our last ice cream cones from the shop, and just hung out on the resort grounds for the rest of the night. We walked along the beach and sat by the pool. We enjoyed each others company as the sun set and the temperature cooled to the point where I was wrapping myself in the beach towel while lying on the lounge chairs.

With the dreaded task of packing still ahead of us, we called it an early night and headed back to the room. We had to be at the airport around 7AM, and had close to a 40 minute drive there. It's safe to say that we were in bed at a decent hour.

ISSUE 17: Cancun, Mexico 2016