Que Padre Guey !

The Cenote
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One thing that has struck me as quite odd in this beautiful country, is the saying " Que padre !". The following phrase has in general, left me slightly bemused ; " Que tal guay ? Te late ? " And the response : " Si guay , estaba padrissimo". Literally that translates as " How was it ? Does it make your heart beat really fast?" and " Yes mate, it was really father". Does that make sense to you ? No, but Mexican slang is fast becoming my new favourite language.

" Que padre" is indended to mean " how cool" and that is the exact phrase I would use to describe Playa del Carmen. Although I had my doubts about visiting this place, I left feeling as though I would miss my new found travelling friends and diving buddies. I haven´t been to Cancun but everyone told me that Playa del Carmen is low key in comparison, both in terms of night life and prices. It is also one of the best places to go to for diving on the Mayan Riviera, which is how I spent most of my time. In terms of cost, diving here was very reasonably priced and as far as I was concerned, some of the best diving I have done so far.

It is true that Playa del Carmen hardly represents the Mexico that I was looking for, but in all honesty, I am not sure that there is a typical Mexico

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I arrived in Playa del Carmen and whilst walking along the main road of the town, I suddenly had a feeling that I had made a mistake going there. I passed shop after shop selling wildly coloured "Mexican" memorabilia such as ridiculously enormous, almost iridescent sombreros. I haven´t seen a Mexican yet that wears one as part of his daily ensemble. Just as I was recovering from my unwise decision to go to Playa del Carmen, I was confronted with the worst of all symbols here in my newly beloved country; a Walmart, a Burger King and needless to say, a Macdonalds. For obvious reasons, I thought I had landed in the United States.

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In fact, the place is brimming to the rim with tourists who come here for the same reasons as I did: the beach, the night life and the diving. But that wasn´t  necessarily a bad thing. It is true that Playa del Carmen hardly represents the Mexico that I was looking for, but in all honesty, I am not sure that there is a typical Mexico, especially now that I am writing this in San Cristobal de las Casas. Everywhere that I have been so far is so diverse and Playa del Carmen simply represents one of Mexico´s many gracious latin faces. This is exactly what I like about this country- the contrasts and eradication of any form of stereotypes that I might have encountered before I came here.

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A big part of why I liked Playa del Carmen is the diving. The sea is a delightful tepid temperature which naturally invites you to drift dreamily with the Carribean current. It relaxed me so much that I have to remind myself that I will sadly be returning to my job on Friday. The sea looks like crumpled papier maché of all the different shades of green. It starts off tourquoise and slowly darkens to jade and bottle green which is made even more vibrant by the pale blue sky and the snow white sand.

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The sea life is abundant, though sadly in decline. I had never previously seen turtles, not even in the Red Sea. Every time I dived, I saw at least two of them. As we passed them by, a turtle would slowly and casually observe us, as if it was lifting its wrinkly neck in slow motion. We had the good fortune to see moray eels, an eagle ray and a lone sea horse, holding onto a branch of coral for dear life. I love the feeling that I am discovering a world that, a year ago, I had no idea existed.

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I had always been scared of the sea, perhaps I was scared of the unknown. Until I learnt how to dive, the idea of jumping off a boat as the sun goes down so that you can experience the sea´s belly at night, was what I used to have nightmares about. Whenever I was stressed or upset, my sleep would be filled with wavy black seas that had swallowed me up and refused to let me go. With that image now a distant memory, I dived at night and discovered a different side to what I had already experienced. As well as a different side to myself. I admit, I was scared and questioning what I was doing, but the moment you descend and see the coral come alive ( which it does at night), I was almost euphoric with the madness of this excercise. All we had to see with was a tiny torch and this way we didn´t lose each other. Slowly walking along the coral, a sloppy octopus edged its way over , as if having just awoken from its daily siesta. We saw a turtle hiding under a coral cave and schools of fish eyeing us as if they were unsure who would be eaten first. What I loved most about this dive was the luminous plancton that looked like fire crackers when we waved our hands through the water. The total blackness of the vast ocean and my feeling of control felt like I had overcome a previous barrier to my new love of the sea.

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Without fail, if you dive here, you must dive in the Cenotes. This area is renowned for this natural phenomenon. A cenote is an underground lake which were considered sacred by the Mayas. Women would sometimes be thrown in as an offering. Do not worry, you will not encounter any grusome ancient cadavres. The cenotes, from below are beguiling. They contain stalagmites and stalagtites, like any other cave but you will see this all under water. Fossils of coral and water animals abound. Some contain a strange phenomenon of making the water seem like a kaleidascope due to a chemical reaction beteween sodium and carbon. What is the most spectacular of all is the purity of the light that beams into the water like shards of glass. The opening of the cenotes from the dark inner caves looks like visions of heaven. I knew then that I would never see anything as beautiful as this for a long time. This certainly did make my heart beat faster.

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If you visit this little town, I can offer you the following advice: the tourist aimed establishments will rip you off so try to eat in local restaurants where Mexicans eat. Try "El Pirata" (I don´t know the address). I was taken there by my dive instructor. I had the most amazing fresh fish ceviche and Sope de Marisco at roughly a third of the usual tourist price. I stongly recommend it. The restaurants further away from the beach front are cheapest.

As far as diving is concerned, the prices are roughly the same but I highly recommend Phantom Dives (ask around for the address) as they are professional and very friendly. I paid $65 for a two tank dive (I wish it was this cheap in Europe) and $85 for a one tank night dive. They will give you a discount if you tell them you want to do more than a couple of dives.

Sombreros
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One last word of warning: if you are a girl, you will be given a lot of unwanted attention. Seriously, it gets annoying. But just ignore these poor little boys (or not as the case may be) and they leave you alone. The owner of my hostel crossed the line and received a well deserved slap. No more was said.

This place is fun and great for relaxing but if you come for culture, you will have a tough time finding it. Have fun!