Arriving in Playa del Carmen was an event in itself. The walk from the bus station to our hostel led us down their main avenue, even called “5th Ave” (albeit in Spanish - Quinta Avenida), and as we walked past what felt like a Starbucks on every corner, a H&M, and Häagen-Dazs, we ignored swathes of hawkers and made it to the Yak Hostel.

After a quiet night on Thursday, we partied all night on Friday with a Dutch couple and a girl from New Zealand we met at the hostel, leading us to numerous bars and clubs in the centre of town, before inevitably all losing each other and crawling in to bed at 3 in the morning.

Since arriving the weather was far from ideal. Many people who had come here to enjoy a bit of sun (us included) were left disappointed as we struggled to find breaks in the rain to head out from the hostel. Or wait until our frustration got the better of us and we just walked around in the rain, getting soaked in the process.

A gloomy day outside one of many Starbucks

Fortunately, our main aim of coming to Mexico was for the incredible scuba diving on offer. On Sunday we dived at Dos Ojos, a flooded cave system located north of Tulum. And it was spectacular.

But that was just the beginning. On Monday, against advice from other hostel guests and even the ferry company, we braved the bad weather and took a boat across to Cozumel, home to the second largest reef system in the world and as such an internationally renowned site for diving. We spent 2 days diving in Cozumel and needless to say the experience (and the pictures) were nothing short of incredible. The visibility was unlike anything I've ever experienced before, and we were treated to up close sightings of Sting Rays, Sea Turtles, Eels, Lobsters, Sea Horses and Sharks.

By Thursday we were back in Cozumel diving at another Cenote, this time El Pit with our guide Ricardo. Although Sara and I only had our Open Water certification for diving, we quickly found out that most dive shops in Mexico would take us to any depth we wanted (and paid for). The Pit is an impressive sinkhole located in the deep jungle, the largest underwater cave in the world and the deepest one ever found in Quintana Roo state with a maximum depth of 120m. The place is just unreal - a thick sulphuric cloud at around 30m makes you think your mask has fogged up, but after descending further you hit more crystal clear water and start to get an idea of just how big the hole is. Ricardo took us down to 40m with the rays of sunshine penetrating the surface like lasers, we were able to appreciate just how small we felt in this giant abyss. We swam around trees, stalactites and animal bones that made you feel as if the whole experience was like swimming through some eerie graveyard in a dream.

The diving here has been up there with some of the highlights of the trip so far, however we had to give it a rest at some point as it was far from cheap, and when Sara started coughing up blood after the first dive in El Pit, it was probably a sign to take a break. The benefit of travelling the Yucatan area of Mexico however meant that Cancun was only an hour away by bus, so we hauled our luggage past the same hawkers of 5th Ave who were still intent on trying to sell us jewellery, accommodation, food, massages, or anything we might be interested in, and went on our way.