Beach

Finally, a beach day! We ate breakfast at the hotel a whole hour later and took our time driving to the coast. We finally figured out how to get to the public beach, via a beach club. Playa Paraiso had the best reviews, but it opened at 10 a.m., 45 minutes after our arrival. So we backtracked a few blocks, parked on the side of the road, and followed a sandy path over a small hill onto the expanse of beach. Washed up kelp acted as a barrier to the ocean, so we laid down our towels near a break in said wall.

Herr and JJ proceeded to lotion up and sunbathe, Herr getting my back and I neglecting my front. This would be my undoing, a sad lesson in sun burns. Per JJ's alarm, we flipped every twenty minutes. I only participated for two and a half flips before proceeding into the water. It was windy, and the waves were considerable. I had misgivings about being in the water alone as I had bad experiences with undercurrents when visiting Pasadena as a child. So I stayed in shallow water, which was super salty. One could only take so much before needing a break or one's eyes might dry up from so much salt!

Around 10:30 a.m., we packed up to go to the now-open beach club and rented a cabana for 250 pesos. Herr joined me in the water this time, so we stayed in longer. We all dried off at the cabana, but alas, half of me took a good deal of sun. We ordered food, beer was drunk (picture typical Mexican beach scene), and we left at 1:30 p.m. having caught quite enough sun. And too much sun I did catch. My head, chest, right arm, both hands, and right leg. Immediate application of aloe gel did little to alleviate the tingling sensation, so I stayed inside while the guys napped outdoors.

In the evening we went for our usual walk along the main road in Tulum. I was still not hungry so simply had flan while the others indulged in full meals. We all felt exhausted from the sun exposure so made it an early night.