The next day I spent the morning (4 hours) cliff diving and snorkeling. I saw lots of little fish and an angry looking octopus that I left alone. I also found an underwater tunnel that connected to a hidden pool inside the rocks. It was about 12 ft (4m) underwater and maybe 25 ft (8m) long. It was a scary and exhilarating swim. The barnacles and rough rocks chewed me up as I swam through the tunnel, but I was glad I did it. When I got back to the top to dive again, I counted 22 places on my hands, arms, legs, and feet that were bleeding. They weren’t enough to worry about so I kept diving.
I hit the ruins afterward and loved it. The city is almost completely un-restored, overgrown by forest, and nearly devoid of signs, maps, and tourists. It makes it feel like you are the only one to see the ruins in ages. The trails, where they exist, disappear on one side of a ruin and you have to climb through, over the carved stones, that once were a building, to find the trail on the other side. I really had to work for it. I felt more like Indiana Jones there than anywhere I have ever been. I cut randomly through the trees and vines, and found hidden ruins and tombs that seemed completely undiscovered. There is one building with large sections of intact mosaics, very cool. I ended up climbing the ruins to the top of the mountain to a fantastic overlook of the ocean. Exhausted, in the unrelenting sun, it was then that I knew that I would be very sore from the day’s fun.
