Two decades ago, hot and weary after several months of backpacking, I walked barefoot with my friend across the white sands of the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Looking out across the turquoise sea, without another person in sight, I felt sure that this must be the most beautiful beach in the world.
Our bus had arrived in a little town called Tulum, where we’d dropped our rucksacks at a hostel and headed to the beach to swim in the waves and snooze on the sand, before exploring the mystical ruins of the Mayan civilisation that watched over the beach.
