The Fabulous Puerto Morelos Part 3

The average tourist wants to go to places where there are no tourists. - Sam Ewing

We had been looking into tours before we even left home and just couldn't find the right one for us. As we sat at the dive shop waiting for our boat, discussing what tour we would settle for, the dive master Enrique, told us not to worry, we could do it ourselves. He, along with the hotel concierge, booked a rental car to be delivered to the hotel the next morning and Enrique helped us with our itinerary, even drawing us a map.

The Sugartarian Family Tour

7:00 am departure from Puerto Morelos

Breakfast in Tulum at Don Cafeto

11:00 - 2:00 Coba

Stop at El Gran Cenote

Tulum 

5th Avenue Playa Del Carmen

Because of the construction in Playa Del Carmen we were running a little late and I already pigged out on pastries at Ceiba Del Mar, so we ended up skipping breakfast at Don Cafeto. We arrived at Coba around 10:30 just in time to watch a gigantic tour group make its way into the park. We decided to give them a head start as we wandered around the shops and grabbed a small bite at one of the restaurants. (They had THE BEST nachos.) As we walked up to the bike rental, at the entrance, we were notified all the bikes were taken so we would be walking the 2 kilometers each way. (I guess giving the tour a head start wasn't the best idea, but then again those nachos were worth it.) 

 

Even with several tour groups the park never really felt crowded, and many times we were wandering the sites alone. We finally made it to the main attraction, Nohoch Mul, the Yucatan Peninsula's 2nd tallest pyramid, about 12 stories, and one of the few people are still allowed to climb. Perfectly placed a few feet from the pyramid was a snack bar where we loaded up on Gatorade, before making our  climb to the top.

Climbing was a little bit of a challenge, besides being tall and steep, the steps were a little uneven and sometimes narrow, but that is all part of the adventure. The pay off was the amazing view from the top, nothing but a sea of trees for as far as the eye can see. We could have literally spent the entire day in Coba, but we had a lot more to see, so after a total of 3 hours and another plate of nachos we were on our way.
Although it was the perfect suggestion, as we were all a hot sweaty mess after Coba, we did not have time to stop at El Gran Cenote, and had to continued on to Tulum.

Tulum was not what I expected. Starting with the rather large open air shopping center at the parking lot. From the shopping center, we opted to walk the 1km to the entrance of the ruins instead of taking the trolley. (We like to do things the hot hard way.) When we reached the ticket booth, hot sweaty and thirsty, we still had a ways to walk to get to the actual entrance. (Next time we will be more prepared; trolley, drinks, and towel.) Once we walked through the tiny archway entrance, I felt like I just entered Wonderland through the rabbit hole. Everything was picture perfect, if Disney had a historical park, this is what it would look like. Because of the perfection I think it lost some of the historical feel and story Coba had, but it was beautiful none the less. It was surprisingly uncrowded, I was warned in all the guide books how crowed Tulum gets later in the day, and we had most of the pathways to ourselves. We were pretty underwhelmed after seeing Coba in a more natural atmosphere, until we reached the beach. This is where Tulum stands out.

We spent the majority of our time at the beach. It was a little crowded, but we still managed to find a place behind a large bolder to sit and relax as the kids cooled off in the surf. This was another place we could have stayed all day, but we were getting tired and hungry so we headed back to the shopping center for a early dinner. After dinner we had a Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and did a little shopping before we made our way to our last stop.

This stop was the stop for me.(The only shopper in the group) 5th Avenue was a beautiful cobble stone street, lined with trees, shops and restaurants, that seamed to go on forever. It just wasn't my kind of shopping, with prices 3 times that of Tulum or Puerto Morelos, we spent most of our time just walking.
As the sun set, we made our way back to Puerto Morelos and called it a night.
 

To be continued........I swear it is the last one :)

The Fabulous Puerto Morelos Part 2

"The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides."Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Obviously we didn't just sit around the pool all day, although we did get quite a bit of use out of it, we also enjoyed the natural beauty Puerto Morelos offers just off shore.

 

The entire reason for going on this vacation was because I was craving snorkeling. We have snorkeled in Hawaii, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands and even Costa Rica and our favorite snorkeling has always been Hawaii. Being that I am not a huge fan of Hawaii outside of the water, I was happy to give Puerto Morelos a chance, and.....it's been nice knowing you Hawaii. (:

 

We took a great snorkeling trip from a company called Almost Heaven Adventures to the second largest reef in the world. The owner Enrique and the crew Raphael and Manuel were very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. After a short ride from the dock, about 500 meters, we were in the crystal clear water following Raphael and his orange lifesaver around the reef oohing and aahing.(Having Raphael in the water with a lifesaver was extremely comforting to my kids who after years of snorkeling are still terrified of the coral, but not of the barracuda, go figure.) As he lead us around the reef he would point out different fish and coral telling us the names and other interesting information about each and the area in general. We saw barracuda, sting rays, turtles, eels, lobster, and some of the usual coral fish along with sea fans and anemones. The entire reef was so pretty I actually ended up running my camera out of battery life....193 pictures later. 

 

 

The snorkeling was terrific and we had so much fun that we ended up taking another trip with them a few days later.

To be continued.....(Sorry, there is just so much to talk about.) 

The Fabulous Puerto Morelos Part 1

...part of adventure is the unpredictable. That is what really separates travelers from tourists. So many Americans traveling today want to take their America with them, and many of the places they go to cater to this desire at the expense of their history and culture. - Jimmy Buffett,  A Pirate Looks at Fifty

Going into this vacation I was nervous. I am not a touristy, all-inclusive, never leave the hotel kind of person, and we were going to Cancun, or so I thought.
A few months ago I over heard someone talking about how wonderful Puerto Morelos was, and this lady supposedly had the same travel taste as I do. When I went home I opened my laptop and googled this quiet fishing town with a great snorkeling, and to my surprise it was right next to a resort town I have been avoiding for a while...Cancun. Cancun is everything I don't want in a vacation, mega resorts, fast food restaurants, people who don't want to be inconvenienced by a country that is not the U.S. As I researched more I kept hearing how small and quaint and "Real Mexico" this town was. From my esthetician to tripadvisor to my travel agent, they all said I would like it and had nothing to worry about. Well, they were right, only 30 minutes from Cancun was this magical little town that inspired Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

Our hotel was just outside of town and did in fact have an all-inclusive option. (Now it's time for me to be a little snotty.) Why bother going on vacation if you aren't going to leave the property. Go check yourself in to the nearest Best Western in your town and sit by the pool and order delivery, you will save yourself a lot of money. OK now back to our wonderful hotel. It was a beautiful property, with winding walkways, thatched roofs, and tropical vines climbing up the walls.

I was already in love with the property by the time we reached our room. We walked into our Junior Suite and it was picture perfect. Spacious and beautiful with the same tropical Mexican feel as the outside, they did a wonderful job of being luxurious yet still comfortable.( Let me clarify, I don't like all inclusive mega resorts, but it doesn't mean I want to stay in a hostel.)The best seat in the house was the hammock on the second balcony (yep, second balcony), I would lay out there in the morning and just take it all in. Now having two bathrooms seemed a little ridiculous but it soon proved to be handy, when coming in from a day of snorkeling we could clean up for dinner quicker with the girls taking over the larger bathroom and the boys using the smaller bathroom. The pièce de résistance was the dumbwaiter, actually it was more of a secret cubby. What could be so special about a dumbwaiter/secret cubby you may ask, well this particular one was magically filled with Mexican pastries and fresh squeezed orange juicy every morning.

So, it wasn't magically filled, the very nice staff would come in every night for turn down service while we were at dinner.(Sometimes when we arrived before she was done she would give us a Spanish lesson) :) When we would come back to our room after a night on the town, I would push my way through my family to be the first one in the door to see the two cards, and perhaps more importantly candies, that she left. One card was the breakfast menu where you checked off what goodies you would like delivered through your secret cubby. The other card was made for me, it said "sweet dreams" and had candies on it along with the next days weather forecast. Now, typically I would not have turn down service or even maid service, because I want to make their job as easy as possible, but in this instance I couldn't turn down yummy Mexican candies that I have never seen before. The next morning bright and early I would wake up to a basket of pastries and juice. Each day the pastries would be a little different from the last, there was plain muffins, chocolate muffins, croissants, cinnamon rolls, jelly thing made of the same dough as the croissants, raisin cookies, and my favorite coconut muffins and a shortbread like cookie. There is no better way to start the day.

To be continued......................

Nibblin on Sponge Cake....

I will be on vacation for a few days, enjoying pasteries from a dumbwaiter. (Along with a few Margarita's.) Have a relaxing Labor Day.