Well, although I should be writing about Mexico and thoughts/experiences so far, I feel compelled to start with the flight from Philadelphia to Cancun; the one important part of this flight being Sky Mall! This is the inflight magazine in which you can buy absolutely anything, including and starting with my favourite, The Solar Powered Bible! Laugh, I nearly… well you know. This is a bible that gets powered up and speaks the words of the Old Testament. Genius!
Some of my other favourites were; a dog kennel that doubles as a bed site cabinet, your own personalised branding iron for your BBQ and last but not least, a tracking device to see what your naughty spouse gets up to behind your back. This is a great magazine, the only concern is that there are clearly enough people out there to make it worth the airline stocking it, they can’t all just find it funny surely?
Anyway, on with Mexico; I’m currently sipping (that’s a Scottish sip which may equate to a gulp for other cultures) a Mojito in Puerto Morelos in a little bar off the main square, there is a tiny chihuahua running riot, good music and a local kid on a bike with stabilisers, maybe 3 (I am hopeless with the ages of children) just pulled up in a t-shirt and nappies and uttered something inexplicable, but he looks happy enough. There has not been a tourist in site for the past hour, it is low season, but I just came from the beach and there are loads of locals in the water instead of the abundance of tourists seen up the coast on Isla Mujeres.
The place has a generally happy feel to it. The waters are not as nice as on Isla Mujeres but I think some of that is due to the hurricane that went through and has brought some of the coral from the reef to the shore as debris. Our lunch earlier was in a place where the only non Spanish speaker, to my shame, was me (hopefully not for much longer). It seems very easy to get a boat out to the reef for a spot of snorkeling. The reef is visible just off shore where you can see the waves crashing over it.
We (that’s myself and Barbara, founder of gloCaltravel, we’re on a trip to Mexico/Central America for the rest of the year) met Randy earlier, nicknamed “The local Gringo”, he has been here for the past 3 years, seems to love it and is very chilled. He assures us they rotate the areas for the snorkeling so as not to damage the reef too much. I can’t confirm that but at least the thought is there to begin with. If you are looking for a laid back place to stay and relax near Cancun with a little less of the ‘put on for tourists’ feel, give this a shot.
Back to Isla Mujeres; well, if it’s a choice between there and Cancun, no contest, Cancun is a pit and should be avoided at all costs. The huge, monstrosity of hotels in Zona Hotelera are seriously appalling, despite the “oohs” and “ahhhs” from the dim wit in our shared taxi from the airport, and downtown is just not a nice place to stay. Fly in, get out. As for Isla Mujeres, the island has a very touristy backpacker kind of feel to it, filled with bars and places to eat, which may or may not appeal depending on what you are after. The waters are crystal clear and have that amazing Caribbean light blue (I’m sure it has a name but I’m a bloke and don’t have the word in my vocabulary) that makes going for a swim so inviting and is a constant from the port in Cancun till you get off the ferry on the Island.
The water near the main town is quite shallow, but if you head south down the island you can find some nice waters that are a bit deeper; we stopped at a place that cost 4USD each to get in near the south part of the island with a nice little strip of beach and and a great spot for a swim with a group of interested fish which made it entertaining. If you have swimming goggles with you they will do instead of having to rent snorkeling gear, there is not that much to see, it’s not a reef after all.
It seemed impossible to get on the beach in the south part of the island without having to pay or go through a hotel (unlike the north part near the main town or here in Puerto Morelos where there is plenty of beach and no need to pay). Instead of hiring a moped/scooter or one of the golf carts, which I am sure are fun, get yourself a mountain bike and cycle round the island, which is only 7km long, it’s not tough, and will give you some exercise to burn off the nachos you will no doubt be firing down with your beer. The trip down the Cancun side is not a visual treat but the side facing the Atlantic is scenic and it’s nice to plod along on a bike.
Something I would seriously advise against is going to Hacienda Mundaca, which appears to serve only as a prison for the animals kept there for tourist viewing pleasure. The sight of a deer, alone in a small enclosure cowering from the sun in the only spot with shade, is not my idea of fun. I see no reason for the Spider Monkeys to be there either, they are not even local to the area and just don’t see the point to it. There is also no Hacienda to be seen, not that we found anyway. People may say the animals being there give it an authentic feeling like how the Hacienda would have been, but we don’t see Christians being thrown to the lions in Rome just for that extra bit of reality do we? Although… Just kidding, no religious comments please. Give it a miss and head round to the turtle sanctuary instead where they seem to be doing some good work.
Overall, Isla Mujeres is a nice little place with loads of places to eat and drink, snorkeling and diving easy to come by and enough to keep you going for a few days. It is packed with tourists however and to me everything just feels too fake with little feeling of local life. Puerto Morelos is a better pick for me, it certainly has its tourist element to it, but just seems to have a life not built exclusively for tourists.
The kid on the bike just had a crash after steaming past our table with his hand extended, I think he was going for a high five but didn’t judge it quite right. He seems fine though and is continuing undaunted, good lad.
Not sure what tomorrow brings, we may stay on for another day and try the snorkeling, or may take off down the coast towards Tulum. Seeing the reef so close by is tempting to do a bit more snorkeling, but I have been an idiot and managed to get a little burnt on my shoulders, so may have to give it a miss for a day or two. We’ll see.
I am still not sure how I liked Isla Mujeres… good place to chill out, enjoy clear waters and superb seafood, but there is very little of the Island’s life which is not revolving around the tourism industry.
