Winter Vacation 2012

We are in Puerto Moreles, Mexico, a small fishing village sandwiched between the party towns of Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. So we are enjoying laid-back days in a stunning setting.
Our condo on the beach is comfortable, spacious, and well equipped for a luxurious stay.

We can see the calm Caribbean stretching way out into the horizon. The beaches are white with fine, soft sand. No shells, though.

We watch the sun rise from our beds just after 6:00 AM. The first morning we took a walk on the beach to experience the awakening of the day. The temperature was perfect. The wind was a bit strong but it was warm and not in the least bit unpleasant. As the sun emerged more fully we dove into the sea. Wow, that was sensational.

A string of resort hotels line the beach, but they are pretty low key compared to the ones in Cancun and Playa Del Carmen.

Right near us there's a "lifestyle" resort called Desire!!


Puerto Morelos is a village and walking through its quiet, clean streets you encounter the friendly locals - mainly American and Canadian expats and Mexicans of Mayan descent.

Boats to ferry passengers to the reef

There's a fantastic craft market in the town center. Typical Mexican crafts like embroidered clothes, colorful blankets, and pottery tempt tourists.

It's a lot of fun strolling through the quiet streets of Puerto Moreles. There's a variety of restaurants, a used book store called Alma Libre, and a great cafe to get espresso drinks and people watch.


This leaning lighthouse was knocked over by a hurricane some years ago.

There's a new one built next to it, but this old one is supposed to amuse visitors to the town.







In addition to the warm, tropical weather we are enjoying the fruit - mangoes, papayas, pineapples, flavorful bananas, guavas, passionfruit, and other more exotic stuff.

We go shopping for produce in a neighborhood called Colonia. This area has an authentic, working class ambience with lots of fruit and vegetable stands. I got some plantains here earlier in the week which we fried up to complement our meal of tortillas, beans, guacamole, tomatilla salsa, and roasted poblano peppers.

In the evenings I make margaritas. I sought advice on the best tequila we could find and have been experimenting with different tropical fruit. Sipping these refreshing drinks on the balcony, with an amazing view and the soothing sounds of the sea is quite special.

Premi and I are having fun creating meals with the local ingredients. She has been making a lot of seafood.

Warm, freshly made tortillas are available at every store. We've been having them everyday. Daryl's complaining now, so I'm going to have to make a pasta meal tonight.

It's so easy to succumb to the peace  and beauty here and just read and relax all day. But we've forced ourselves out of our lethargy and went on a couple day trips. We spent most of a day in Playa Del Carmen - about 20 miles south of us. And of course, we spent a day visiting the famous Chichin Itza.

More about those excursions in another blog.