While visiting the small shops in downtown Cancun, we ran across one of the street vendors that makes his living spray-painting pictures. When you first get there, you wonder how someone could possibly use spray paint to craft a picture. This is the…Read More

While visiting the small shops in downtown Cancun, we ran across one of the street vendors that makes his living spray-painting pictures. When you first get there, you wonder how someone could possibly use spray paint to craft a picture. This is the most amazing thing to watch! You pick out a picture you like from an album and he goes to town. He sprays various colors on a piece of cardboard, takes a strip of newspaper and dabs the paint to mix it together, uses bowls and spray can lids to sit on the painting and spray around to get the effect of a planet, and uses many other techniques to make the most beautiful pictures. Throughout the painting, he'll spray a can and light it and wave the flame above the picture for the paint to take. In less than 10 minutes, you have a beautiful work of art to take home. Each picture ended up costing us approximately 80-90 pesos which was very much worth it.   Close

This is a tour not to miss. Isla Mujeres is a small island off the coast of Cancun. It was called the Island of Women according to varying reports –- girls were sent here to enter womanhood, statues of women were found here, it was…Read More

This is a tour not to miss. Isla Mujeres is a small island off the coast of Cancun. It was called the Island of Women according to varying reports –- girls were sent here to enter womanhood, statues of women were found here, it was believed to have been an ancient Mayan sacred place. A small temple on the island is dedicated to the goddess Ixchel. After the reign of the Mayans, the island became a stop for pirates to get supplies.

Since we were staying at a Palace Resort, our tour left from the dock at the Moon Palace. You are required to check in at a building near the dock to get a wristband, which is needed to board the boat. Make sure to arrive earlier than the time you are told. Our scheduled check in time was 8:30am. We arrived around 8:15 to check in and everyone else was already there and in line well ahead of us. I suggest arriving early not because you won’t have a seat because they don’t overbook the boat, but to get towards the front of the line so you have a choice on where you want to sit. The boat is a double decker with half the seats on top in full view of the sun and half are below which are shaded. This is a party boat and I highly recommend sitting below because that’s where all the action is. (If you’re not staying at a Palace Resort, there are water shuttles that depart from Puerto Juarez or Punta Sam running every 30 minutes from 6:30am-11:30pm.)

There are 4-5 "tour guides/party guys" that make sure your entire trip is entertaining. Not only do they serve soda, beer and tequila, but they sing, dance and thoroughly entertain.

As we boarded the boat, the theme to Titanic was playing. My husband said, "that’s not such a good tune to be playing on a boat". Well come to find out, it was intentional. As we pulled away from the dock, we were welcomed aboard the Titanic! The tour guides made everyone feel welcomed and found where everyone was from. There was then a song for everything. They played "Celebrate", "YMCA", "La Bamba", "Batman" theme, "New York New York", "Hey", "Play that Funky Music", "Rocky" theme, "Greased Lightening", "Grease", and many others. While the music played, they performed various skits such as Bob Marley and Jamaican musicians, bikini T-shirt dance, Mexican outfits and a bullfight, Batman and Robin fighting the Joker, Zorro showed up as did Rocky.

After around 45-60 minutes, we docked at Isla Mujeres. There were a variety of things you could do. We purchased a swim with the dolphins, you could also have a dolphin encounter, scuba with sharks and stingrays and snorkel with dolphins. Or, you could just enjoy the island and play beach volleyball, use the kayaks or walk around the area. As you depart the boat, they have you follow a tour guide with the activity you have planned. You go straight to your activity via taxi (get your towels before you go on your excursion. They told us to get our towel at the dolphin swim and when we got there found out you needed to get it when we docked). After your events, you’re taken back to the dock area where you have lunch in their open-air bar/restaurant palapa. The buffet lunch was excellent. They allow plenty of time for lunch before you get back on the boat and they escort you to the other side of the island where the shopping area is. They take you to the silver and gold factory stores, then you’re on your own to shop for about two hours. Make sure you remember the name of the pier where the boat dropped you off because they all look alike. In this area, there are golf carts and mopeds available for rental. The golf carts are (U.S.) $6/hour or $70/day and mopeds are $7.50/hour or $27/day. With the island only being around 4 or 5 miles long, these are a great way to see the sites.

On our trip to the island, we experienced 3-6’ waves, which made for a bumpy ride. Upon returning to Cancun, the waves increased to 6-10’ and the coast guard told the crew they couldn’t go back the same route, so they went straight across to the inlet and down the lagoon side of Cancun. The crew had radioed ahead and had a tour bus waiting for us at Aqua World where we docked, to take us back to the Moon Palace. It was nice they were so prepared and had everything ready so that we didn’t have to wait. That was service! We arrived back at the resort around 6pm, so it was a full day of fun and sun!

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Our tour started with a 1.5 hour drive from the Moon Palace to the Tulum archeological site. When you first arrive and leave the parking lot, there are several small stores with souvenirs and food. Outside of that area, you walk to a dirt road…Read More

Our tour started with a 1.5 hour drive from the Moon Palace to the Tulum archeological site. When you first arrive and leave the parking lot, there are several small stores with souvenirs and food. Outside of that area, you walk to a dirt road and can either pay $1.50/each for a roundtrip shuttle to the site, or you can walk a mile or so there. The walk is easy enough, except if it starts to rain and you’ll wish you had paid for the shuttle (trust me!). To enter the site, you’ll pass through a large opening in the wall that once stood to enclose the city. As you enter, you’ll view several buildings spread amongst the area. The buildings were roped off so we were not allowed to enter them.

Previously the "City of the Sunrise", the name soon changed to the Wall City or Tulum. Tulum is a city the Mayans developed. Only the high society and astrologers stayed here. The commoners were not allowed in except for celebrations. However, when they did visit, no knowledge was passed down to them.

As our tour guide took us around the ruins, he explained about the area and the people. The Mayans were a short people that understood and predicted solar eclipses and knew the alignment of the planets and were particularly intrigued by the Sun and Venus. With this knowledge came an obsession with time.

The city was built on a natural limestone quarry so they used this to construct their buildings. Since they were so intelligent and developed a calendar and understood the solar system, they constructed their buildings to assist in their time telling and which seasons they were in. They installed tiny windows in the side of certain buildings (first picture below) to indicate time. The sun would shine through the first window beginning at 6am and other windows in 15-minute intervals.

Some interesting facts about the Mayan people at Tulum that we found out from our guide were: the Mayans thought flat faces looked nice. So when a baby was born, from birth to one year, they would place a board on the front of the babies face to flatten it. Ladies died their hair red to look good. Teenage boys would get a string hung between their eyes to make them cross eyed –- that was thought to be sexy!

Unfortunately the rain started to come down pretty heavy, so we took off back to the bus and didn’t get to hear other interesting facts about the site or people.

There’s no record of why the people left Tulum. Through the years, the ruins became very decayed from the weather and jungle surroundings. It’s a beautiful location sitting high above the ocean with a trail leading down to the shore where trading took place with passing trade ships. The next time we return to Cancun, we want to return to Tulum on a nice day in order to spend more time taking in the area and learning even more about the people.

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My wife and I planned a trip to Mexico for our silver wedding anniversary, but a decision to buy a business postponed it for 3 years. We had loose plans to go this winter when I got an E-mail from a travel agency pointing…Read More

My wife and I planned a trip to Mexico for our silver wedding anniversary, but a decision to buy a business postponed it for 3 years. We had loose plans to go this winter when I got an E-mail from a travel agency pointing out a price drop on an all inclusive tour. The drop made the all inclusive plan as inexpensive as the non-inclusive, so we booked. The hotel was rated 3 stars and looked nice in the photos. Off we went on the appointed day, as a snow storm was bearing down on Michigan. We arrived to warm weather and I found that our hotel, the Yamlakan, was close to the airport and we were one of the first ones off the shuttle.

The hotel was as presented, the 3 stars were because the property shows it's age, but it was clean, very clean, and the staff was very friendly. A much more upscale property right next door was the Sun Palace. Club Med was also near the airport, but on a southern facing beach. Club Med is said to have the best snorkeling reef for beginers, but it was too rough for us to find out.

My first surprise was how good the food was in the all inclusive plan. Everything was fresh and tasted prepared from scratch. Nothing was deep fried, so it fit my healthy diet and lifestyle nicely. We had food on our day tour and it was the same, I think that the food all over is excellent, but if you want American, Pizza Hut, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, they are here, too.

The package tour included transportation to and from the aiport as well as "the services of a professional guide at the hotel". That guide was very helpful in giving us information we used to choose trips and get around. He made sure we were checked out and back at the airport on time to leave on our departure day, don't blow him off if you have one included in your package.

Drinks on an all inclusive package are weak, but we are not drinkers. Beer is one style, draft, and one brand, Dos Equis. Well, we are not much for drinking so it didn't matter, but if you are a drinker, you can buy package booze cheap here. I noticed two items, a quart of Kaluha was about $10 and a bottle of Drambuie was $19.    Close

These days I suppose no one expects to get through an airport in a hurry, but the baggage claim in Cancun was laughable. Of course I was on vacation and wasn't in a hurry but a lot of other passengers got steamed. The…Read More

These days I suppose no one expects to get through an airport in a hurry, but the baggage claim in Cancun was laughable. Of course I was on vacation and wasn't in a hurry but a lot of other passengers got steamed. The baggage carousel could only hold about 100 bags and there were probably 500 waiting to be unloaded from luggage carts. You could see your bags outside the window, but until other passengers removed their bags from the carousel, there was no place for the handlers to place the remaining luggage. To make things worse, the people who needed to claim the bags already on the belt couldn't get to them because of the folks crowding the belt looking for bags that weren't there and weren't going to be there. Finaly someone smarter than me (another passenger, no one from the airport) walked around asking people to back off if their bags weren't there. Eventualy everyone got luggage and was off to their hotels. In the airport as soon as you clear immigration, you are accosted by people wanting you to see a "presentation" They are very good, and for about 1 minute I really thought they were someone who's job it was to help you find your way around. I would take their maps and then split to get your luggage. Whatever you do don't give them money! If you want to play their game you will get more offers outside the airport that don't require a cash deposit. Go to your hotel before agreeing to see any presentations.   Close

I'm not a resort type of person, so when I laid eyes on Playa, I made a promise to myself that I would return. Playa is everything Cancun is not. It's quiet, quaint, not commercialized. The beaches are open to the public and easily…Read More

I'm not a resort type of person, so when I laid eyes on Playa, I made a promise to myself that I would return. Playa is everything Cancun is not. It's quiet, quaint, not commercialized. The beaches are open to the public and easily accessible.

Buses run to Playa all day long from the station in cancun. It takes maybe 45 minutes to an hour to get there, and its well worth the time. Playa is lovely, unspoiled, not commercialized at all. I understand that there are some resorts there and more to come, but for now, its perfect and relatively unscathed by Cancun.

My companion and I arrived in the late afternoon, and took a long walk along the beach and through a quiet residential neighborhood. Many new houses were being built, if that's any indication that the town is prospering, and it felt like home, like a place you could call home.

Nightlife in Playa along the pedestrian street is civilized, especially compared to Cancun. You get the sense that there are actually "adults" there. You can have an inexpensive meal, shop 'til you can't carry anymore, then settle into one of the many cantinas or bars and listen to live music all night, all without getting chatted up or puked on. ***big sigh*** What the hell am I doing here? If the idea of mega hotels, Spring Break and spandex disco nightlife leave you cold, consider moving your party down south to Playa. I know I am, next time.

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You can't really call Cancun picturesque, or charming, or lovely. It's a beach, plain and simple, with all the glitz and crassness of any beachside tourist trap. Go with one objective: to chill out on the beach. You aren't going to find heaps of…Read More

You can't really call Cancun picturesque, or charming, or lovely. It's a beach, plain and simple, with all the glitz and crassness of any beachside tourist trap.

Go with one objective: to chill out on the beach. You aren't going to find heaps of Mexican culture here, (well, maybe if you venture past the TGIFridays and the Wal-mart), and you will have trouble finding anything not commercialized, homogenized or pre-packaged for tourist consumption. Driving around the town of Cancun itself, you might think you're in some American border town, not another country.

Night life in Cancun is loud (really loud) bars catering to the 18-22 set, dance clubs, and big air conditioned malls for shopping. I can get all that in Paramus, so I wasn't really excited by it. Going to the restaurants was a bit humbling; I was hoping for a little less attention and fewer dumb questions from waiters about why I was alone. But I did massively enjoy lounging in the shade with lounge chair side waitress service. My hotel had a marvelous spa, so I planned activities there and devoted my four day stay to rejuvenation, not hell-bent-for-leather partying.

You'll have to go farther afield to see culture and crafts, and a lot of what you'll see in the marketplaces was not local to Yucatan and didn't seem to be of high quality.

All is not lost. Take your bathing suit and a great book. Plan day trips to Playa Del Carmen, Isla de Mujeres and Chichen Itza. Keep your expectations simple (not low) and enjoy. I had a good time, I did make friends and talk to people and I've been back since. Cancun is a beach. It is the most lovely water and sand I have ever seen. It's not really Mexico.    Close

Should we go All Inclusive? We debated about it for a long time, but after looking around on the Internet, we decided to go for it. We were glad we did. This is how we figured it: We normally skip breakfast, but pay about $10 for…Read More

Should we go All Inclusive?

We debated about it for a long time, but after looking around on the Internet, we decided to go for it. We were glad we did.

This is how we figured it:
We normally skip breakfast, but pay about $10 for lunch, $15 for dinner, and about $20 for drinking when we go out. That's $45/day. Plus, we had heard the rumor that dining-out in Cancun is expensive.

The AI package with airfare and RT Hotel Transfer was (originally) $600 per person for four of us for one room for 4 days/3 nights. (We got our Funjet package through Tony at Grand Travel in Houston--he rocked.) Well, a plane ticket to Cancun alone was $400. So, for $800 (four people), we were getting our room for 3 nights and all the food/drinks we wanted. Granted, the Costa Real hotel is one of the cheaper AI hotels, but if the room costs, say $150/night, that's $200 left for food/drinks for four people for 3 full days. Fifty dollars for food for 3 days per person or $17/day for all the food and drinks you can handle, you can't beat that! PLUS, you get other AI perks like:
*Free Room service once a day per person.
*Non-motorized watersports (pedal boats, kayaks, snorkeling equipment).
*Kayak tour to the Lagoon.
*One introductory SCUBA lesson in the pool.
*Daily social activities and aerobics program. (I never saw what these were.)
*Evening entertainment including three festive theme parties weekly with live music and show.
*Free cover to Senor Frog’s and Carlos & Charlies (worth $20).
*Use of the gym.
*Kids' Club with supervised activities.
*Pool and beach waiter service.
*Gratuities and current hotel taxes (it says "gratuities included," but we did tip about US$5 at every meal).

Even though we didn't use any of the "perks," (we had planned to, we just never found the time!) the food and drinks were so worth it.

Even if we didn't go the "cheap" route (staying at Costa Real), I think I would still go AI in Cancun. The food was REALLY good (see my journal entry about the Costa Real restaurants). The drinks were not too weak, and they even had some premium alcohols like Bacardi, and they were good. And the not having to decide where to eat every night or even having to really get fully dressed to have a meal--we had breakfast one morning in our PJs, we ate lunch in our bathing suits--was perfect.

Plus, if you're so inclined, at some of the hotels they have a "stay at one, play at all" option. This means you stay at one hotel but you can eat, drink, and be merry at any of their hotels.

And then to top it all off, a couple weeks after we booked, Tony called and told me he got us as extra $50 off our package! Definitely worth it!

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Coba is one of the oldest Mayan sites in the Yucatan, dating back to 600 A.D. Translated to mean "Ruffled Waters," the name comes from the five lakes in the area. Deep in the Mexican jungle the pyramid, Nohoch Mul, is the highest pyramid in…Read More

Coba is one of the oldest Mayan sites in the Yucatan, dating back to 600 A.D. Translated to mean "Ruffled Waters," the name comes from the five lakes in the area. Deep in the Mexican jungle the pyramid, Nohoch Mul, is the highest pyramid in the area with the highest concentration of constructed stone roads. The feeling here is adventurous as the surroundings are lush and remote. Roads seem to have been built for processions and pilgrimages as their civilization had no wheeled carts or animal for transportation. One of the roads have been traced to as far of a distance of 60 miles. There also may have been some kind of mergence with Tikal in Guatemala as carvings of Tikal royalty have been found.

Make sure to take water along and comfortable walking shoes are a must. To hike the jungle trails and see all the sites of Coba, you can easily spend a good part of the day there. There are stalls at the entrance to purchase drinks and a few other things. Coba is remote and not on the main tourist circuit so enjoy the ruins and the many birds. Look for the monkeys high in the trees and explore the shorter trails that surround Coba. You will find not only a jungle area filled with wildlife but a link into the past life of the Mayans.

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In 1517, Isla Mujeres was discovered by the Spaniards who arrived to discover monuments in the form of women. They decided to give the small island the name Isla Mujeres which means the Island of Women. The laid-back atmosphere of Isla Mujeres is an exotic…Read More

In 1517, Isla Mujeres was discovered by the Spaniards who arrived to discover monuments in the form of women. They decided to give the small island the name Isla Mujeres which means the Island of Women. The laid-back atmosphere of Isla Mujeres is an exotic interlude of nature. Located 8 miles from Cancún, it is paradise found.

Renting mopeds is the best way to see the island. There are many shops to rent from when you arrive on Isla Mujerus. The tiny cobblestoned village has much to offer in bargains and places to eat but I found the main attraction to be Garrafon Bay. Heading south along the coast, you will reach this paradise and underwater world teeming with fish looking like they were covered in velvet. Many others of bright colors will swim next to you as you snorkel beyond the reef and into the crystal waters. Squid, sandsharks and star fish can be seen, along with lobster. There is a place to rent snorkel equipment if you haven't brought your own and don't forget the suntan lotion.

There are small ruins to visit at the end of the Island and driving your moped around to the other side, you will find more secluded beaches to play in. The homes that dot this side of the Island are interesting and one is built in the shape of a seashell.

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