Our Last Day In Puerto Aventuras

After Hobie cat sailing earlier in the morning, Ken and I decided to stay at the resort and just relax by the beach and pool bar.  (See Ken in picture above at the bar?)

After brunch, we settled in on the beach ... near the bar.  With the skies clearing, this was the perfect way to wrap up our vacation ... the beach, a lounge chair, and a waiter bringing us drinks!

The bar wasn't too far from our chairs ...

After sailing and some sun, I was a happy girl!

We eventually made our way to the pool bar, and I actually had to put on a t-shirt to keep from getting burned.  We socialized with the other guests and met a lot of great people during our stay.  Their homes were from all over the world ... Canada, Spain, Germany and Romania to name a few.  We met two couples not much older than us that have been to the resort over a dozen times!

The resort has several pools, and we watched some games involving tequila being played in the pool nearby.

We tried not to think about the fact that we'd be headed home the next day ... the tequila helped.  The margaritas were a little weak, so I asked for an extra shot on the side ... they used a champagne glass! 

That evening, we got cleaned up and enjoyed another great meal.  Because of the location of the resort, we weren't able to view the sunset from the beach but we weren't complaining ... at least it wasn't raining!

The next morning we filled up on breakfast and took in the views one last time.

Even with dodging the rain, we had a great time in Mexico and couldn't have been happier with our choice of all-inclusive resorts.  We've been back home just over a month now, and we're already wishing we were back in Mexico.   As usual, it's been a busy month since we've been home ... all for reaching the goal of permanent living in the tropics!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Hobie Cat Sailing in Mexico!

Me and Herman,  a sailor for over 20 years

As I mentioned I was going to do in my last post about snorkeling in Akumal, I woke up on our last full day in Mexico with a plan.  The very first thing I was gonna do that morning was walk straight to the lifeguard stand on the beach and see if I could manage to talk my way onto a Hobie cat sailboat.  Free sails came with our all-inclusive stay at the "Catalonia" resort, but there had been no sailing throughout our entire stay due to bad weather.  I was hopeful that things would change before we left.  After all, the free sails is what prompted me to choose the "Catalonia" resort.  Not too many all-inclusive resorts offer free sailing, and I really wanted to go sailing on one of these little boats.

As I turned the corner towards the lifeguard stand here's what I saw ... sails ON the Hobie cats!

I walked up to the guy at the lifeguard stand and asked if they'd be sailing that morning.  As you can see in the picture above, the skies were pretty gray and I was hoping we could beat the rain.  The guy didn't speak much English, so I turned to the guy messing with the two sailboats and asked him if he could give me and my husband a sail.  That guy turned out to be Herman, and he said if I hurried back with my husband he'd give us a sail before the weather turned bad.  I told Herman that I'd be right back, and I had to refrain from running back to our room to get Ken.

A few minutes later Ken and I were putting on our life jackets and helping Herman push the sailboat off the beach.  Although the skies were gray, the winds had died down and Herman wasn't able to control the boat as much as he'd like ... meaning we had to hold on tight as the waves broke on the side of us.  Falling off the boat wouldn't be a big deal, if the water wasn't shallow with huge boulders underneath us!  Herman kept trying to get past the breaking waves without much success.  After getting slammed by a wave about a dozen times, I finally said, "Maybe today's not a good day for this".  I couldn't believe I was saying that, but I know Ken was thinking the same thing and I didn't want to bust my head open on the rocks.  

Herman responded by saying that the lack of wind was making it difficult, and that the water was shallow with rocks ... we know!  But, Herman didn't give up and after a few more tries he was finally able to catch enough wind to get past the breaking waves.  We were finally sailing, and getting away from the rocks.  I'd never been on such a small sailboat, and it was kind of weird sailing so far out into the sea on a little sailboat.  We kept going further and further out, and Ken and I couldn't stop smiling.

A few more Hobie cats from other resorts also started to head out ...

and we sailed further away from shore.

Herman asked if we were scared of fish ... did he see a shark?!  No, he just wanted our permission to throw out a fishing line.  We said that would be great, so he grabbed a simple piece of wood with fishing line wrapped around it.  He showed us the lure, threw it out, and pulled on it every now and then.  I would have loved to see him pull up a fish, but no such luck.

The other boats caught up with us and we sailed about 10 more minutes before heading back to shore.

Once we got close to shore and Herman caught a wave, we rode in pretty fast ... so fun!

We sailed for about 30 minutes, and were sure to give Herman a tip for taking us out.  We felt lucky to be able to sail on our last day, and once we realized we wouldn't bust our heads on the rocks we had a blast.

Next post ... how we spent the rest of our last day in "paradise".

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Akumal .. Place of the Turtle!

Our first view of the Akumal beach ...

After a rainy day at the resort, we were pleasantly surprised to wake up the next day to a better weather forecast.  Although there was a chance of rain every day until we left, the forecast had changed from rain all day to a chance in the afternoon .. more of a typical summer forecast.

With only two full days left of our vacation, we decided to take our chances and grab a "collective" to Akumal.  This little town is just minutes away from our resort, and I'd read that it has a beautiful beach and is a great place for snorkeling.  Akumal means "place of the turtle", and this beach is known to be a place for snorkeling with sea turtles.  We love to snorkel and were looking for a pretty beach to chill out.

After the "collective" dropped us off on the side of the road, we walked over the highway on the pedestrian pathway and headed down the street.  If I hadn't done my research, we wouldn't have had a clue where the beach was.  But, just as I'd read, we continued down the road until we hit some shops, restaurants, and the beach.   The Riviera Maya is full of iguanas, which just hang out in the sun.  We didn't see any crabs, but we did take the sign's advice to "enjoy"!

To the left of the beach area entrance ... we didn't venture down this little road but I think there were a few more restaurants and shops.  Notice the puddles from all the rain ... it was still pretty cloudy and we were hoping we'd be able to snorkel before the rain came.

As we walked upon the beach, we were happy with what we saw.   The little beach with palm trees along the way kind of reminded me of the beaches in the Virgin Islands ... without the hills.  It was so pretty, tropical, and peaceful.  Like the beaches in the Virgin Islands (and unlike Waikiki Beach in Hawaii), the beach wasn't covered with condos.  There were a few small hotels and restaurants tucked behind the trees, but nothing obstructing the natural beauty of the beach.  A fair amount of tourists were around, but not too many ... perhaps due to the weather.

We laid out a towel that we'd brought and sat a while ... just checking things out.  After a while we figured we'd better not take our chances with the weather, and it was time to rent some snorkel gear.  For just a few bucks each we rented our gear at a dive shop on the beach.  The shop offered lockers and/or a snorkel tour for an additional fee, but since we'd watched the "tour" group being walked right into the water we knew that was a waste of money.  We could figure out how to walk in a straight line and start snorkeling.  The locker wasn't appealing to us either, as the beach felt very safe.  We were confident that our small backpack wouldn't be touched while we were snorkeling ... and it wasn't.

Although we'd hoped to see some sea turtles, our expectations were low.  We figured that with all the recent rain and murky water we probably wouldn't see much of anything.  After snorkeling for a bit and not seeing much of anything, I was starting to think we had picked a bad day.  The water felt good so I figured I'd just swim around a bit more, and out of nowhere was a huge sea turtle ... right in front of me!  I had been looking down and when I looked up a bit, it was right there.  I kept still while watching the turtle swim around and come up to the surface for air ... it was so graceful.  I popped my head out of the water to find Ken, but he was nowhere to be found.  I was hoping that he'd seen some turtles.  Just a few minutes later I came upon two more turtles ... so cool!  The water was murky, but here's a few shots.

Just about the time I started swimming back to shore ... a spotted stingray!  It took me by surprise and it was underneath me.  I couldn't help think of Steve Irwin, and his death by swimming over a stingray and getting "stabbed" in the chest.  I was much more relaxed when I got on the side of him.  Where was Ken?  He's missing all of this!

As I got close to shore, I saw Ken sitting on the beach.  I was excited to tell him about what I saw, and had hoped that he'd seen at least one turtle.  As it turned out, he did see a few turtles and a stingray too.  However, the stingray that he saw was a lot bigger.  Like me, he was swimming over the stingray and also had visions of Steve Irwin.  Luckily, we both survived and didn't share the same fate as the "Crocodile Hunter".

As I was walking out of the water, I saw this guy and his catch ...

Just as we returned our snorkel gear, the skies opened up once again.  We hung out under the cover for about 20 minutes, and then the skies cleared up a bit.  Again, we were pretty lucky with our timing and dodging the rain.  With the sale of our rental back on and a day on the beach, our spirits were once again lifted and we were back in "vacation mode".  We hung out at the beach a while, then headed back to the resort for a late lunch.  

Of course, I had to get a couple of pictures of the sailboat anchored out ... one day Nirvana would be anchored out somewhere like this!

We had an excellent "Spanish" dinner and the evening wasn't too rainy.  The weather forecast was improving for our last full day at the resort.  During our entire stay, the free Hobie cat sailboat rides had been shut down due to the weather.  Would the rides be available on our very last day?  We were hoping so, and I planned on arriving bright and early the next morning to find out.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Chillin' Out ... Or Trying Hard At It!

The "Chill Out Bar" ... where we did just that.

After two days of exploring Tulum and Playa del Carmen, we were ready for some beach time.  However, Mother Nature wasn't cooperating and once again the forecast called for a rainy day.  We'd been pretty good so far at dodging the rain, but when we woke up and saw a forecast of 90-100% chance of strong thunderstorms every day until we left ... we were starting to have doubts.

The night before we had made it back to the resort from Playa del Carmen just before the skies opened up.  Luckily our hotel room had a big umbrella, which we used to walk across the resort for dinner.  The entire time we ate, the rain was pounding and we had to hold the umbrella tight to prevent the winds from blowing it out of our hands on the way back to our room.

The rain was a bit lighter when we walked to the breakfast buffet, but it wasn't long before the wind and the rain intensified once again.  Ken and I were determined to keep our spirits high, and our thoughts positive.  Once we were back in our room, I decided to check my email and the weather forecast once again ... big mistake!  

As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, we had left home with a signed agreement to sell our rental to our tenant.  We'd gone through the inspection and appraisal period with no problems, and the closing would take place a few days after we got back from Mexico.  But then I had a nice little email waiting for me from our tenants that rainy morning ... they wanted their deposit back because they'd changed their mind about buying the house.  There weren't any problems ... they just wanted the house to appraise for a whole lot more than they were buying it for.  Are they kidding me?!  I guess they wanted to "steal" the house from us, so now they weren't happy.  Ken and I decided that we'd take a deep breath, not let these jerks ruin our vacation, and we'd respond later in the day.

After calming down, I checked the weather forecast and came to a conclusion ... we had to pack a bag and grab a "collectivo" as far away as we could get.  I needed sunshine and beach time, I mean ... really needed it at this point!  I found that Valladolid was about 3 hours away with a sunny forecast.  We could grab a "collectivo" to the ADO bus station, which would take us there.  I had a plan and I was ready ... but Ken wasn't.  He said that we were surrounded by rain and 3 hours away wasn't enough.  I was hard-headed and insisted it would be sunny there, and it sounded like a really cool town.  He'd never heard of it, and Mexico has that bad reputation ... he wasn't going for it.  Good thing I pulled up Valladolid's weather forecast again to prove to him it would be beautiful ... because it wasn't going to be.  Just that quick the forecast had changed to the same crappy weather we were already dealing with.  I swear it said it was going to be sunny just 15 minutes earlier ... ugh!  Well, at least we didn't have to find out who was gonna get their way.  We were stuck in the rain.

 When the rain and wind subsided a bit, we grabbed the chance (and our umbrella) to head to the "Chill Out Bar".  We had to get out of our room and the bar was right on the beach with a roof and pull-down shades to keep out of the weather ... the perfect place to escape.  We grabbed a chair and a drink and enjoyed the view ... for a few minutes.  The wind started picking up and the rain was coming down in buckets.  I'm not exaggerating when I say we were in tropical storm conditions!   Everyone in the bar had to move their chairs and do their best to keep dry.  I smiled ... and hoped this wasn't going to go on for the rest of our trip.  Thoughts of a tropical storm and a buyer who couldn't keep his word ran through my head.  Damn it!  This can't be happening.  I had a house to sell and plans of lounging on the beach, playing in the waves, and sailing a Hobie cat sailboat!

This pic was taken before the bar filled up ... and before the tropical storm weather arrived.

We hung around at the bar and the restaurants while it poured off and on all day.  There was a break of just drizzle in the afternoon, so we grabbed the umbrella and walked down the road to check out the marina again ... I love looking at boats.  We also wrote an email back to our tenants and kindly told them that nothing that we'd agreed to had changed, so we planned on moving forward.  We did, however, offer to install some hand rails around the deck and pool since his insurance company was requiring it.  Before we went to bed, we received an email that they'd move forward ... Hallelujah!  Now if we could just get Mother Nature to cooperate ... perhaps tomorrow would be better?

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

The Streets of Playa del Carmen

With forecasts for another rainy day in Mexico, Ken and I decided to grab a "collectivo" and head a few miles North to Playa del Carmen.  We had visited the town briefly on the first day of our trip, when we took the ADO bus from the airport.  The bus was really nice ... like a tour bus with comfortable seats and air conditioned.  It was much cheaper than a taxi, but it only went as far as Playa del Carmen.  With only our "Pampered Pirate" backpack, our SailorBag backpack & our SailorBag duffel bag (love their products) as luggage, it wasn't a problem to be dropped off at Playa del Carmen and then take a "collectivo" another 45 minutes to the resort.  By choosing not to bring a suitcase on the plane we saved $50 bucks with the airline, and a good bit more by being able to take public transportation.  Who needs more than a couple pair of shorts and a swimsuit anyway?!

Although we were tired and ready to see our hotel room for the first time, we were also curious to explore Playa del Carmen a bit before grabbing a "collectivo".  We roamed a few streets and checked out the beach, which was beautiful white sand and blue water.  The streets ran parallel to each other, all ending at the beach ... really cool!  The town was bustling with people, both tourists and locals.  There was an energy in the area, with music playing and some Mexican acrobats dangling from a pole.  We knew we had to come back and spend the day here while we were in Mexico.   The place kind of reminded us of the French Quarter back home ... only smaller, cleaner, and with a gorgeous beach!

We grabbed a table at an outdoor bar, just a block from the beach and right across from the music and the acrobats.  A mexican beer was in order ... and long overdue!

The second visit to Playa del Carmen had just as much energy as the first day, and we walked countless blocks while taking in the sites.  The town was definitely geared towards tourists, with shops full of t-shirts and Mexican souvenirs.   We don't care much for tourist traps, but Playa del Carmen still had an authentic Mexican vibe.  The buildings had a lot of character, and just a few blocks away were residences and little "hole in the wall" restaurants that were sure to have some amazing food ... too bad we were stuffed from the free buffet at the resort (also great Mexican food there)!

At the end of every street ... the beach!

Even though the forecast called for rain, we brought our swimsuits in hopes of hanging out at the beach and swimming.  But, the forecasts were right and our suits never came out.  

Just like Tulum, the weather was perfect for walking around ... no sweating!  Can you see the dark clouds looming over the beach?

After walking as much as we could stand, we wound up back at the same outdoor bar that we'd visited on our first day.  We grabbed the same table, which gave us the view below ... the beach in the distance and lots of activity.

The statue below was within view from our table (see it behind the palm trees in pic above) and at the edge of the beach.  I wasn't able to capture the details in it with the camera, but it was really cool.  Lots of mermaids ... I'm sure there's a story behind the statue, but I don't know it.

This cool little church was on the corner across from us, and on the hour a guy came out and rang the bell.

Just like New Orleans, there were so many cool residences and businesses tucked away behind the busy streets.  This little "Hotel Lunata" caught my eye, and it's where I'd wanna stay ...

and this spa entrance looked pretty relaxing too.  I love anything "Zen"!

Ken wanted this picture of the 7-Eleven ... they disappeared in Louisiana several years ago.

As the evening arrived, we decided to head back to the resort for dinner and wine.  I didn't get any pictures, but every night we were treated to an a la carte meal instead of a buffet.  It varied from Japanese, Italian, Mexican, Spanish and steak.  Except for the steak (it sucked), everything was top notch and delicious!

Another day of getting around the rain ... would we be so lucky the rest of the trip?!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

The Ruins of Tulum, Mexico

The Mayan beachside ruins of Tulum

After our first day of lounging around the Catalonia Resort, Ken and I woke up the next morning, saw the forecast of rain everyday for the rest of our trip, and figured a rainy day would be a good time to tour the ruins of Coba, then the ruins of Tulum on the way back.  Surely those weather forecasts were wrong and things would clear up later in the week, so why not visit the ruins while the sun was away and avoid the sweltering heat.  A little rain wasn't going to ruin our trip!

Once out of the gated entrance of Puerto Aventuras, we crossed the highway in order to be picked up by a "Collectivo" headed South.  A "Collectivo" is basically a white mini-van that runs North and South along the highway between Coba and Playa del Carmen.  I can't imagine how many of these vans are around, but just stand on the side of the highway and one is bound to show up in 5 minutes or less .. and they're cheap!  Just $2 bucks a person to go 15 miles down the road.  So many tourists grab a cab outside the lobby and never really see how the locals live.  We love taking local transportation when traveling ... not just to save money (although part of the reason), but also to see the residential areas and mingle with the locals.  Imagine a mini-van packed with locals and tourists ... standing room only.  It's a fun experience in itself.  BTW, this is how we got to the resort from the airport ... much cheaper!

We rode the collectivo to the town of Tulum (yes it's an actual town, not just ruins), where we were dropped of to catch another collectivo to Coba.  The entire ride to Tulum was rainy, and we were told we could sit inside one of the corner restaurants while we waited for at least four more people to ride to Coba.  Evidently, not as many folks ride to Coba because this was the only time we had to wait around for the six-person minimum requirement.  Other than this, it was always a packed ride.  Anyway, we sat around about 20 minutes while waiting waiting for someone else to show up ... they never did.  So, Coba wasn't meant to be seen this trip.  We told the driver thanks and caught another collectivo to go a couple of miles back North to the ruins of Tulum.  Below is a pic of bikes under palms in the town of Tulum for my bicycling friends...

As it turned out, the weather couldn't have been better for this visit.  It rained the whole ride, but as soon as we were dropped off to walk the one mile to the entrance of the ruins, the rain stopped and our entire tour was spent under cloudy skies.  We didn't break a sweat, and we never got wet.  Just about the time we were done touring the ruins, the skies threatened to open up.  So instead of spending time on the beach or renting bicycles to tour the town as planned, we caught a collectivo back to the resort ... a good decision because it rained the whole way back.  No problem ... we ate a great lunch at the resort and hung out at the "Chill Out" bar the rest of the evening while it rained.  Below is Ken walking towards the entrance ... pretty!

We had to walk through a stone wall that surrounded the Mayan ruins, and once through we had our first views of the ruins ... so much more impressive than our pictures can capture, and than we imagined!  I was expecting two or three buildings, but it was a whole village.

We toured the ruins ourselves, but eavesdropped on a tour guide (pink shirt below) that was really interesting.  He was taught by the Mayan community that still exists, and he spoke about the Mayan beliefs and rituals.  This was really interesting, as there really wasn't that much information to read at the ruins themselves.  The ruins were built in exact locations to mix with the moon, the sun and the stars and track time and the Mayan calendar.   The guide spoke of how the Mayans valued family and a "stress free" life ... sounds good to us!  I've always been fascinated with the Mayan history ... so ancient, yet so wise.  We could learn a few things from them.

The ruins were alongside the gorgeous beach that runs along the East coast of Mexico.

Steps leading to the beach.  We had our swimsuits but the skies were getting really dark.

There were several of these guys hiding among the stones ...

The next post ... the high-energy town of Playa del Carmen!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!