Spring Break – Food, Fishing & Fun!

[Beth&Scott]

Hola!
Here’s the trip report I’ve been meaning to get to, hope you enjoy!

BACKGROUND
We in our mid 30’s living near Detroit, Michigan and are mental health therapists- thus we need to heal our own heads periodically, so as our budget and careers allow, we jet off when we can to the Caribbean or at least someplace semi-tropical in the states where we can see the palm trees sway! We travel to the tropics 3-6 times a year.

We are backpackers, budget conscious and go for the no frill hotels, since we opt to spend our money elsewhere! This trip was my 7th trip to Mexico and 5th trip to Playa. We seem to make Playa Del Carmen our home base for many trips.

We have backpacked not only in Playa, but have also visited: Cancun, Cozumel, Tulum, Holbox, Isla Mujeres, Paamul, Akumal, Puerto Morelos and Punta Allen. We love Mexico so much we were married on the shores of Cozumel- hence the avatar photo!

We ventured away from Mexico this December and tried Jamaica, but found ourselves drawn back to the Yucatan peninsula for this Spring Break.
Here we are in Jamaica this past December:

We planned to stay 4 full days on this trip! Not long, but enough time for some food, fishing, sun and Fun!

My husband is a huge fly fisherman- ironically enough (given we are from the Great Lake State and he fly-fishes in Michigan); he prefers salt-water fly fishing from shore and brings his portable fly rod where-ever we go. He seems to catch the beautiful fish in Mexico!

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS TRIP REPORT:
Photos of Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Akumal and a beach area near Paamul. We spent the days snorkeling, visiting the beach, eating, relaxing and of course Scott went fishing—he hired fly fishing guide Edy Pena, a renowned fly-fisherman in Playa.

Anyway…enough babbling…

DAY ONE a beach day at PUERTO MORELOS
Our flight via Spirit airlines landed in Mexico at approx 8:30 am, so we planned to stop 15 minutes south of the airport- in Puerto Morelos since we are trying to maximize our short trip we spent the day there before checking into our hotel in Playa del Carmen. We love Puerto Morelos, have been there on other occasions and love the small town vibe!

First Stop:
Posada Amor for breakfast:
I used the bathroom to change into beach attire!...and what a swanky bathroom it is!...

Posada Amor grounds:


Food consisted of:
Chaquilles, eggs, beans, fruit and huevos rancheros. All this plus coffee, juice, water, pop and fruit ran us 194 pesos. On a scale of 1-5 (5 the highest)- we rated the meal/service a 3.5. Service was implausibly slow and the food was average.


Next stop:
Alma Libre Bookstore to purchase some good reads! For those of you that don’t know, Alma Libra is a well known, distinguished bookstore on the town square.


Then…what we’ve been anticipating! The beach…

Drank some cervasa and relaxed…

Took a walk…
A pooch gets bath time!..

A beach house wall artistically painted...

and has some nice art in their garden...

more of the walk...


And later ate a snack at Ojo de Agua- a endearing hotel/restaurant on the beach- we’ve been here before and love the guacamole here!


...as we listened to the 3 man band...


PLAY BOUND
We stayed at Playa del Carmen’s Club Yebo for the first time-which we were very happy with. We paid a very reasonable rate and met very kind, fun people (you know who you are!) We loved the access to the Playa Palms and the Club Yebo location is tucked away, yet still close to everything!

[Beth&Scott]

Inside our studio room...


Dinnertime at El Fogon:
Our meal consisted of: Jamon con queso, Taco Al Pastor and 2 Pacifico’s. The tab ran us an exceedingly cheap rate of 105 pesos. This was our first visit here, but wanted to check it out due to all the hype and overall was satisfied. We rated the dinner a 4.5, just shy of a 5 because it was very hot, crowded and the tables are extremely close to one another, yet the food was exceptional.



After Dinner drinks were at the Luna Blue where we once again for the 2nd visit in a row missed the owners. We are told once again they were on vacation! We seem to be on similar vacation schedules!

After the Luna we head back since we are soooo tired! We never slept the night prior and with the combination of the flight, sun, drinks and warm climate we are beat…we needed rest for our trip to Akumal where we went snorkeling. ….stay tuned!

[Cuff]

Good stuff~!
Thanks for the photos of PM...Haven't been there but will someday.

Love those of the birds perched, and the Ojo de Agua looks sublime~!

[Dan-0]

You two are my kind of travellers, and you always do such great trip reports. The photos of Puerto Morelos look great. And so do the food pics. Great write-up as well, thanks for taking the time. Ask Scott to turn me on to some of his favorite shore fishing spots, you can PM them to me.

[redhairgirl1]

I love it so far! Can't wait to read about your day in Akumal!

[DavidB]

Great start. We were at the Luna Blue the first 2 weeks of March. Sorry we missed you. great pictures.

[Beth&Scott]

Originally Posted by Dan-0

You two are my kind of travellers, and you always do such great trip reports. The photos of Puerto Morelos look great. And so do the food pics. Great write-up as well, thanks for taking the time. Ask Scott to turn me on to some of his favorite shore fishing spots, you can PM them to me.

Dan-o, we will have to meet up on one of our trips. Scott would love to actually show you the spots and fish with you! He plans to PM you about the spots. He plans to also write the "fishing" part of the report.

Glad everyone is enjoying the report so far!

[Beth&Scott]

DAY 2: An OVERCAST day didn’t ruin our fun at AKUMAL!

We awoke early, knowing, we don’t have a lot of time to waste by sleeping in, for our trip was short and we had a snorkeling trip planned. Out of all our places visited in the area, we have never visited Akumal, so were excited to venture to a newfound land and check out the vast snorkeling it had to offer.

I’m was kind of disenchanted after waking to find that the day looks very gloomy, but I’m was not too upset, since I got enough sun the day prior.

We do our normal breakfast routine in Playa, which consists of a trip to the nearest corner store for some Bimbo muffins – bunt cakes, juice and water.

I liked this garage-gate, near Club Yebo and I found it giving a cheerful mood, given the dark day.

We headed to the colectivo area on 2nd street and I took some snap shots of some various hotels….




We were bound for Yal Ku Lagoon in Akumal, from the research on the internet it avowed it was perfect for amateurs like myself. I was surprisingly a bit nervous to snorkel since I’ve only done it a few times, not sure why I was fearful, perhaps a fear of the unknown….

My fear was a bit calmed when I saw the stairs leading to the water. All in all, it turned out to be an amazing, unforgettable experience! These photos do not do the area justice, due to the dreary weather.




Here’s…one photo where the sun peaked for a moment…

Yal Ku, was very tastefully decorated with statues of Mayan art. The jungle area has little paths leading to different water entrances.



The fish were plentiful and we saw many varieties, I especially favored these little guys who liked to nibble on your skin and were abundant all over the lagoon.


Parrot fish?…



We spent most of the day here, until our skin was became puckered and water logged. We dried off and decided to check out what the beach area of Akumal had to offer.

Again…the photos do not do the beach justice due to the weather, plus by the time the photos were taken it was late afternoon and the little daylight there was beginning to fade…



After the beach stool, we walked down the strip, caught a colectivo back to Playa and decided that Akumal was a place to visit again, perhaps on a brighter day and we would definitely go back to Yal Ku to snorkel!

[Beth&Scott]

On the colectivo ride back, we realized we were absolutely starving and could not wait until dinner- so we decided to have a pre-dinner snack. We walked in the nearest taco joint and little did we realize… TACO GOMEZ would service us the BEST TACO’s we have ever had!

Taco Gomez is a quaint, cute, simple little taco joint, right on 2nd Ave near the colectivo area. The menu is simple and painted above the kitchen area. We were amazed to find that 6 tacos and 2 sodas cost a mere $68 pesos! We visited this place one other time before our short trip ended, for its taste is unforgettable. Obviously we rated it a 5 out of 5! Highly recommended!



We walked back to Club Yebo, chatted with some new friends about our day, shared beer and later cleaned up for a night in Playa.

Some of you may know, but Scott is stickler when it comes to cutting his hair, it seems to be like pulling teeth, to get him to get it cut, yet in Mexico, he always manages to go to the barber shop! He loves the convenient late night hours and incredible cheapo prices. Scott was a little disappointed to find that his traditional $4 USD haircuts were now running $5 USD! The barber did a great job! The salon was on 15th street between 2nd and 4th.


We were destined to have a late night dinner at Yaxche- known for its very authentic Maya Cuisine. We were warned that the food was good, yet a little pricey for the Playa area and found this to be very true. Everything was very yummy and the service was exceptional. We chose a seat outside and enjoyed the night atmosphere. Our meal consisted of: Chicken-lime soup, shimp palanuchos, chicken faquitas, conchinita pibil, 2 beers, 1 pina colata and one “sweet virgin” dessert. The meal ran us $638 pesos, very affordable compared to the US-given all that food! Overall we were happy and give this place a 4.5, a little short of a 5 due to the prices being a bit high compared to others in the area.

Nice haircut- huh?







Overly stuffed, and getting tired, we decided to make the night short, stroll to Hotel Jardin Art Gallery on 5th- to check out the art. We visit this art area every Playa trip and were shocked to hear the staff tell us the art area is going out of business. I was unhappy to hear this since I love to look at this art, yet I wonder how many visitors just look and not buy…




After our lovely day, we walked back to Club Yebo via the beach trying to find Bad Boys… to meet up with some of our Yebo friends and.later we found out we missed it by a block! We strolled back to the hotel, sipped on some Modelo in a can and feel asleep.

We had a busy day planned for day 3….Stay tuned for Scott’s fly fishing trip with Edy Pena. He had very good luck fishing near the shores of Paamul…and the weather was perfect, so be sure to come back to view more photos!

[redhairgirl1]

You guys are so cute I remember Scott got his haircut last time he was there! So glad you guys went to Akumal. I have always gone to the Lol ha part, and snorkeled with the turtles. Next time Yal Ku is definenty on the agenda! Gonna have to check out Taco's Gomez as well, as those taco's looked fab!

I am so looking forward to more, especially the food pic's

[Beth&Scott]

Originally Posted by redhairgirl1

You guys are so cute I remember Scott got his haircut last time he was there! So glad you guys went to Akumal. I have always gone to the Lol ha part, and snorkeled with the turtles. Next time Yal Ku is definenty on the agenda! Gonna have to check out Taco's Gomez as well, as those taco's looked fab!

I am so looking forward to more, especially the food pic's

You have a keen memory! Yes, he cannot pass up those (next to free) haircuts!

You snorkeled with turtles! We hope to see some snorkeling sometime, we will have to check out Lol ha!

[Libby]

Beth, Your pictures are great! So far, it sounds like you had a terrific trip! I need to try Tacos Gomez! Michele wrote about it on her blog recently, but Michele eats cow brain, so I have to take her food recommendations with a grain of salt.

Do you remember what area of Puerto Morelos Posada Amor is in? Like, is it near the zocalo, closer to the beach, near the highway, etc?

[Beth&Scott]

Originally Posted by Libby

Beth, Your pictures are great! So far, it sounds like you had a terrific trip! I need to try Tacos Gomez! Michele wrote about it on her blog recently, but Michele eats cow brain, so I have to take her food recommendations with a grain of salt.

Do you remember what area of Puerto Morelos Posada Amor is in? Like, is it near the zocalo, closer to the beach, near the highway, etc?

...I know...Michelle likes cow brains...I read the Taco Gomez report- its hard to swallow thinking about that! Beef, chicken or pork tacos for me!

Posada Amor is on the main drag near the town square/zocalo in Puerto Morelos. Its approx. one block south of the zocalo- one block from the beach. It is also a hotel thats been around for many many years and is family owned. I hear the hotel rooms are charming (run about $50USD a night), the grounds were well kept that if its any consolation of what the rooms look like. Like I said our breakfast was average, but I hear they have a good reputation at dinner-time for ceviche.

Here's some more photos of the eating area---as you can see, no one is around. Not sure if it was because it was 9am or because of the average food we experienced...




Have you and John ever ate at Dona Triny's in Puerto Morelos?... they have great food at super affordable prices. Thats one of our fav's in PM. They moved next door to Alma Libre, they used to be on the corner right when you came into town-across from the taxi stand- the bright colored orange building that said "Internet and Tacos"... its that building no one can miss, so I was kinda surprised they moved.

[Mercy]

We purchased a painting very similar to this our last trip... love it, so colorful!

[Dan-0]

Originally Posted by Beth&Scott

Dan-o, we will have to meet up on one of our trips. Scott would love to actually show you the spots and fish with you! He plans to PM you about the spots. He plans to also write the "fishing" part of the report.

Glad everyone is enjoying the report so far!

Thanks, Beth, we would love to meet up with you two one of these days. We'll be there in June, mainly in southern QR, and I'm taking my fishing gear, too. I like to shore fish and also spearfish as well. I've been spearfishing near Mahuhual a few times and it's a lot of fun. Looking forward to more of your report and especially the fishing part.

[Libby]

Originally Posted by Beth&Scott

Have you and John ever ate at Dona Triny's in Puerto Morelos?... they have great food at super affordable prices. Thats one of our fav's in PM. They moved next door to Alma Libre, they used to be on the corner right when you came into town-across from the taxi stand- the bright colored orange building that said "Internet and Tacos"... its that building no one can miss, so I was kinda surprised they moved.

Nope, haven't eaten there yet. I remember you talking about Dona Triny in a previous trip report though. I think we've eaten at Hola Asia just about everytime we've been in PM. It's tough to get good Asian food around here!

[Beth&Scott]

Originally Posted by Mercy

We purchased a painting very similar to this our last trip... love it, so colorful!

Love the artistic perspective--- the aerial /birds-eye view....so different and yes, the colors just pop out!

............MORE TRIP report coming...I promise, just been busy the last few days!

[Yucatanner]

Beth,

Your pictures are beautiful!! You just did a great job of taking me away from my job and a very work stressed day. Thank you. I loooove your report, even though I heard some of this first hand while we were in our little Club Yebo neighborhood together.

[Beth&Scott]

Originally Posted by Yucatanner

Beth,

Your pictures are beautiful!! You just did a great job of taking me away from my job and a very work stressed day. Thank you. I loooove your report, even though I heard some of this first hand while we were in our little Club Yebo neighborhood together.

Hey there Kim!
Not only were we neighbors at the Yebo, but it was quite ironic to find you reside not only an hour or less from us...small world! Looks like this weekend us Michiganders will be experiencing some warm weather--the nice weather won't stop me from making further progress on this report!

[lovbuds]

Hey Beth ... I am so enjoying your trip report and beautiful pictures. You guys always pack so much adventure into a few days. I am anxious to read Scott's fishing report too!