Isla Mujeres

One of the little trips that we took when staying in Playa del Carmen was a boat trip to Isla Mujeres. The tour sounded terrific - all transfers to and from the resort, boat trip across to the island, lunch, snorkeling, drinks, swimming with a shark and then free time to do a little private exploring of the island or shopping - so we signed up.

Looking towards Cancun

Where we stopped for snorkeling

Everything went really well and we did have a great time. My husband and son sat up at the front of the catamaran and were the first to get splashed by the waves as they crashed over the boat. I don't have very good sea legs, so I chose to stay closer to the back where there was a real seat, the firm base of the vessel to stand on and should I need it, something to hold on to to keep me steady! I guess I missed out on the adventure a bit as it was great fun sitting in the front. They both were quite wet when we arrived at the island!

Snorkeling Sights

 The first stop was some snorkeling along the reef. I must admit it was a bit tricky to snorkel here as the currents of the sea were noticed. The snorkeling we did in Ixtapa was much more gentle, nestled in the cove of Ixtapa Island. However, this was tremendous fun and there were lots of fish, coral and other things to see. After the snorkeling, we went to see the shark and were given the opportunity to swim with it and get our pictures taken. This was a bit of a disappointment - just a little shark who had obviously been in captivity for a while and I found it a bit sad...

Swimming with the Shark

Lunch followed at a lovely little seaside restaurant. The place was set up for large numbers of people all descending at the same time, but the food was quite delightful - all Mexican specialities, with a bit of North American staples (french fries, burgers and pop). After lunch, we sat on the beach and people watched for a while, then headed to the shops.

Huge Mexican Flag

It turned out to be a great little trip, but again I think we could have done it cheaper ourselves and perhaps we could have found different things to see and do. The island itself has it's own web page and by the looks of that, there certainly is more to see and do than we saw and did! Perhaps we will return?!





Isla Mujeres Home Page

Playa del Carmen

The View from the Balcony

We arrived at our resort on the Caribbean side of the country - the Yucatan Peninsula to be exact. Cancun airport was so much bigger and there were so many more people!! Wow! The excitement was building even more! 


We jumped on the bus and were taken to our resort which was about 50 minutes away in Playa del Carmen - probably shorter if we drove directly, but we had to stop for cervezas and to let other people off who were staying at different resorts. We didn't get in until quite late so it wasn't until morning that we experienced the beautiful blue skies and the wonderful ocean views from our room. Lovely!!

Building Sand Castles

  For the first couple of days, we mainly hung out by the pool or walked along the beach. The sea was wonderful and warm, so calm and perfect for swimming. The beach itself was delightful... lots of sand, great for making castles and burying people! And of course the weather was perfect! 

The Pier

 




We walked all the way along the beach in both directions, looking for shells and pretty rocks. It was pretty undeveloped north of where we were staying so we saw lots of natural vegetation and it felt like we were the only people in Mexico. Going south was heading into Playa and we passed numerous beach resorts and lots more people sun bathing, playing beach volleyball, swimming and enjoying other water sports. 

 

A turtle in one of the attractions

Typical Mayan costume

The central tourist shopping area of Playa del Carmen is on 5th Avenue. This area is packed with tourists, vendors, restaurants and bars, attractions, music... tons of stuff going on! It was vastly different from Zihuatanejo... more of a touristy place and it seemed less "authentic"... 







We avoided most of the crowded shops and discovered a few things which were relatively uncrowded and quite interesting!We have found in our travels that it is usually worth it to go to those places off the beaten track... you never know what you may find!

Mayan carving in the wall

The Carribean Side of Mexico

After having visited the Pacific side of Mexico, we decided that our next holiday would be to the Caribbean side. So we headed off to the Yucatan Peninsula and Playa del Carmen!

Map of Mexico

Again, we went with an all inclusive holiday, thinking that we would do a lot more looking around this time. The resort that we had booked sounded delightful and we were really looking forward to our holiday. However, a short while before we were scheduled to leave, the tour company phoned us to say that our resort was fully booked and that we had been moved to a different resort. Boy, were we disappointed! We did a quick Google search on the new resort and were even more disappointed!! They had moved us to a place which as far as we could tell was half the size, miles from the beach and had none of the amenities that the original place had! How could they do that to us, so close to our departure date, after we had paid for everything! Needless to say, we were on the phone!


Our tour operator was reasonable... they did find us a different resort on the beach and offered some sort of compensation, but we were even more determined not to go with a tour company again. The next time, we were going to book our own flights, find our own place to stay and do our own thing. We even decided that we would visit a couple of real estate agents, the ones whose mailing lists we had subscribed to after our first visit.

 
First thing, though, we had a holiday to enjoy!

Holiday in Ixtapa: Our First Mexican Experience

Time for a change...

I am now dedicating my blog to our travels abroad, primarily in Mexico though we have travelled to several European countries and had wonderful holidays. However, now that we are living in Canada, short distance travel means going to another part of Canada, the United States or Mexico. Can't just pop over to France any more!!

Map of England and Europe

Our first trip to Mexico was a few years ago now. We headed to Ixtapa on the Pacific side of the country. It was a beautiful place and we had a wonderful holiday. We stayed at an all inclusive resort, which although was nice, really wasn't our thing. Yes, it was nice to have all the beer and alcohol, food and snacks readily available at almost any time of day or night. Yes, it was nice to not have to carry around cash and worry about where the next meal was coming from and how much it was going to cost. Yes, it was nice to have the maid service with made beds, fresh towels daily and no kitchen to have to tidy.



But......

I am pretty sure the beer and alcohol were watered down... we drank and drank and drank but still didn't get drunk. All the food for the main meals were served from those bain marie's keeping things warm until you got to them. After even a short time being kept warm, it is difficult to keep food looking appealing!

 
We like self service - being able to make a cup of tea in the morning and drink it on the balcony, enjoying sea breezes, perhaps munching on some toast. Breakfast can be served any time we want it to be so we can have our lie in. The choice of many restaurants all preparing food to our order and bringing it to us piping hot and freshly prepared. You know what I am talking about?

 
However, we did fall in love with Mexico! Such a wonderful country, interesting and full of life and sounds. We agreed that we would come back and explore further.....


Ixtapa and the neighbouring city, Zihuatanejo - affectionately referred to as Zihua - were beautiful. Zihua was full of traditional Mexican charm, with numerous street merchants, fishing boats and the greatest bus service! We hopped on a bus from the hotel and went into the shopping area and had a blast. The driver was crazy and the conductor was even more so! On both journeys, vendors would jump on board selling fruit, cactus juice and other edibles out of plastic bags then jump off before the bus would pull away from the stop. It was very hot when we went, to these snacks were so refreshing!



We also took a tour to Ixtapa Island which was really fun. We snorkled at the coral reef and swam in the much calmer ocean, had a delightful lunch and enjoyed the beautiful warm weather. We later discovered that we could have taken a bus to where the ferry departs and then 'walked on' the ferry across to the island for a lot less money than the tour, but when you are new to a country, perhaps it is best to stick with the tours.


All in all, we had a wonderful holiday!