I recon one of the hardest things to do when traveling is to leave behind the great friends you’ve just met. This was contently our problem during this trip. This morning we were leaving behind our great friends in Havana Cuba.
It’s the second to last country before we head home – Today we’re flying to Mexico.
Elena’s been here before on a conference with the company she works for, but sadly she didn’t get the opportunity yo explore the country.One of the big problems when travelling to a resort is the the resorts are designed to keep you within their grasp and extracting as mush money as possible out of your wallet.
So as with most of our travels, we’re not staying in a resort. Instead Elena’s organised a great little place in a small fishing village south of Cancun. Until recently Puerto Morelos hosted the ferry boats that would take you to San Miguel, an island some 20 miles off shore. Now the Ferries leave from the more tourist populated city of Playa Del Carmen (another 45min South)
Its Christmas Eve, we’ve organised nothing this year as when travelling the holidays really don’t have meaning. I hardly know what day is let alone what celebrations are being celebrated. Our great hosts have organised a takeaway meal form one of the local restaurants. As there’s a few other couples checking in tonight we all cram into the small outdoor kitchen area as the vodka and other drinks are poured.
Elena’s feeling real sick and has hardly touched her food, she almost in tears as the headache kicks in and is soon off up to our room perched up in the trees above the office. I hang around for a bit longer and now feel like the odd one out. The food is fantastic and with Midnight looming I creep up to bed.
Elena had opted for the loft to sleep in so managed to secure the double for myself. I’ve learnt that you never disturb Elena when she’s sleeping. Our accommodation was a quaint mix of tree house meets adobe brick mud house, but I really liked it.
Christmas morning, Elena’s feeling a little better but the headache has left her drowsy. We have no plans for Christmas day and decide that we’ll head to the beach (a 5km walk). After discovering that there really is nothing to do in Puerto Morelos on Christmas day we stumbled into a petrol station and bought breakfast. Another first – Christmas Breakfast in a service station.
It’s a long walk from the village alongside the freeway to Puerto Morelos town by the beach, we decided that for the small cost of a couple of dollars we’d take the short ride in a local taxi.
The Pier at Puerto Morelos played host to families fishing and a large number of small fishing boats anchored onto the beach. Negotiating the ropes we walked up the beach to find a quiet space under the small palms. The beach was packed with day trippers all out to do exactly what we were doing…. finding shade. The beach its self is a great place and is very family friendly. We managed to squeeze a little space next to a lovely family who watched over or belongings while we took a swim.
There’s a small square alongside the beach with a few good eating places. The tourist gift shops were open and there was a little touting for business but in general the locals were friendly and it’s a nice little beach.
Geography
Puerto Morelos is divided by a highway and a mangrove swamp into three sections. The section west of the highway is known as “Colonia Joaquin Zetina Gazca”. The section east of the highway is called “Colonia Pescadores”. The section on the coast east of the mangrove swamp is “Puerto” or “Antiguo (old) Puerto Morelos”. This original coastal fishing village is now a quiet, mixed-use neighborhood of private homes, hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and tourist shops. The second part is about 2 km. inland and adjacent to Highway 307, on the western side. The inland portion is mainly single level dwellings for local workers.
History
It has historically been the main port between the mainland of Yucatán and the Island of Cozumel, and an automobile ferry used to run from Puerto Morelos to Cozumel. The town is named after Independence leader José María Morelos.
Resorts are abundant in the Puerto Morelos region along the Riviera Maya and attractions, such as the Crococun Crocodile Zoo, are also increasing in number.
One hundred meters off shore lies the Puerto Morelos portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, designated as a National Marine Park due to local environmental activists.
Demographics
Puerto Morelos has grown rapidly with the development of tourism and as of the 2010 census is the home to 9,188 people
It’s occurred to me, we never give all the details of where we stay so I’m going to start putting the details on the bottom of each post.
Our accommodation
