Located in the Tulum National Park, the Azulik Hotel hosted us for our five day trip to the region. Built atop a natural hill, each cabaña boasts a vista over the shimmering azure waters of the Caribbean, and we couldn't have hoped for a better home away from home.
The beaches are unforgettable, but there's a side to Tulum which has nothing to do with sand or turquoise blue waters. And that would be the actual town, where most of the locals live and work. It's not quite as picturesque, but don't let that keep you away... we enjoyed the pueblo almost as much as the coast.
After completing our Open Water scuba certifications, we expected the idea of snorkeling to lose its appeal. Why float on top of the water when you can dive right down into it? But at shallow sites like the Yal-Ku Lagoon in Akumal, snorkeling is just as good as scuba. Perhaps even better.
Found twenty minutes from Cobá, down a horrific road pockmarked with crater-sized pot holes, we found the natural reserve of Punta Laguna. This protected national park receives few visitors, despite its beauty and the irresistible lure of howler and spider monkeys.
We saved Tulum for the final road trip of our stay on the Yucatán Peninsula. Everything we'd heard had suggested that this city perched on the edge of the Caribbean would blow our minds. And everything we'd heard was exactly right. Tulum is paradise.
We'd had such a great time learning how to dive in Puerto Morelos, that we couldn't resist making a return trip to see our friends at WetSet and to get back into the water.
The road leading inland from Puerto Morelos has just one thing on its mind: cenotes. Sign after hand-painted sign exhorts you to visit Cenote Las Mojarras! Cenote Boca del Puma! Cenote Verde Lucero! Without prior information, it'd be impossible to know which to choose, so we made sure to get a recommendation. And those we talked to were in agreement that Cenote Siete Bocas, or the Seven-Mouth Cenote, would be unforgettable.
It might be the most popular vacation destination on the Yucatán Peninsula, but Cancún was not a place that Jürgen and I were slobbering all over ourselves to visit. It's Cancún. We already knew exactly what awaited us there... massive hotels lining the beach, drunken college students, trashy theme bars and American-style restaurants. We decided to stay for a single day, just to be fair to Cancún. To give it a shot. Maybe, just maybe, the city's reputation was overblown.
As guests of Cozumel's tourism board, we weren't just exposed to a wide variety of sights and restaurants, but were also introduced to a few wonderful places to stay. Whether your budget is small, medium or large, one of these options should fit the bill.
The Volkswagen Beetle was discontinued in its native Germany in 1978, but production continued in Mexico for an additional 25 years. And so one of Germany's most famous automotive designs has become a Mexican icon. The low-cost Beetles were a smash hit here for decades, and you still see a fair share puttering down the roads. Especially, it seems, in Cozumel.
