Planning
In January 2013 during the height of winter, we decided we would take a beach 
Link to Photos http://sdrv.ms/1abfuUo
12/21/2013
East Side For Hire Taxi service is the best deal in town. Door to door service, always on time, 24x7 availability, SMS text messages with status, driver phone number, etc. They were there on time at 03:00 (Oh Dark Hundred) to whisk us to the airport. Highly recommended.
I fly frequently; USAir has always failed me each time I have tried to fly with them. I wrote a song once:
Got time to spare? / Fly USAir! / Don’t wanna be late? / Well ain’t that great. (chorus) We don’t care! We’re USAir.
USAir messed up my youngest daughter’s flight from Phoenix to Cancun and could not correct it at SEA-Tac check-in. Avoid USAir.
TSA lines were long but moved at SEA-Tac. The Christmas rush started when we arrived.
The flights were uneventful. USAir did not feed us but we had packed light snacks.
Cancun Airport
The lines to clear immigration were very long and slow-moving. The lines to clear customs were better but long. No WiFi and no cellular service. A few hours after we landed we reached the Hertz counter. They led us to the long wait for the courtesy van that took us to the Hertz building where we waited another hour. At the Hertz building we were gringo’d for insurance and a “discount deal” for the Tulum Mayan ruins that we want to see. (photo of long lines at CUN airport)
Here is another song:
When you’re out on the road / you get gringo’d! When you’re down on the floor / they will gringo you some more.
Our house on the beach exceeded my expectations. It has a great kitchen, living room, dining room, and sleeping accommodations for 9 people. It has a nice pool and it sits on the beach -- not 10 meters away -- directly on the beach! The roomy, connecting balconies on the second floor have a pleasant, cool breeze from the surf.
We ate a fantastic dinner at a near-by restaurant. The natives are warm, friendly, and nice. When I ask for help in pronunciation they correct my Spanish but they appear to have a local accent (sorry, Franklin!). I am learning 50 words per day. Spanish is a very simple language to learn, with easy-to-make melodious syllables. The local beer is bad. We picked up some essentials on the walk back home at Oxxo. The gentle breeze rocked us to sleep at 9pm.
12/22/2013
We ate outside, of course. Mexican eggs taste better than US eggs. The coffee is surprisingly good. The whole family woke up in high spirits and we were in the ocean by 08:00am. I cleaned up the breakfast dishes.
We picked my oldest daughter up at the airport at noon. She flew in from Taipei. The airport won’t let people into the arrivals terminal so we were “live locked” – My daughter looked for us inside and we were forbidden from getting her. I eventually went in to have her paged at departures where I discovered the secret insider trick of claiming I wanted to buy a bus ticket, whereupon I was allowed in, just as she finished paying for a taxi voucher. She returned it and we went home.
We walked to the local verdulería (fresh vegetable market) along the beach. There are no pastry shops or bakeries close by. The cafes are bad and filled with Americans looking for WiFi. When we arrived home the youngest three had also returned. They were clever and bought fish taco on the beach for lunch (fresh-caught and prepared in front of you)! We cooked ourselves more eggs with fresh vegetables and fruit. I need more practice preparing food without potable water. “Peel it, cook it or forget it.” It’s odd peeling apples.
Back to the beach!
2013-12-23
Today was the day we had to listen to the high-pressure sales pitch from the time share sales people in exchange for the gringo goodies.
The sales pitch took place at the NOW Jade resort about 3 Km down the beach from our house. Despite the opulence of the resort atmosphere I like our house better. Our beach is just as good. They gave us a free breakfast (we tipped our waiter 50 Pesos), 6 vouchers for Tulum, $100 off of our car rental, and our deposit back. They did high-pressure sell the whole time we were there and they kept us there for over two hours as different sales people tried and failed to find some way to convince us we should buy their membership. Airbnb will put these guys out of business as fewer people get gringo’d. We all ate too much (great breakfast buffet) and hit the beach! Today the beach is empty and the water is bathtub warm close to shore. We want to go to CrocoCun but cannot fish the kids out of the ocean because they are having too much fun. When they got hungry we went shopping downtown where my red-head was able to negotiate amazing prices (half off) for trinkets, gifts, bathing suit, and T-shirt.
“You are stopping my heart with such a high price!”
“150 Pesos is a fair price.”
Each episode was embarrassing to me. But she loved the drama and "game” of negotiating for 5-10 minutes for each item. She saved us at least $50.
Dinner was at “The Pirate” restaurant which was highly recommended by the guide books and natives. I found the fish good but not great. The prices were high and the service was very slow. After dinner my son and I walked across the compound to a spot where the WiFi worked and watched San Francisco beat Atlanta on Monday Night Football. One of my daughters mixed us a great drink with rum, lemons, sugar, and ice.
2013-12-24
We saw CrocoCun; it was very worthwhile. I recommend the guided tour because the docent makes all the difference.
On the way home we stopped at a fantastic marcado a few Km from the tourist areas and found many fresh fruits and vegetable “treasures,” including the little bananas. Mexican fruits and vegetables are less-visually-appealing but have more flavor and cost 1/5 as much as in our supermarkets.
We went back to the restaurant at which we ate our first night here and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We were the only ones there on Christmas eve. I had fish and it was very good. The kids mixed up those lemon + sugar + ice + rum drinks again – fantastico. We stayed up late reading. I finished Niven’s Ringworld’s Children. I was unhappy with the abrupt ending and the lack of resolution for some of the major plot elements.
2013-12-25
We got up late and drove to Tulum. I was disappointed. Mexico has more and better history than is displayed so poorly at those ruins. We swam in the big breakers on the beach there read all the placards, then drove north to
Then we drove to Akumal, where we had a fantastic lunch. No one spoke to me because my Spanish is so bad but they had long discussions with my youngest son.
While we were there we scouted the snorkeling at the beach and figured out the “swim with the sea turtles” offerings. The kids found a very-cool weaver who sold hand-made souvenirs that he crafted in front of your eyes; they bought four, bargaining him down to $3.75 per bracelet from his asking price of $10. While we waited for him to weave the bracelets we played basketball on the court next door. My youngest daughter missed the hoop and accidentally smashed a souvenir serving plate, for which I paid the retail asking price – 600 Pesos ($45). We shall cherish the shards as our best souvenir of the trip. The proprietor’s little boy saw what happened and yelled “estupido gringo,” which reminded me of my song.
We drove home and made a weird, complex dinner that included Quesadillas, vegetables, eggs, fruits, carrots, peppers, avocados, tomatoes. Then we wrote a shopping list and walked to Oxxo to buy everything. Early to bed.
2013-12-26
We went snorkeling on the beach near our house. The locals rigged a net under some buoys that attracts the reef fish. These are the fish near our house:
We, once again, ate up all the fresh fruit and vegetables and rushed to the local fruit stand. Everyone prefers preparing our own meals to the greasy restaurant fare because we don’t eat the salads (cook, peal, or forget it). I went for a long walk on the beach with my oldest daughter (the one who lives in Taipei). The fiddler crabs and shore birds come out late at night. We got caught in a terrible rain storm while we were still a mile from our house. We ran home along the beach in the rain.
2013-12-27
Beach morning! We were once again in the ocean early. But the storms hit and made it unpleasant to be outside so we hung around the house most of the day. Because there was so much food we cooked up vegetables and quesadillas for dinner. Here is a photo of the 5-bedroom, 4-bath house-on-the-beach, voted by most of the family as the highlight of the trip:
Internet works 20% of the time; the dishwasher does not work; you cannot flush toilet paper; there is no potable water; porch leaks; ants everywhere. Best house ever!
2013-12-28
We decided not to visit the zip line park because the zip line parks in Switzerland are much bigger, more intense, and better. We had a great time on the beach. Just before dinner the kids wanted to drink piña coladas on the beach so we walked next door.
2013-12-29
We drove my oldest daughter to the airport, came back, and swam in the ocean on the beach, helping our neighbors build sand sculptures, snorkeling, swimming, and enjoying the last few moments in the sun. Then we packed up and went to the airport. We arrived home at 12:30 am, happy to be home but sad to leave the awesome Mexican paradise in Puerto Morelos.
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