Puerto Morelos, Mexico / May of 2014
Puerto Morelos is so easy and cheap to get to. We bid on Priceline and ended up at the Ocean Coral & Turquesa. The resort was nice but the location in general was just ok for me. Puerto Morelos is a charming village to visit if you go into the town itself, but staying at a resort nearby was a bit boring. I wish we would have ventured further away from Cancun and gone down to Playa Del Carmen or Tulum to stay. Next time. Even so, we explored a couple of places with amazing vibes and they are worth a trip if you are in the area. *Don't pay for the snorkeling excursion from your hotel---just take some fins and masks and head to these spots first. Then pay a local guy from Puerto Morelos to take you to the reef on his boat so you don't have to go with 12 other people. You can find plenty of private boats willing to take you just outside of Pelicano's restaurant in Puerto Morelos.
DON'T MISS:
La Buena Vida. Amazing vibes and delish food. The floor of the restaurant is sand from the beach of Half Moon Bay so you can sink your toes in while you munch on some chips and guac. Wait 20 minutes and then get in the water and do some snorkeling.
GOOD EATS:
Pelicanos on the beach. (Puerto Morelos) Typical open air eatery serving delish chips and drinks. You can watch local small boats dock while you take in the ocean breeze and then walk around town and go shopping.
SHORE SNORKELING:
Akumal. You're basically guaranteed to see some turtle action here. After a few minutes of swimming through murky water in only about a 5 foot depth a giant loggerhead appeared and scared the daylights out of me. It was the best! This is an amazing busy local beach to hang out on for a few hours.
Half Moon Bay. This little bay is like an underwater aquarium. Very shallow entry in places but well worth it to see the formations under water and what lurks within them. It's not a lounging beach as the sand is course and there are millions of shells, but if you are looking for a place to snorkel---this is great. Eat at La Buena Vida, one of my top oceanside eats of all time.