Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Sisal & Cancun
As I told you in our last post, our first stop in Mexico was Playa del Carmen. However, first things first - if you haven't seen our posts from Costa Rica, especially the one about the beaches let's go do that cause you'll need it to understand from where we were coming (literally).
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| Playa Barrigona - Nicoya Peninsula - Costa Rica |
Not to rush things, I'll start with our flight to Cancun. We were departing from Costa Rica in the morning which was awesome because otherwise, we could not have seen the AMAZING (trust me it's amazing, my number one) view! I'm absolutely thrilled we got to do that! Again, it was truly incredible!!! Go for the morning flight if you can!!! Unfortunately, I did not take any photos or videos because flying from CR also means that most probably your take-off can be a bit rough because of their ever-present morning winds. You don't really feel like taking your camera out when you're clutching your armrest. But trust me on this - it's totally worth it if only because of the take-off.
So we landed in Cancun, got our car (Jetta again, this time a red one), got over the fact that we are driving a 'normal' car instead of our beloved Djugo, got over the fact that the roads were hole-free and that there were lots of people - so far, so good.
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| Cancun beach |
Our plan was to stay in Playa del Carmen for two days and then move on to Merida (I wrote this after the first half a day: "thank god we are only staying two days here"). We expected more people, of course. What we didn't expect were SO MANY people. The beach (on Friday afternoon) can easily be compared to the Rimini or Lido di Jesolo (imagine this) beaches. No more secluded, quiet beaches that were only ours (this is sad, first world problems I know, but we really were disappointed). The beach itself is narrow and quite short so you cannot even go for a walk. People are kicking the sand, you then have sand everywhere (I don't like people in general, I just love you - our readers and a few other people - Telchac included ;)). Btw after the sunset, it turned out to be the typical tourist den full of great fixed-menu-restaurants, souvenir shops and overpriced everything (we had a very ordinary ice-cream for maybe 10 euro - in a shape of a rose - how wonderful!). Definitely not our kind of destination.
Useful tip: Despite everything, there was one thing that I must mention - the restaurant La Cueva del Chango. We ate there twice (both were dinners) and it was authentic, delicious and the atmosphere was lively but nice.
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| Beach near Tulum |
We had thought that on Saturday we were going to stay there and go to the beach - but after coming back from the beach we immediately started searching for some beaches nearby. And we found them - at least on the map. With 5 or 6 beaches in our "pocket", we got into the car and went exploring. Sometimes the turn we were supposed to take was gated. Sometimes there was no turn at all. We went as far as Tulum where our last hope died when we saw that despite the beach being there you cannot get to it because it's "fenced" by the hotel buildings. You could glimpse the sea but there was no way to get to it. After some time and a few useless attempts, we turned back. We still had some options but it did not look good at all. However, our luck turned - or better to say we turned it good. We found a turn that was not closed or blocked or nonexistent. It led to a small parking lot (so far so good) with a small beach (so far, even better) with lots of seaweed (well...). With our last thread of hope, we took our stuff and went for a walk with a "what if" in our minds. And it paid off! Further away we found the place (land between two houses that unofficially did not belong to anyone) and decided to stay there. No seaweed, white sandy beach, turquoise sea and no people around - we found our Mexican paradise for a few hours. :)
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| Somewhere near Akumal |
Useful tip: If you're looking for a resort based holiday with just a hint of real local lifestyle, Tulum might be a great option. From what we saw, the sea, the beach and the hotels were amazing. It's just that you're in the "Zona Hotelera" - yep from this point of view, it's same as Cancun. However, I'd definitely still choose Cancun over Tulum. Playa del Carmen not recommended at all.
The second beach we visited during our Mexican adventure was the beach in a little village of Sisal. It was like an hour ride from Merida and it was definitely worth it. There were about 10 people (coming and going), you had your space, you could go for a walk, do whatever you wanted to! There's just one itsy-bitsy detail, the colour of the water wasn't the most azure of all, if I had to, I'd say it was 7/10 azure. But despite that - good job, Sisal! :)
Afterwards, we also went to check out Progreso beach, which again, had little to do with Mexico as we knew it. Quite a lot of people, quite a lot of stalls and shops and restaurants and a beach that was quite normal. Not that bad but not that great either.
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| Beach in Progresso |
We did not "beach" that much in Mexico, instead, we did some road and city-related trips (next posts ;)) but for the end of our three-month stay we planned to stay in Cancun for several days. We fell in love with Cancun beaches two years ago and for us, it's the perfect place for a beach holiday. There was just no other choice but to return there.
And everything was perfect as always (can I say that after just one perfect time? :D I believe I must!). We spent time walking on the beach, sunbathing, drowning each other in the sea (jk :D or am I? :D) and the usual stuff. Courtesy of our hotel and lounge access we did not have to go looking for any restaurants, we could just stay there all day. Which was really comforting after the three months we had :) (not that I'm complaining).
IMHO Cancun’s much better than Playa del Carmen, the beach is wider so you do not get the feeling of being in a can of sardines. You have the food, the shade, the bluest of the blues and your own space! There's no competition here, Cancun wins any time!
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| Cancun beach |
One bonus beach that I am not mentioning in the title and that was just a completely spontaneous and crazy idea. It's really difficult to stay in the car and not have these crazy ideas when you're driving along the Mexican coast. That's why on our way to "I will not tell you just yet" (but it was between Champoton and Cuidad del Carmen ;)), we just absolutely needed to get out of the car and go for a little skinny-dipping! All our stuff in the car, no swimsuits, no towels, we just went in there and enjoyed it as much as we could. Btw the beach (wild and next to the highway :D) was amazing, don't you think so?
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| On the way from Champoton to Ciudad del Carmen |
Of course, beach-wise there are lots of options in Mexico that are still on the list. But from what I saw (and from what you've read) it's clear I have my favourite one! So start planning your trip and get in touch if you need any help :) In two weeks I'll tell you about one of our trips, at the moment, I am not sure which one so you'll need to check it out when the time comes ;) C U then!