When I was visiting, there was no spring break. So there was no reason to stay much longer than I ha

Punta Bete Cancun is about as Mexican travel trailer dealers in concord as the 4 th of July. Cancun is a very popular destination for Americans who like to party and spend the days at perfect travel trailer dealers in concord white beaches in clear turquoise waters or snorkeling one of the world's finest reef systems.
We will rent a car and drive down all the way to beautiful Tulum , the ancient Mayan city, located at the beach. On our way we will come across many beautiful secluded beaches, Playa del Carmen another resort town that has managed to keep its old flair, take a ferry to Cozumel and check out some caves.
If this sounds like a multiple day trip to you, you are right. So if you are sick of your hotels beach, or if you are not staying travel trailer dealers in concord in Cancun as we did, get ready to do some serious exploring. We will start our trip by renting a car at the airport at our arrival. This is an adventure in itself. The Car Rental companies do not have the same standards of safety as they do have in Europe or North America . Our car was pretty beaten up and had no license plates. Have you ever heard of a Rental Car having no plates? Well only in Mexico.
So lets put your car into gear and check out some Caribbean. Oh yes, before I forget it, keep your eyes on the road. They have speed bumps that can rip your car apart but not all of them are announced by signs. I managed to jump my car over one of them at about 50 kmh. The cop standing there was laughing at me.
Lets check out the resort area first. All you have to do is follow the signs pointing you to the Hotel Zone. The Hotel Zone is a 17km long sandbar covered with resorts. It is a popular spring break destination for college students. During spring break hundreds of thousands of teens take over the city. Sex, Alcohol and endless Parties. travel trailer dealers in concord Cancun is the perfect beach party destination. The finest beaches, about every water sport you can imagine world class restaurants and nightlife draw 3 Million Visitors each year.
When I was visiting, there was no spring break. travel trailer dealers in concord So there was no reason to stay much longer than I had to. The prices in the restaurants are even higher than in the United States. English is spoken everywhere. I might as well have been in Florida .
If you are anxious to see some Mayan ruins, head north. Just a few miles north of Downtown you will come to El Meco. It is a very small site but very interesting. It is fenced travel trailer dealers in concord off, so make sure you don't arrive too late. It lies in the marshlands, so make sure to use mosquito repellant.
If you head south on 307 for about 36km, you will arrive at the oldest settlement on the coast, Puerto Morelos. Here you can find a variety of lodging opportunities from Budget Inns to Five Star Hotels. travel trailer dealers in concord We chose a hotel in this town as our base for its quiet nature and we have not regretted our decision.
Puerto Morelos is a small fishing village / town with excellent Seafood restaurants un-crowded beaches cafes and a small market lined with craft stores, restaurants and bookstores. Sundays the market comes to life.
The last time I visited, the town had two Internet Cafes. You can find Internet Cafes just about anywhere along the coast. One hour costs as little as $0.50 and a beer is about $1. What a difference to Cancun!
One morning I was watching the sunrise travel trailer dealers in concord at our hotels beach. I was completely alone. I then drove to the wharf and watched fishers taking off and Pelicans dive for fish. The first tourists didn't show up after quite a while.
Heading south from Puerto Morelos you will get to Tres Rios. Tres Rios is an ecopark with cenotes (waterfilled caves for diving), jungle and mangroves. There are other places further south that are cheaper so we skipped that.
Punta Bete is as secluded as it can get in the Mexican Caribbean. If you come here off-season you may actually find that you are alone at the perfect white beach. There is a little restaurant with 2 or 3 tables outside underneath palm trees at the beach. The food is excellent at rock bottom prices. If you can eat the salsa you are one tough customer. This stuff makes the Jalapenos travel trailer dealers in concord we have in California look like candy. But beware, you may loose eyesight for a few minutes. Fortunately beer is cheap too in case you damaged your taste butts. travel trailer dealers in concord I discovered the place by luck since it wasn't in my travel guide. I guess that explains the emptiness.
This was just about the only beach I was willing to lie down and not have the feeling I missed something important. It is what I consider the perfect beach. Unless you own your island this is as good as it gets. You won't find more square feet per person than here.
A couple of kilometers south of Punta Bete lays Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen has one thing in common with Cancun. It is a very fast growing tourist town that started out as a fishing travel trailer dealers in concord village. But this is where commonalties end. The development in Playa del Carmen is not so much focused on huge resorts (although you can find them here too), but much more on smaller hotels integrated travel trailer dealers in concord into the city. It is a laid-back Caribbean town that has managed to grow faster than most cities while maintaining its old Hispanic heritage. The city is vibrant with life and driving around here is somewhat challenging. Policemen control traffic with whistles. You never quite know whom he is whistling at. Just ignore the whistles and drive looking at their postures. It will be clear whether you can drive or not. The streets are narrow and finding a parking spot (an affordable one that is) can be hard. There is a large one near the ferry and a few of larger ones spread around.
The Quinta Avida is closed to traffic. It is at the heart of the city with an unbelievable collection of restaurants, cafes, dive shops, craft shops, souvenir shops and much more. You can watch Cigars being rolled by hand in front of one store. A popular sports bar is crowded when a popular soccer event is on. Here you can find clean food that even sensitive stomachs can digest. Most restaurants offer life music. The whole area is one big party at night. Cocktail bars rival each other with deals and party atmosphere.
I prefer Playa del Carmen anytime to Cancun. The prices are not as inflated, the atmosphere is Mediterranean laid-back, the beaches are not owned by hotels and the choices of entertainment and food are more unique to the area instead of tailored towards American tourists. I can visit a Hard Rock Café anytime back home.
In Playa del Carmen you can find many small travel agencies offering you every adventure you can imagine. Trips to Mayan sites, snorkeling, skydiving, cruises, cave diving or water sports are just a small example.
If you are taking the ferry from Playa del Carmen travel trailer dealers in concord you have the choice between two lines. The older (white) and newer (blue) boats that is. They both cost the same, but what we didn't know after booking the white ferry is, that it takes much longer than the newer speedboat like ferry. What a mistake.
Cozumel travel trailer dealers in concord is Mexico's largest inhabited island. In fact you can spend your whole vacation here and not miss much. I will only touch very briefly on Cozumel as the island should have its own travel guide page. It offers too much for this article.
If you arrive by ferry from Playa del Carmen, you can rent a scooter or a car in San Miguel travel trailer dealers in concord de Cozumel. It is worth negotiating. I saved a lot by walking into the local Avis and talking the guy down 50%, although I am sure when he saw me stepping in, he gave me a price that was 300% of the normal rate. Well by American standards travel trailer dealers in concord I got a good deal and that's what counts. When I saw the car I had just rented I had to laugh. It was the most banged up shaken up and dented sorry little piece I had ever seen. Everything rattled but it drove nicely travel trailer dealers in concord and I didn't have to worry about putting a dent on it.
We spent all day at the best beach bar I had ever seen underneath straw umbrellas sipping drinks and eating travel trailer dealers in concord really affordable lunch. We watched the sunset, as you only can on one of the islands, as the beaches on the mainland face east. At the end of the day we had an encounter with a small croc and some really large crabs crossing the road. Amazing how fast crabs can run.
We spent all day at the best beach bar I had ever seen underneath straw umbrellas sipping drinks and eating really affordable lunch. We watched the sunset, as you only can on one of the islands, travel trailer dealers in concord as the beaches on the mainland face east. At the end of the day we had an encounter with a small croc and some really large crabs crossing the road. Amazing how fast crabs can run.
Xcaret travel trailer dealers in concord is not what I had in mind when traveling to Mexico. The stretch south of Playa del Carmen is a really bad example of development for tourism. Many places are now being closed off to the general public travel trailer dealers in concord and being turned into resorts and parks with steep entrance fees.
Xcaret lays about 6km south of Playa del Carmen and is one of the parks. Sea turtles used to live in the area that has now been opened to paying customers on a grand scale. Landscaping projects have transformed the cenotes and lagoons to fit more customers and make them easier accessible. Xcaret is located on the coast on the site of an ancient settlement. Since I don't support such environmental disasters, this is about all I can say about Xcaret.
Akumal is a nice change from the development craziness in the area. Even though we have seen some signs of gentle development, I believe the place will remain as it was for a few more years until someone decides to expand into this area too.
Turtles lay their eggs on the beach every spring and hopefully will be able to do so in the future. When we arrived at Akumal for the first time, the beach was almost empty. We could get the best seats in the restaurant travel trailer dealers in concord without having to wait and watch the fishers relax in their boats. That was December 20th. We came back December 23 rd and couldn't believe our eyes. All of a sudden beach was swamped by tourists. The season travel trailer dealers in concord had begun. If you can, try to come to the Caribbean off-season. You will have a much more pleasant stay. Akkumal is