On day two we were ready to find a good place to snorkel and Kerri did some research before we left and heard that there was good snorkeling in Akumal…so, Akumal is where we headed.

After breakfast, we packed our snorkel gear and other stuff and got a cab in front of the hotel and headed to Akumal. It seemed like about a 20 minute ride, and soon we were there. The cab fare was about $14 US Dollars.

As soon as we got out of the cab there were locals trying to get us to go on either a snorkel or fishing trip. We planned on just snorkeling from the beach, so we passed on their offers…and believe me, there were plenty of people asking us if we wanted to snorkel!

So, we found a spot by a palm tree on the beach to drop our stuff off and put our snorkel gear on and start snorkeling. I wised up by the second day and was wearing a long sleeve white t-shirt (which I highly recommend!). Having a long sleeve t-shirt while snorkeling is not only better for the environment, it’s also kinda comfortable and keeps you from getting burnt. Have I warned you about the sun in Mexico? Yes…it is pretty intense down there!

We started snorkeling and noticed the water was kind of cloudy and there were quite a few patches of some type of grass in the first part. There were other people snorkeling 50 feet out or so and we started to head their way. The visibility wasn’t improving very much, and we didn’t really see too many fish….yet. It still wasn’t very deep, and we thought about swimming further out – but we were concerned about the boats knocking us in the head or chopping us up in their propellors…so we caved in and decided to take a snorkel tour.

We headed back to shore and forgot who originally offered us a snorkel tour, so we pretty much just asked the first person we could find. There are quite a few boats on the shore to choose from. Here’s what it looks like:

Since we had our own snorkel gear, it was only $10 (U.S. Dollars) each! What a bargain! We left in a small glass bottomed boat and headed further out…and it started getting clearer…the visibility was a lot better than by the shore. Our guide took us to an area that had some of reefs so we could check out the sea creatures below.

There were plenty of fish to see and we were very glad we took the boat out. At one point I looked into this cave like area under a huge reef and notice a pretty big barracuda hanging out in it – probably four or five feet long. A bit alarming, but he never bothered us. One thing to remember – don’t wear anything shiny that might attract fish like barracuda….they might try to bite you otherwise. Barracuda attacks are rare, but it’s always best to be on the safe side.

So, we were swimming around for about half an hour and it started to rain. We thought our guide was motioning us to come back to the boat, but he was actually getting our attention so we could see a sea turtle. The rain felt awesome on our backs as we snorkeled and was much better than having the sun scorching you.

Seeing the sea turtles was an awesome experience. I did do a touristy thing that I have been informed by people at the LocoGringo Forums that I shouldn’t do..and that is touch the turtles. I dove down and just touched the shell of the turtle…so I could always say that I touched a sea turtle. Stupid, right? Well, I guess that is something the people down there have been trying to keep people from doing. Now that I know, I’ve placed a logo on the right of the site to help spread the word. So, look a the turtles…but please…don’t touch.

Well, our snorkeling time was up and it was time to head back in the boat. I’d say he gave us about 45 minutes of snorkeling time, which was enough time to see plenty of sea creatures. When we came back to land I gave him an extra $5 for a tip…so the total damage came to only $25.

Now, there was a different “snorkel guy” that mentioned something about a sunken ship – so he must have had a different tour. If anyone has been to Akumal and knows something about this, please comment below.

Overall, I highly recommend that you take a trip to Akumal for snorkeling. You will love seeing the sea turtles and other fish…and definitely take a boat. It is well worth it.

The other thing we noticed about the area we were in was that – although having nice snorkeling, the resort(s) in the near vicinity weren’t nearly as nice as the Catalonia Riviera Maya. So, if you’re thinking of staying in Akumal, they might not be as nice as in Puerto Aventuras. I could be wrong here, but that’s what it looked like.

Well, that’s all for now. In my next installment, we head off to Playa del Carmen. Until then… see you next time!

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Here is what the beach looks like at the Catalonia Riviera Maya.  It was cloudy the day I took this, which is a good thing if you don’t want to get burned.  There are some rocky areas in the water, so I recommend you bring water shoes.  The best snorkeling I found in the area is to the left near some pipes that go under the bridge.

Ok…long time no update. Sorry about that! Ok, so after our adventures at Gringo Dave’s, we headed back to the Catalonia Riviera Maya to relax for a bit. It was pretty hot out so it was nice to get back to our ice cold room again. I have to hand it to them on the air conditioning… it worked very well!

So, we took a well deserved nap – as you all know what a drain shopping can be got up and got ready for dinner. We received three vouchers for dinner in one of the nicer restaurants on the resort. As mentioned earlier, you have to make reservations earlier in the day to eat at them. You can always eat at the buffet, but you’ll want to try something different after awhile.

The restaurant was very nice. When we entered I noticed a sign that said “no shorts”. Hmm…I had shorts on and we went in anyway and nobody said anything. I kind of felt like a goon though. But, once I sat down, the tablecloth was there to keep anyone from noticing.

The food was excellent and the waitstaff great as well. There was one guy going around with some kind of dish and doing all kinds of stuff with fire. Not sure what that was all about but was fun to watch. Like the buffet, you don’t have to pay unless you want to have a bottle of wine. I do recommend tipping, and am really not sure what a good tip is – but I left $5 for the two of us. I guess that could be a good tip if it is true they make about $6/day in wages. So…overall, a great dining experience!

We decided to skip dessert and walk over to the Creperie, also located on the second floor. Lots of people were enjoying the ocean view and eating dessert crepes. For some reason we went with a ham and cheese one, which was not the best choice. If you get a crepe, stick with the dessert ones.

We got our crepes to go and decided to be lame and go back to our room. We spent the rest of the night eating the crepes and watching Mexican TV – which I don’t recommend. Pretty exciting night, eh? Well, stay tuned for my next entry as I’ll tell you of our adventures to Akumal and Play del Carmen!

After playing around on the beach, snorkeling and kayaking, we decided to check out the main area out in town which has been rumored to have dolphins and manatees. From the Catalonia Riviera Maya the “dolphin town” as I like to call it is a short walk away – probably ten minutes or less.

Head out of the hotel and start walking left and the road will take you straight to town. When we got into town we indeed did find out that there are many dolphins and a few manatees in town. There’s even an aquarium you can visit. The dolphins were very playful and gave us a show when we arrived. Here’s a little video clip of of the dolphins in Puerto Aventuras:

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There are quite a few shops and restaurants in town, but don’t expect to cool off if you go shopping. As far as I could tell, none of the shops are air conditioned and many leave the lights off to help keep things cool (or perhaps save on the electric bill). Some of the shops only take cash, so this is something to keep in mind. If you see something you want to buy remember that it is very common to bargain with the store and get them to go down on the price. Also remember that you are likely to find the same item being sold in different places while you are on your trip, so maybe take a mental note and do your buying before you leave.

After looking in a few shops we decided to have a couple of beers and some chips and salsa. Pretty much all of the restaurants have outdoor seating and have excellent specials. One place had a steak and lobster dinner for only $10! We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was happy hour – which meant 2 for 1 beers. The chips and salsa were very good..and they had this super powerful habanero dip to go with it (use with caution…very hot).

Dogs and cats are welcome at restaurants, so don’t be surprised to see a cat or dog walking near your table when you eat. They seem to have a bit of an attitude though…maybe because they get so much attention from the tourists…or because they are stray. Who knows. Anyway, it’s kinda cool.

After or beer, chips and salsa, we checked out the manatees swimming near the aquarium. They were very cool… for some reason I have this obsession with these flabby sea cows. How can one not love them? Here you can swim with the manatees if you don’t feel like hangin’ with the dolphins. Here’s a video clip of the manatees:

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After the manatees, we started to head back to the hotel, but noticed an interesting character talking to some tourists on a golf cart. He gave them a free margarita coupon for his restaurant down the road, Gringo Dave’s. We decided to get in on the action and get a couple of drink coupons ourselves. Free drinks…what’s the catch you ask? Well, there is no catch really…but they do hope that you will decide to eat something with your free drink. We had other plans, so we gave a good tip so we wouldn’t be a couple of leeches.

You may see this guy driving around between your resort an the main town area of Puerto Aventuras. He’ll probably give you a ride into town on his golf cart if you are nice enough to try one of his drinks. One time we saw him with about six people on his cart…too bad I didn’t have my camera ready for that shot. So, if you see Gringo Dave and are headed into town, wave him down and start your journey into town the right way. Drunk.

Bookmark this site and stay tuned for my next installment. If you have any questions on Puerto Aventuras or other areas in the Yucatan, email me and I’ll try my best to answer your questions.

After good night of sleep, we were finally refreshed and ready to explore the resort and town of Puerto Aventuras. We first went to the all you can eat buffet on the resort grounds and ate before our day of fun and sun began. The buffet offers a large selection of typical breakfast food – eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, etc. If you want to try something different you might taste some cooked bananas. I took a look at them and wasn’t adventurous enough…but who knows, maybe they are good.

There is an omelette bar and you can get them cooked exactly the way you like. Pick out your ingredients, put them on a small plate and hand it to the chef. Get a bigger plate ready so the chef will have a place to put it when it is done. Anyway, they do an awesome job on the omelettes, so be sure to give that a try.

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We arrived at the Catalonia Riviera Maya Hotel I believe around 9 p.m. or sometime in early evening. After all of the traveling, fun at the airport and the approximate one hour ride from the airport…we were finally ready to relax.

As soon as we got there a very helpful and friendly staff assisted us with our luggage. Before we could check in a guy handed us two very tasty frozen adult beverages. We spent the rest of the trip trying to figure out what the drink was and never found out. We did find out that right around the corner are a couple of frozen drink machines…where I believe the mystery drinks came from. I never found out if anyone could help themselves to the drink machines or not.

Everything will probably be a blur for you at this point and you will care less what they say to you. They will probably give you some cards to use to get towels and some other papers. Keep that stuff and put it in your important papers folder (hopefully you brought one). You will need the towel cards to get your towels… and again, don’t lose your towels!

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After a nice flight we were getting very close to finally starting our vacation in Puerto Aventuras. We had to fill out two forms – a customs form and immigration form. Filling these out on the plane before you arrive will speed things up for you. Mental note – bring a pen on your flight – they will not provide you with one.

When you arrive, have your passport/birth certificate, customs and immigration forms ready. Actually, I should make a special note here. Before you leave for your trip, I highly recommend that you get some kind of small file folder to store all of your important papers. Organization is the key to success. You don’t want to spend half your time fumbling around looking for your boarding passes and other important documents. Find something to keep all of this stuff in and use it for your entire trip.

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After our little excursion to the Dallas World Aquarium, we finally headed to the airport to head to Cancun, and then Puerto Aventuras. By the way, I do recommend planning a small side trip before you leave…it sort of makes you feel like you had two vacations in one!

There are pros and cons if you are flying from Dallas. Hopefully you are not, because it’s a huge airport and trying to find parking, where to check in, etc. can be a pain in the neck. Especially if you are leaving on a Sunday and there isn’t anyone to call for help. Again, try to get precise information in advance before you leave. Where to park and where in the airport to check in are the most important.

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We finally made our reservations to stay at the Catalonia Riviera Maya, an all inclusive resort in Puerto Aventuras. Our stay would be 4 nights and 5 days….again, lodging, food, drinks and round trip airfare from Dallas, TX. All for around $628. Pretty good deal, eh?

I have to say I was skepitcal at the price, but we did have a similar good deal when we went to Cozumel a few years ago – so I was hopeful. I warned Kerri though of the other hidden expenses that can make a seemingly inexpensive trip become expensive.

Those hidden expenses probably did add up…and I really don’t want to know how much was spent. I had to drive 5 hours to Wichita and then we had to drive from there to Dallas. Hidden expenses included… gas, food/snacks, tolls, last minute things to buy for the trip and film just to name a few.

Before we made the flight into Cancun we had a little pre-vacation and checked out downtown Ft. Worth, TX. I have to say it is very impressive…and quite the hopping place. Definitely not what I expected.

In the morning before leaving, we went to the Dallas World Aquarium and again were very impressed. Perhaps the most impressive part is the clear tunnel that goes under the shark tank. Looking from above you can see people walking “under the water”. Soon, you can walk through the tunnel and see sharks swimming over your head. Here’s a video clip of it:

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Anyway, if you are ever in that area, stop by the aquarium…it’s very nice!

[tags]vacations,travel,holiday,travel+and+places,cancun,cozumel,puerto aventuras[/tags]

It has been quite awhile since my girlfriend Kerri and I had taken a vacation, so a couple months ago we decided it was time to change that. So many choices…where to go?

We were both on a budget and have had good luck with a previous trip to Cozumel in the past and so Mexico once again looked like a likely destination. It’s cheap there, man! (if you use your head).

After researching on TravelZoo, Expedia and many other travel sites, Kerri found a good deal for $628.00 which included round trip air fare, hotel, all you can eat and drink. It even included transfers to and from the airport in Cancun. For any vacation…I highly recommend you check with TravelZoo…more often than not it is the best place on the net to find awesome travel deals.

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