One of the Few Remaining Beaches

Tulum beach, south of Tulum ruins, is one of the few remaining wide open beaches left in the Mayan Riviera. It's a wonder that some large corporation hasn't moved in yet.  There are a few all-inclusives near by, but nothing on this beach as of yet.

Playa Tulum has always been known as a bohemian beach, with many old hippies struggling to hang on to their memories and dreams.  The air always has a different smell here!

The accommodations are rustic to say the least...something like we might have stayed in years ago.  If you need to hide from someone or something, this is the place!

We took the combi to the beach this morning and the drive was a nightmare.  The driver had no concept of speed and safety.  He drove between 160 and 170 km/h for much of the way and while doing this he was on the radio.  The van was swaying and getting much too close to the ditch.  I was a nervous wreck and was so glad to put my feet on solid ground.

The drive home was far more pleasant and within the proper speed limits.  Much happier!

We never did get to the Tulum ruins as we have been there so many times that it was on the bottom of our list.  Nevertheless, they did look impressive from a distance.

I love the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. So blue!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

The first time we ventured into this area, now called the Mayan Riviera, was in 1979 and we were driving a VW Westfalia.  We had no fear.  We camped wherever we happened to be on that particular day.

We camped in Cancun before it became a major resort.  We used to free camp on the point where all the hotels are now located.  We spent months by Playa del Carmen before it became a tourist zone. All that was there was a small hotel, an ice plant and a vegetable stand. Because the Westfalia just had an ice chest and not a fridge, we had to drive into Playa every third day for ice and vegetables.

Xcaret was just a walk-in cenote area with one restaurant at the corner of the highway.  Tulum was a dumpy little town with nothing other than the ruins and beach in sight.

Akumal is much the same now as it was when we first came here in '79, minus the developments on Half Moon Bay and the all-inclusives down the beach.

Over the years and throughout our travels in Mexico we kept gravitating back to the Yucatan and Quintana Roo.  We spent three winters in Mexico before my teaching career limited us to fly in vacations.  We have seen much of this country from the Belize border back up to the US.

On our first trip to this area, we camped on a beautiful beach called Paamul.  Surprisingly, Paamul is still there and not bought out by the big resorts.  There were always about ten or eleven small units camped in Paamul way back when.  Now the bigger RVs have taken over and built a small village where we used to sit in our Westfalia, just killing time!  We had to pay 75 cents a day to camp on the beach and use the very poor washrooms....all owned and run by some old Mexican and his grandson.

Back to presnt time....we took the collectivo to Paamul on Tuesday to see what was being done to our old stomping grounds and found quite a few houses for sale. I shouldn't call them houses as they are thatched coverings over the RV...some on the beach and some set farther back into the jungle.  Even so, it looks like a thriving place, but I don't see how it can remain much longer with the resorts wanting more beach area all the time.  Sorry, but he humidity was steaming up our lens so the pictures are a little blurred.

Off to the City

We made our second excursion into Playa del Carmen on Saturday to meet with Gloria and her husband.  They winter in Playa so I'm sure they get more than enough visitors from the frozen north.  It was a great visit with old friends, much like the one we had with Kathy Alexander on Wednesday.

We have always used the collectivos and like all Mexican bus systems, it works like a charm.  It is used by the locals getting to and from work so the price is reasonable.  You stand on the highway, wave them down and they will drop you off on the highway, where ever you wish.  The main reason many tourists  don't use this system is because of the 1 km walk to the highway from the beach....it is easier to call a cab.

Fred and I left Akumal early to do a wee bit of shopping in Playa.  There isn't much we want to buy, but we wanted to have a good look at a few places.  We especially wanted to wander through Playacar where we spent many holidays with Steve and Kris Mealey.  Great memories from that place. I think Steve still has the record for the earliest beer in Mexico....early morning snorkelling does that to a person!  Even though Playacar is now an all-inclusive they let us wander through the pool area without the wrist bands.

We have seen more people from home in the past month than we have for the last two years on the other coast.  Maybe our location is wrong!

Changes

Many things about Akumal have not changed in the ten years Fred has been away.  The main beach remains much the same except for the crowds.  It used to be this sleepy empty beach, but the many overcrowded resort areas have driven people to seek quieter spots and Akumal appears to have been chosen.

It is still far quieter than Playa del Carmen, but it is growing and it won't be long before people move on to even more remote beaches like Paamul.

Ocean View

Enough cooking and cleaning.....last night we ate at the restaurant right below our condo.  What a meal and what a view!

Friends?

I don't think so!  These Mexican racoon-like animals are everywhere and they are thieves.  Most new-comers try to feed the coati and that keeps bringing them in closer to the resorts and condos.

It has been reported that the coati are so brave at some of the all-inclusive resorts near Playa del Carmen that they will wander into the outdoor restaurants and steal food from your plate.  Who is going to try to stop them?

Of course, Maggie thinks they are special and would dearly love to chase them out of her territory.

Settling In

The drive that was supposed to take us 3.5 hours took 5 hours to complete, partially because we missed the turnoff to the shortcut and partially because we kept our speed relatively slow.  It is a long weekend in Mexico and there are too many drivers on the road that probably shouldn't be there!

We unloaded the car and got everything into the condo before two o'clock.  Unpacking took much longer as we kept stopping for a beer break.  We had everything in place before the Super Bowl!

The condo is located one floor below the one we used to own, but it is very similar in design.  The usual faults show up, such as the rusting of the fridge and the cracked tiles, but the view more than makes up for that.

Other than watching the game, we didn't do much yesterday as we were exhausted from the drive plus the humidity wore us down.  Something to get used to again.

Maggie is doing okay, but she hates the sound of the waves.  I have never had a dog who was so frightened of the wind.  Something for her to get used to.  We are sort of sneaking her in to the condo as we never bothered to tell Roberto we had a dog.  So far we aren't on the street looking for a new place!