Puerto Morelos
05 March 2017 | Marina El Cid, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
Bob/Passing rain showers, very windy, 82 degrees
Wow, we have been having so much fun that I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted to the blog. We had a great stay in Isla Mujeres. We visited with Renee, Tom and Sami along with several families that joined them over the Thanksgiving holidays. We put Great Adventure in a slip at Marina Paraiso the middle of December and went home for the holidays. When we returned everything was fine, we began to stock up and get ready to move on southward. One night while at the bar we started talking to another sailor who was also heading south. We talked about Belize and the Rio Dulce, Guatemala and Roatan, Honduras. I told him that I'd never been to the Rio on my boat but have been twice to help a friend of mine named Art. He said, "You're not talking about Art and Joan Schuck, are you?" A friendship began that evening that I hope lasts a long time. Sterling Huff and his wife Nicol are a fun couple. We decided to leave Isla together and head to Marina El Cid in Puerto Morelos. We couldn't believe how nice this marina is, once we arrived. Floating docks, extremely well protected by a huge rock wall that blocks the swell in the Caribbean sea from reaching us. As a bonus, the marina is also part of the El Cid all-inclusive resort and we get to use the resort amenities although we have to pay for our drinks and food but there are two pools and a huge Jacuzzi as well as nightly entertainment which is all free!
We are docked on the charter fishing fleet dock and have met most of the captains and mates, practicing our Spanish while they practice their English. It has been very nice to meet the local people and see just how warm and sharing they are. We get fresh ceviche a couple times a week and even have several mahi mahi fillets, all for free. One mate, Candlerio, or Candle for short, took us to Puerto Morelos Colonia, the town where all the locals live where we experienced the Carnaval, fun times, lots of dancing and people watching. I think we were the only 'gringos' there.
While here we've been to Chichen Itza, the Botanical Garden and Crococun Zoo. Chichen Itza was fun although we'd rather have skipped the 'Mayan Village' where we were supposed to see the artisans at work making things. That turned out to be just an hour stop at a tourist trap sort of place where they were selling overpriced goods, nobody was making anything. We would rather have had that hour at the ruins where we had a guided tour that seemed to be rushed. Sharon went to The Little Mexican Cooking School while Sterling and I went diving. The diving was spectacular and Sharon's school was fantastic. She spent over six hours making dishes and eating. She even got a copy of all the recipes they did, so when y'all come to visit, prepare for Mexican food like you've never had before. Puerto Morelos is the oldest port on the Mexican east coast and since it is a fishing village, the food is centered mostly on seafood.
We have also discovered that shopping where the locals shop is a real plus. We found a vegetable market that is not much more than a hole in a wall where we bought six avocados, six limes, cilantro, broccoli all for about $3.50 US, and you just can't get bananas that taste like this at home. Everything tastes better here, but hey, it's as fresh as it can get, right out of the garden today!
All good things have to come to an end though. We are currently looking for a weather window, an opportunity to start heading back north. We hope to be back in the Keys sometime later this month and back home by they end of April. Today the winds are howling out of the northeast at 25 to 30 knots, big waves outside the marina but just wind in here. The forcast is for passing rain showers through the next two days along with the winds so we may head back to Isla Mujeres around Wednesday.