Cancun November 1, 2004

Our family arrived safely in Cancun and we then began the task of negotiating the guantlet of people waiting past the arrivals area to get outside. It was horrible. Talk about a wild scene as salespeople trying to sell everything from car rentals, hotels, time share tours and who knows what else attempted to get our attention as we quickly srolled through the corridor. Eventually we got to our hotel where we spent one night before heading across on the ferry to Isla Mujeres where we planned to spend the next month. Downtown Cancun is not a pretty place, but it is full of bars, restaurants and a huge market designed with the tourist in mind. The prices were reasonable, however, and bartering is the acceptable protocol when making any purchase.

When we headed across to Isla Mujeres, my first impression was that the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean Sea were reason enough to come here. There are a number of ferry operators here, and Ultramar is the biggest but also the most expensive. Later, we discovered that the Tintorella ferries, located at a smaller terminal beside Playa Del Nino were considerably cheaper. After spending one night in the main town of Isla Mujeres, we began the task of finding accomodations for the month of November. This time of year, the tourist traffic is slow and the astute traveller can negotiate some excellent deals if patient. The main townsite here on the island is compact and a really great place to enjoy beaches, shopping, nightlife, and dining. We decided to explore further and found ourselves a beautiful condo with three bedrooms at a bargain price. This place was right across the road from a gorgeous beach resort and even had its own swimming pool, something not common on the island. Our condo was on the third floor and overlooked the sea. Each morning I would sojourn on the balcony enjoying my coffee while pinching myself in disbelief that I was really here in this tropical paradise. Since my wife and I were homeschooling our three children, we usually spent each morning doing school lessons, then took in an activity during the afternoon. More often than not the afternoon was spent down at the beach resort where two or three boatloads of tourists would come for a few hours then leave us the entire place to ourselves for the rest of the day. We loved it there at Playa Indios. Sometimes, we took a ten minute taxi ride into town to buy groceries at the Super San Francisco store and to use the internet. Once in a while we ate out or bought some souvenirs at the shops. Fish is the preferred meal choice here and it is very reasonably priced and tastily prepared. Usually one meal cost 50 to 70 pesos. We loved the Sol beer too.

Some activities that are highly recommended are the snorkelling tours which cost between $15- 20 US that last for nearly 4 four hours and include a tasty fish lunch. They provide the equipment. We were amazed at the fantastic tropical fish environment every place we dove. The tours were so much fun that we did one three times!

Garaffon Park is also a great way to spend the day. There is snorkelling, a scenic sea walk, a spacious pool, music, and plenty of igunas.The all inclusive deal is probably the best value. Try the zip line. It is a blast!

For another exciting day, we rented a golf cart, which is used here in place of rental cars. In less than an hour you can drive the circumference of the island, but it is much more pleasant to stop at the many shops or lookout points along the way and simply enjoy the beauty of the island. Punta Sur has some excellent views of the sea and is Mexico's easternmost point.

At the end of the month we were sad to leave our island. Isla Mujeres is definitely worth a visit.