Puerto Morelos Family Vacation

Let me start out by saying that this will be a very long, photo-heavy post. It is intended to serve as my own personal travel journal and a (hopefully) valuable resource for anyone interested in visiting this part of Mexico with kids. If you’re not me or someone interested in visiting this part of Mexico with kids, then it will probably bore you to tears so bye.

About 6 months ago I read an article about a guy and his quest to find the perfect school for his son. He visited one campus where the parents and potential students spent a day in a mock school day setting. During down time, he asked several students if they had passports. Weird, I thought. Basically, his theory was that no passport meant no travel which meant smaller world view and so on and so on. While I thought it was a ridiculous and pretty condescending thought process, it still gave me the idea to dip our family’s toes in international travel. I initially planned for Playa del Carmen because a) it wasn’t quite as crowded as Cancun and b) I knew several families who had visited and loved it. It didn’t take long to see that it was primarily a resort destination and husband and I wholeheartedly agree that we are not interested in a resort destination. In my search for “non-touristy towns near Playa del Carmen”, I found Puerto Morelos.

Location: PM is about 20 minutes south of Cancun airport and about 40 minutes north of Playa del Carmen

Transportation: I HIGHLY recommend USA Transfers for getting from the airport to your home or hotel and back. They are incredibly fast about responding to any questions you have. The rates are reasonable ($85 roundtrip) and they guarantee timely service. They also provide a car seat upon request.

As for the week, we didn’t rent a car and I’m so glad we didn’t. Roads aren’t the greatest there and the charges for Mexican rental insurance are outrageous. The first few days we walked everywhere (~15 minutes into town). But once we realized a taxi ride was quick (3 minutes) and cheap (25 pesos or about $2 with tip) we were like nah…let’s ride. The taxis are old and don’t have child seats, but I would just hold Parky in my lap and pray for those 3 minutes. We made it.

Temperature: Hot as hell. We weren’t scared because we live in Houston. But this was a whole new level of hot. Not to mention, restaurants and businesses do not have air conditioning. You are always sitting either on the patio or right next to the patio. I will choose patio dining 100% of the time it’s available, so this really wasn’t an issue for me. But expect the kiddos to get pouty about it from time to time.

The Beach: Our house was a block away from the Unico Beach Club, an adorable little bar/restaurant with a thatch roof and bar swings. The water in front of the bar was pretty filled with seaweed but clear and very calm, something about a barrier reef protecting it. Here’s where if you’re visiting Mexico solely for beach purposes (waves and such), you might be better served in a more manicured area like PDC or Cancun. The beach in front of the town square was considerably more clear and free of seaweed and Pelicano’s provides chairs, tables, margaritas and food poisoning for a small fee. We didn’t know about the food poisoning until we ate there several nights after our beach visit. The margaritas were on point, though.

Food: Some of our favorites were El Niche (only open for breakfast and lunch), I Wanna Pizza (gourmet pizza) and Cantina Habanero. El Pirata had great desserts and coffee.

Currency: We debated whether or not we’d use pesos or dollars for a couple of days before the trip. Dollars and check cards seemed far more convenient, but I knew we’d lose a bit by using them and I really was set on the boys learning something new. Good thing because very few businesses accepted cards or US dollars. I had never seen a peso so it was pretty cool for me as well. Pesos are pretty.

This guy maintains the yard and is very skilled at climbing shaky ladders leaned against shaky trees to cut down coconuts. The boys spent a good five minutes ooing and aahing over the fact that JUICE CAME OUT OF THOSE GREEN ROUND THINGS. I spent the next few days wondering if a fallen coconut would take one of us out every time we got in the pool.

The photos below were taken at Crococun Zoo in Puerto Morelos. Definitely recommend it for all ages. Baby wasn’t interested in touching many animals, but I know he loved it because he asked to go back the next day and the next day and the next day. The big building on the right is Pelicano’s. Drink a margarita there. Don’t eat a hamburger there. 

Aside from the pool, this was my favorite feature in the house – a tiny secret garden off the shower in the guest bathroom.

P kept his usual schedule of waking me up just before sunrise so he started every day with a bowl of cereal to hold him until everyone else woke up. 

El Nicho was my favorite spot for breakfast. We had giant belgium waffles with fresh fruit and whipped cream, juice and huevos rancheros for about $25 bucks. Insane. 

They were mad that we chose to walk instead of take a taxi. Stay mad. That’s my dress on his head. I’m going to be really sad when they get too tall for S to throw in the pool. <3

Delphinus World. I understand the issues some of you may have regarding places like this. I get it. I had them too but I also had two cute kids staring at me with longing eyes. And I can’t pretend it’s not something I’d wanted to do as well. But if you DON’T have an issue with it and you plan to take your kids on an excursion like this, I recommend this location over the one at Xcaret. There is SO much ground to cover at Xcaret outside the additional activities like Sea Trek (which husband and big boys did and thoroughly enjoyed) and Dolphin Swim that I would save it for its own day. It’s the same company, so I imagine the program is the same, but I felt like we had a much more relaxed and far less crowded experience going to this site. I can’t say enough good things about the staff, the grounds and the experience as a whole.

I didn’t take my camera to Xcaret but trust me, it was great. My only piece of advice is GO EARLY. We went later in the afternoon knowing we wanted to stay for the night show and thinking that baby would probably have a meltdown if we stayed for 10 hours. But I honestly think he would have been fine because so much they have to offer is in the water. I also recommend getting a seat at the show WAY early.

I really can’t say enough good stuff about Puerto Morelos. It stole our hearts. Well, maybe not the boys’ hearts. They were perfectly happy to come home to high speed internet and SUVs. But this was the first time I felt a real sadness leaving a vacation. I’m incredibly grateful for this past week. Grateful for the opportunity to do things I never thought we’d be able to do and for a husband who trusts me enough to say “take us somewhere cool” and let me do the rest. We’ll be back.