After 3 trips to all inclusives at Playa del Carmen (PDC), we decided to try something different this time. On our last trip to PDC we stepped into a real-estate agency on 5th avenue. They were showcasing an area of Mexico called Costa Maya. Cheap real-estate, awesome beaches, once in a lifetime opportunity. Sounded good to me. I've always been drawn to the ocean, and have dreamed of living on the beach. I guess I started planning the trip last December, after returning from PDC. I found a couple of web forums that revolved around life in Mahahual & Xcalak areas. I stayed in tune to the forums frequently, and in September, the trip was booked for October 16th. We would fly to Cancun, rent a car, drive to Mahahual and stay at Mayan Beach Gardens for 3 days. Then drive south to Xcalak for 3 days and stay at Tierra Maya. The last night would be spent in PDC for a short drive to the airport on our final day. We booked through Bill in Tulsa.
After just 4 hrs of sleep, the adventure started at 2am Saturday morning. We
drove 21/2 hrs from our home to Pearson International Airport in Toronto. And
took the 6:10am flight to Cancun
.
We arrived in Cancun just after 10am local time, breezed through customs, picked up our 2 small suitcases and got the "green light". Although we knew that the exchange wouldn't be as good, we did exchange some US$ for pesos at the airport, just because it was convenient. Surprisingly, I was even able to negotiate a slightly better rate. I expected a few bumps in my plan, and the rental of a car was the "topes" (speed bump in Mexico). We had a reservation for a small Nissan with Executive car rental. When we cleared customs and approached the car rental counters, there was no one at the Executives counter. Apparently he had gone for lunch (at 10:30 am!). We waited 20 mins, as we were in an easy come- easy go state of mind. Still no show. The rep for National offered to rent us a car a couple of counters down, and we struck a deal on a VW Pointer. They shuttled us over to the lot, and they did the paper work. "Where are you going" he asked..."Mahahual". "Are you going on the beach road", he asks..."Yes". To make a long story/price negotiation short, we pulled out in a Jeep Wrangler. And we were on our way.
Oh my...I'm actually driving in Mexico
!
I have to admit, I was nervous, as driving is a bit different down there. When
someone comes up from behind you, you are actually in charge of whether they
pass you or not. If the way is clear, you put on your left flasher, and pull
over and drive on the right shoulder. The flasher indicates to them that it
is safe to pass. There was a few times that we were 4 cars wide on a 2 lane
hwy. As oddly as this sounds to North Americans, the system works quite well,
once you get used to it.
While passing through PDC, the sky opened up
.
It seemed like we where driving through a water fall. In PDC they have curbs
alone the hwy., but no drains. So, the water is contained, except at the intersections
where it really flowed like a river. In this picture, we where driving through
about 7 inches of water. At this point we were glad they talked us into the
Jeep, as small cars were stalling randomly. This was the worst of the weather,
as it rained on and off all the way down on our 41/2 hr drive to Costa Maya.
Although there is a Costco in Cancun, and a Sams Club, and huge grocery stores
in PDC. I figured why complicate things. I planned at stopping in Tulum at a
fairly new San Francisco's grocery store. It's a very easy in, easy out location.
We purchased some bottled water, a jug of water, some beverages, snacks, and
a cooler and ice. Btw, the Jalapeno chips are awesome (with Dos X
)!
Tulum looks to be growing at a fast rate. They are redoing the streets and there
are many shops along the streets.
Once you pass through Tulum, this is pretty much the way it is (above picture). We passed through Carrillo Puerto (gas stop), and Limones. Both are small, and typical of what I expected a real Mexican town (non tourist) to be like. We made our turn 4km south of Limones, off of 307 and headed towards the coast. As expected, the sky started to clear as we moved closer to the ocean breeze. At the army check point they waved us through. I later learned that the army is paid by the US government to stop the flow of drugs towards the US, that may enter along the coast. We hung a left after the check point and headed towards Mayan Beach Gardens in Placer.
At Mayan Beach Gardens (MBG), we where greeted by Marcia, the owner. We had joked on the way down that we'll likely be the only ones there, as it was the low season and the destination is not so typical. Yep, you guessed it, we were their only guests that week. Marcia lead us to the beach front unit that was closest to the water. They have 6 beach front units in all. Normally, I would have been overwhelmed by the setting, but by the time we had arrived, we had been on a plane or driven for 14 hrs straight. We where like zombies! It wasn't until the next morning that the WOW factor of MBG really hit.
Sunrise view from our room
When you step out this door, you suddenly realize that you would never really miss the snow of the Canadian winters.
Our room from the waters edge.
View from Kim's new rooftop lounge.
Mayan Beach Gardens is a jewel. Great location, and the owner's, Kim & Marcia, and the staff are awesome. The price was only $60 / night! MBG is powered by solar, no electricity yet (but any week now, lol). The rain water is collected and pumped to the roof tank to run the sink & shower. This system, which is in use at all the places along the coast works great, and the bonus is no monthly utility bill. The grounds are groomed, and planted with palms and others that compliment the buildings. Over the 3 days, we ate most of our meals at here. The banana pancakes, the shrimp pasta, and that chocolate desert...to die for! We pretty much hammered Kim & Marcia with questions about real-estate and living in Costa Maya. I highly recommend a stay here. We'll be back next year.
We pretty much traveled the entire beach road from Rio Indio to the Sian Ka'an. Walking along many a jungle trail to secluded beaches.
This tree wasn't here across the road in the morning when we left. Apparently
the rental car companies frown on people that return the cars with scratches
down each side, lol. So, I decided to break off about 3 feet of branches to
get by. This picture was taken by Tracy who kept the AC running while I worked.
Thanks Trace! The temperature difference between being on the ocean and back
near the jungle is staggering. Ok, so while breaking branches, I recalled reading
a story written by Cliff
Evans from his enjoyable series of reports (I guess world famous, as I read
them from Canada) "South of Town". The topic was Chechen trees. I
thought to myself wouldn't that be funny if this was a Chechen tree. Chechen
pretty much has the same effect as our poison ivy, which I soon learned. Yep,
out of all the trees and plants in the Mexican jungle, I touched Chechen!!!
Nice
. Fortunately, I only
had it on my hands. With the help of the Chaka leaf, and some really good cortisone
cream, I was better....in a week. In case you're wondering what that big clump
is..Yep, it's a termite nest.
It was incredible to look as far south, then as far north as you could see,
and there were no houses, and no people. Sure no one had raked this beach for
a thousand years or so, but, we somehow convinced ourselves to go swimming anyway
Unfortunately this beach was
not within our price range. 
On our last day at MBG we took a short trip into Mahahual. There were 3 cruise
ships scheduled that day, and 2 the next. We talked ourselves into the terminal
in order to see JR Smith, who works for Trans Carribean Trust. JR is a very
knowledgable guy, and I would highly recommend him, if looking for property.
Now once inside the cruise ship terminal, we quickly noticed the contrast between
the type of trip we were on, and the type of trip that some of the cruise people
were on. Although we're still in our thirties, I felt like a senior suddenly
finding themselves in the middle of springbreak
.
We traveled south of Mahahual a few km, and had lunch at a great little Italian/steak house. A great steak at only $10. This little critter, known as a Coatimundi climbed down a rope from the roof above, for a bite of my garlic bread.
After a great 3 days at Mayan Beach Gardens, we were off to Xcalak, 70 km to the south and about only 25km from Belize.
The town having received electricity for the first time ever, a few months ago, is known as a fishing village with a population of about 300. It was great to see the people and places that I had read so much about in the forums. Marina Mikes, XTC, the house formerly known as DolphInn, Alan's camp ground (unfortunately the timing didn't allow us to attend the famous BBQ, so we didn't get to meet Alan or Cliff). However, I did spend an enjoyable afternoon in the shade with John & Danice who had driven their trailer down from western Canada earlier in the year.
We stayed 3 days at Tierra Maya. They have 6 ocean front units very nicely decorated inside and out. The beach front restaurant is very cool, and the food was amazing. I enjoyed getting up with the sun, and sitting out on the end of the dock watching all the fish, and the "diving dog". The driving dog, resident of Tierra Maya, apparently is into shell collecting. It was pretty funny, he would do the dog paddle while searching the sandy bottom, then, just flip and dive down to retrieve his prize. Tom & Yamira run a quality hotel at a great price - $60/ night including breakfest.
From the dock, sunrise at Tierra Maya.
Breakfast on the beach at Tierra Maya.
We met up with Andy Sanders, who took us for a day tour of the area. Along the way we saw lots of cool scenery. Ruth made us lunch at their beach front restaurant. The rumors are true, Ruth is an amazing cook. Andy & Ruth run a hotel, and also sell real-estate. We learned a lot from them, and highly recommend Andy as a well trusted real-estate consultant.
Iguana on the rocks at the road side.
Fresh water jelly fish in the lagoon.
Andy & Ruth's back yard!
Our journey to Costa Maya came to an end. We had decided to spend the last night closer to the airport. So off to PDC we headed. On the way out we stopped at the army check point. My Spanish is almost non existent, so, luckily I had a "Molson Canadian" beer tee-shirt on to identify me accurately as a Canadian citizen, lol. They took a quick look through the vehicle, and we were off.
Spotted another Coatimundi on our drive out.
We cruised back up to Playa del Carmen (PDC) without any problem. We didn't have reservations, so we decided to pull up to the Gran Porto Real hotel (and new sister hotel across the road) to see if they had a room for our last night in Mexico. SOLD OUT! Both places. So we decided to walk down the street and try our luck at some of the other nicer hotels like the Blue Parrot and Playa Maya. We lucked out and got the last room at the Blue Parrot Inn. The room wasn't ready yet, and it seemed to take the cleaning staff forever, but once we got in, we were very happy with the room at $105.00. It had been only a year since we'd been to PDC, but the changes were plentiful. New buildings, new hotels, new restaurants. And why is it so busy for the off season? I have to admit, after being in Costa Maya, it seemed too busy. And we were already missing Mayan Beach Gardens and Tierra Maya.
We spent the afternoon enjoying our favorite PDC beach & playing in the waves, just north of the new ferry dock. Enjoyed the pool. And a great dinner at Captain Bob's on 5th Avenue.
The next morning we checkout out of the Blue Parrot Inn, fueled up the Jeep, and headed for the airport. Returning the Jeep was smooth, until I discovered that I lost my Visa card. I figured I left it at the checkout at the Blue Parrot. Fortunately, Tracy had hers and we paid for the rental. A couple of National employees drove us to the airport. It had been an uneventful trip with us driving approximately 1000 km. Then with an experienced Mexican driver, when almost to the airport, we narrowly miss getting slammed from the side. "Gringo drivers" I said, getting a big laugh from our Mexican escorts. They dropped us at the door, and we walked up and checked in, avoiding huge lineups, as it was just before the resort buses pulled up to fill the room. I used the pay phone to make a $47 call to cancel the lost Visa card and we were on our way home. As always, it was nice to get home, but, somehow we had left part of ourselves back in those small towns of Mahahual & Xcalak. This was likely one of the best trips we've been on. I expect us to return to Costa Maya frequently to find even more magic in our adventure.