Never been to Mexico. Can't speak Spanish. All-inclusives and big resorts have no appeal. But we needed to escape WINTER. Found Puerto Morelos. It was lovely. Found a nice condo on a clean beach to rent. Strolled south on the beach every night to eight different restaurants (among lots of choices) for dinner. All of these were in and around a town square filled with local families and kids enjoying the warm spring evening. Only encountered friendly people. Used excellent public transit. Found plenty of interesting things to do (The Jungle Spa, Ecab Explorer Coba tour, and The Little Mexican Cooking School were all fantastic.) Did day trips to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Isla Mujeres and appreciated the return every evening to PM. Won't be returning to Hawaii anytime soon....

Puerto Morelos is a little fishermen town between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. There is nothing much to do there except for shortening and visiting the local fish restaurants.
But we were lucky and we witnessed the annual Fishing Championships.... there were so many people and so much caught fish. It was very beautiful to watch.

Of course, it depends what you are looking for. Puerto Morelos is a little town, not a lot of shops, restaurants or hotels. The local fisherman go out of the town pier and it's frequented by many locals. It's not swank, maybe even bordering on seedy. But it's what I like. No one on the beach will try to sell you anything or offer to braid your hair. The shops are pretty low pressure and some of the restaurants and shops, many in fact, don't take credit cards. They may speak no English or only a little. But there are ATMs in town and the food is good and cheap and you can see many of the locals working on the crafts they sell here. You can sit in the street and watch the kids come home from school and play in the town square and the families run around at night. It feels safe and welcoming.

Of particular note, enjoy "Dive in Puerto Morelos", where I've now been twice, and had a fantastic time diving at the local reefs which are beautiful, and especially the C56 wreck where we saw countless eagle rays.

I particularly liked the little "mall" called the Plaza D' Cesar Local, which has about 5 or 6 shops inside. In one corner, there were wonderful leather goods and beautiful local crockery. Across the way, my favorite shop, run by Abraham Gomez and his wife (and their little daughter, Miranda is so cute). It's Artesanias El Mexicano, and Abraham and his wife make some of the goods and buy the rest from locals. And they do take credit cards! Abraham paints some beautiful paintings in the local style on bark paper (hint: don't call it bark on your customs form or they will inspect it for bugs and anyway it's just homemade paper). Sra. Gomez embroiders beautiful pillows. And they have some lovely locally woven rugs and blankets and other crafts of all kinds. They both speak pretty good English too and will give you a great deal. Also a place in the front with dresses and blouses and an ice cream shop there.

You can stay in town or just on the edge of town like we did, at Ceiba del Mar. But if you are looking for something more like the real Mexico than you will see in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, and if you want a quiet little town, this is your place. If you want to party and be loud, don't come here.

In fact, just don't come here so it stays as unspoiled as it is. Shhh, don't tell anyone about it.

Tucked between the high rise hotels of Cancun and the swanky resorts of the Mayan Riviera is the authentic Mexican town of Puerto Morelos, and it's only 10 kilometers from Cancun International. This quaint fishing village has somehow resisted development and encroachment of the big resorts and retained it's reputation as the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet's "Margarittaville". After having spent three weeks touring around the Yucatan, my wife and i spent the last tree days in the small seaside Hotel Ojo de Agua. The rooms were clean, spare, and the a/c worked (but no refrigerator). The attached restaurant was very good and the staff friendly. Tour boats left from the hotel beach to take us out to the spectacular reefs only 600 meters from the shore, at a cost of only $50 per person. The town has several good restaurants; Pelicanos, Hola Asia, and the American Cafe to name a few. Our favorite restaurant, however, was Cantina Habanero, run by an ex-pat and his Mexican wife. They serve the tastiest grouper and coldest beer in the entire coast. Puerto Morelos is the Mayan coast of fifty years ago with the conveniences of today and half the expense of Cancun or Playa del Carmen. Go see for yourselves.