2nd Anniversary Trip to Mexico

For our second wedding anniversary we went to Mexico for a week. Before our trip I was working really long hours and beyond stressed, so this trip came at the perfect time. I'm not sure if it was the timing of the trip, or the location, but I think Mexico may have been one of our favorite places so far!

As they say, marriage is all about compromise, and this trip was no different. For the first part of the week, we stayed in Puerto Morelos, a sleepy little fishing town about 30 minutes south of Cancun. For the second part of the week, we stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Akumal. I'll let you guess who picked which location...

Puerto Morelos was great for relaxing! We stayed at Rancho Sak-ol. It's not overly fancy, but it's a great locally-owned place for an affordable price with a great staff in a fantastic location. We had an ocean view from our room, hammocks on our porch, and had breakfast waiting for us in the palapa area each morning. It was also just a short walk to the "downtown" area. We had a rental car for this portion of the trip to get us from the airport to the hotel and to a couple of sites we wanted to see, but we rarely used the car to get to the downtown area because it was such an easy walk.

The water is absolutely beautiful in Mexico so we stayed close by the majority of the trip. Upon our arrive in Puerto Morelos we booked a snorkeling trip which I highly recommend. It was a fun trip out on the boat and we were able to see a lot of cool things while snorkeling. Just a warning -- the sun is extremely intense in Mexico. We put on a ton of sunscreen but still got more sun than we wanted.

Puerto Morelos has a cute "downtown" area right on the ocean. We spent a lot of time in this area because our hotel wasn't really conducive for laying out or swimming. It was kind of rocky and not as beautiful as the downtown spot. There are also a lot of great restaurants in this area. We had a ton of amazing guacamole with every meal and great local beer!

One day while we were downtown we got handed a flyer for a local "Mayan jungle market" taking place the next day, so we decided to check it out. It was a compound-type area in an out-of-the-way place where a group of Mayan women lived. They had local food, jewelry, artwork and even an interpretive-type performance. It was a great opportunity to be among the locals. While we were there, we learned the local Mayan women offer massages, so we booked one on our anniversary; it was probably the best massage we've had to-date.

While we were in Puerto Morelos we took a day trip to Tulum to see the mayan ruins. The Tulum Ruins are the only ones located on the coast and it was an amazing site to see. We even took a swim in the ocean with the ruins towering over us; it was an incredible experience.

When we left the ruins we ate at El Paraiso Beach Club. It was located literally right at the ocean -- our toes were in the white sand and we had an awesome view. We also had some of the best ceviche we've ever had. After a great meal and a cocktail, we headed to the Hidden World Cenotes. Cenotes are deep water-filled sinkholes in limestone. We took a "jungle buggy" through the jungle to get to the cenotes, and then got to snorkel in the sinkholes. It too was a very cool experience.

The next day was our anniversary so we checked out of Rancho Sak-Ol and headed to the Mayan compound for our massage. We then dropped off our rental car in Playa Del Carmen and explored the area a bit. I'd definitely consider this town more touristy than Puerto Morelos, but it was a neat area to check out. We were then driven to Akumal where we checked into our all-inclusive resort Grand Oasis Riviera Maya. We booked through http://www.allinclusiveoutlet.com/, the same place we booked our Jamaica trip and were not disappointed. It was a fantastic resort -- when we stepped out of our room we were in the white sand and had a fantastic view of the ocean. There were several great restaurants and a beautiful infinity pool. They also had really comfortable lounge-type beds for laying out.

The staff was great also. When we made our reservations for dinner, Brian mentioned it was our anniversary. When we arrived, they greeted me with a rose, had flowers on our table, and brought us a huge cake that said "Feliz Aniversario"! They certainly went out of their way to make us feel special.

For the next few days we just did a lot of relaxing, eating, and drinking, all typical activities of an all-inclusive resort!

It was a fantastic vacation with a nice mix of a quiet, laid back, rustic experience and an all-inclusive, pampering experience. We both enjoyed each part of the week and left (reluctantly) feeling refreshed!