Our time in Puerto Morelos was pretty laid back. Using the words of our friends, Puerto Morelos is basically the retirement destination for European expatriates.  We stayed in an Airbnb in a new development. It was on the north side of town away from the beach. It had security guards, was super spacious and a great deal! The complex also had a pool which was fun to swim in one evening after all our other activities. If you have a rental car, it’s a great option. It’s a short drive from the beach and still safe. These are all cell phone / water camera pictures because we just had too much fun to drag the big camera around!

Fresh Water Cenotes

Visit a Cenote. Puerto Morelos is a HUGE hub for Cenotes and other activities. Take La Ruta de los Cenotes out and hit up a few! We were surprised at how prices had gone up since our friends visited last time. We went to Cenote Verde Lucero. The price was still up there, but they had a great place for hanging out, places to jump off platforms, and a zipline that ended in the water. It was not the most picturesque cenote, but it had a great vibe, and we would absolutely go again. We spent about 3 hours and you could easily spend more. We found that nearly all the cenotes closed by 5pm. Keep this in mind when planning your day!

low-key eateries

1. Eat at La Petita En La Playita. Super yummy steak tacos! The green salsa they put on the table though is really super spicy so beware.
2. Try the pizza at the restaurant next to Tacos.com . One pizza can easily feed 4 people. The fresh strawberry smoothies were AMAZING.
3. If you’re not staying at an all inclusive resort, do some grocery shopping at the Super Chedraui. It was surprisingly easy to find familiar food when you’ve *gasp* eaten too many tacos.

Activities (besides beaches and cenotes)

1. Swim out to Ojo de Agua and see the ocean cave. There are signs right off the main drive that leads you to the beach. Take a walk down the beach and you’ll find a roped off section and lifeguard towers. The cave/opening is located under one of the white buoys off the shore.
2. Croco Cun Zoo. This was SO much fun! I highly recommend spending the money to visit the zoo. Our tour guide was great and let us spend extra time around all the animals. He was so knowledgeable. He taught us about all the animals they have in rehabilitation, as well as those ‘wild ones’ that we came across. They have monkeys who live at the zoo, but aren’t actually part of the zoo that followed us around and that was really fun. I got to hold a baby crocodile (2 years old) and I got mad respect for how muscular they are.
3. Trip down for a day in Playa del Carmen and eat at La Vagabunda.

Notes About Driving in Puerto Morelos:

1. Mexico has tons of “topes” or speedbumps everywhere! Some are marked and some are not, and they aren’t fun to hit when you’re going too fast. We started making it almost a game to yell out “topes” in case the driver didn’t see them.
2. Stop signs are more like yield signs so beware of other drivers! There are also several 4 way intersections where NO ONE has a stop or yield sign.
3. Keep and eye out for pedestrians. We found that locals and tourists alike would cross without paying attention.

Would I go back?

Yes I would! The beaches in Puerto Morelos were my least favorite because of the seaweed. However, we were able to do a lot more relaxing here and have lazy days on the beach which I enjoyed. There is tons to explore also and dozens of Cenotes within a 30 minute drive! I would definitely go back to explore more cenotes and visit the zoo again. For picturesque beaches, I would recommend Cancun or Isla Mujeres over Puerto Morelos. But this pier view is pretty cool too!