Saturday, 16 November 2019: Playa Del Carmen

Yesterday was a crazy morning trying to get out of the house around to get into Merida around 8am.  You know we are necer on time. Buen Fin started today.  We wanted to check out Sam’s and Costco before heading to Home Depot.  We had a huge list of things we want/need from Home Depot but when we got there, we determined that everything could wait until Monday when we return.  This meant that Mimi didn’t have to wait forever and we could be on our way to Playa Del Carmen. The drive wasn’t overly exciting or scenic but the roads were excellent.

Check in at our Air BnB went smoothly. Julia was delightful.  When we asked about when to go for snorkeling, she not only gave us a map with the best spot marked but she also bought masks for us to borrow.  

Walking around after dinner we found the beach “closed” so we explored along 5th Avenue before retiring for the evening.

We saw this coming out of the Xcarat resort. 

 I doubt well be able to replicate it, but it was cool.  

Mimi had meetings this morning.  Work complete, we were bound for her dancy, dancy Xcarat hotel about ten minutes south.  The grounds were lovely and Justin and I got a few ideas for the hospitality side of Casa Colibri.  Next, we continued south to Xpu-ha to go snorkeling.  The reef is quite close to the shore at that spot — maybe 150 meters.  






We found a beach restaurant/resort area and got a table/bed on the first row.  We had snacks and drinks before and after snorkeling.  As beautiful as it was, when I realized there were three different boom boxes vying for my listening pleasure, and I really didn't like any of the music, it confirmed that this beach scene isn't for me.  As beautiful as it was, I much prefer my sleepy deserted beach.

Later, back in town, we went to a little Caribbean restaurant for dinner.  We wondered if it was a gay bar, but since our seafood paella was good and the margaritas were inexpensive, we didn’t spend too much time worrying. Yes, paella again. To round off our day we had ice cream as we strolled along 5th Avenue taking in the vibe of the city.  I found a red leather purse and a fun little sun dress that had my name on it.  We also found a French bakery and picked up goodies for tomorrow's breakfast.