Akumal, Mexico: The Place of the Turtles

Akumal is a short ride from Playa del Carmen, but it's like a different world. The word "Akumal" means "The Place of the Turtles" in Maya. While Playa del Carmen is a lively city on the beach, Akumal is like a sleepy little village. Both have shops, bars, and restaurants, but Akumal's draw is the laid back beach and not the night life. Home to a sea turtle sanctuary, we saw no less than SIX sea turtles, three adults and three cute little juveniles when we were snorkeling there. When I go back to the Riviera Maya, I'll definitely spend more time at Akumal.

To get there from Playa, we walked to a street with some collectivos. We managed to find one that was going south. The collectivo is basically a mini van that goes up and down the highway, stopping at various destinations, depending on where the passengers want to go. It's sort of like a cab and a bus combined, and it was way cheaper than renting a car or getting a private taxi. The collectivo was packed filled with people before we left Playa, and just when I thought we were dropping people off, more people got on. It was squishy and weird but definitely interesting, sort of fun, and cheap. When we finally got to Akumal, the collectivo dropped us off on the highway, and we had to walk to the beach. At first, it was a little confusing because there was so much construction going on. We had to go over a walking bridge, dodge some construction debris, then find this freshly cemented path:Eventually, the path turned green and shady. We stocked up on water and snacks at a little grocery store that had this wooden mermaid hanging in front of it. I love mermaids!

I had a blast shopping at MexicArte, a folk art shop filled with jewelry, ornaments, and art crafted by local artisans. The beach was calm and relaxing.

We picked a shady spot near a palm tree, rented some snorkel equipment right on the beach at Akumal Dive Shop, then swam with a barracuda, some needlefish, French grunts, a bunch of other fish, and sea turtles. What a lovely end to a great trip!

There were quite a few vegan options at the Akumal restaurants, all within walking distance of the beach. The beach bar had veggie burgers, and two more restaurants had veggie options. We settled on the Turtle Bay Cafe.

I had the lentil burger. It was deliciously smothered with beets, carrots, lettuce, hummus and mustard. Yum! All that and a deliciously refreshing limeade for about six US dollars.

I'll definitely go back to Akumal again! Now, I'm off to the Florida Keys. I'll be diving in Key Largo and taking a sunset kayak tour in Key West. More on that soon!

Delicious Vegan Food in Playa del Carmen

For years I've heard that it's hard to be vegan in Mexico. My well-travelled vegetarian friends have told me that "there's no tofu or soymilk in Mexico", "there's lard in everything", and "even if you ask for something without cheese, it will come with cheese because they put it on everything". I didn't want my diet to keep me from enjoying the beaches and incredible scuba diving of the Mayan Riviera. Before leaving for our trip, I tirelessly searched the internet for vegan-friendly options. It sucks to be hungry when your traveling, so I wanted to be prepared. Armed with a list of eight possible restaurants, we confidently made our way through the heart of this fun and quirky beach town. Looking back, two places were our clear favorites: 100% Natural for snacks and light meals, and Babe's for dinner and drinks.

The first day we arrived in Playa del Carmen, we checked into our hotel and walked over to 100% Natural. Since it was so close to where we were staying, and since it offered the most fantastic fresh juices, guacamole, and some tofu options, it became one of our regular stops for the rest of our stay. Most of the seating is outdoors, surrounded by big trees. The weather was perfection: about 75 at night with a slight breeze, 85 during the day. It was a pleasure eating outside!

I loved the prices: this enormous and insanely delicious juice was something like three US dollars. My favorite juice combinations were the California (apple, lemon, orange, and pineapple juices), the Bali (pineapple, lemon, spinach, and orange), and the Oasis (pineapple, strawberry, and orange). 100% Natural also has veggie burgers and a fried veggie/noodle dish with plain silken tofu.

After dinner, we'd walk around Quinta Avenida and wander in and out of all of the little shops.I loved the architecture and laid-back attitude. Though there was no boardwalk, it sort of had a boarwalk-vibe in that there were tons of tourists walking up and down this pedestrian only street just steps from the ocean. Some stores were just crammed with affordable tourist-y trinkets. I loved the bright colors! Other stores sold Mexican art (Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were well-represented on almost everything from magnets to stationary), and still others sold Havaianas and T-shirts. I almost bought one of these jellyfish lamps:Dia de los Muertos figurines were everywhere. This bride and groom were life-sized! The last thing I expected to find was Thai food in Mexico, but we ended up eating some sort of Thai influenced dinner pretty often. Babe's is a noodle bar. That is, they serve delicious noodle dishes and huge, cheap and delicious icy drinks. It's casual, Thai, simple, fresh, and fun. This isn't authentic Mexican food, but it was delicious, cheap, and filling. Our favorites were the spring rolls and the spicy fried tofu.

Speaking of authentic Mexican food, it was kind of hard to find something sin pollo, carne, pescado, huevos and queso. Our one night at an authentic Mexican restaurant was just OK. They put some kind of weird cheese all over the guacomole and the fried veggies and rice were just mediocre.

Prepared for the worst, I actually packed some food and made sure our hotel had a kitchen. This worked out really well, we were able to cook and save some money. Plus, it was so convenient to store last night's leftovers in the fridge, then heat them up for lunch the next day in the microwave. Breakfast usually consisted of tofu scramble or oatmeal. I brought silken tofu, tofu scramble mix, and little oatmeal packets.

There was a Starbucks right around the corner from where we were staying, and while we totally supported Java Joe's often for delicious espresso, it's worth noting that the Playa Starbucks has soymilk!

In my next post, I'll write about Akumal...land of many sea turtles and more great vegan food!

Upcoming Trip: Scuba in the Florida Keys

I'll be heading off to visit the coral reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in a few short weeks. Before I go, I plan on writing more about my time in Mexico. I have more to tell about vegan options in Playa del Carmen and snorkeling with sea turtles in Akumel. Is it just me or did March fly by? Look for more about Mexico in the next few days!

Scuba Adventures in the Riviera Maya

As I re-read and reviewed my PADI diver's manual on the plane, any nervousness I had about breathing 50 feet under water quickly was replaced with excitement. I couldn't wait to actually start diving! I love the ocean, and I was so happy when the realization finally sunk in that I was going to be able to explore it underwater for an extended period of time.

After arriving at the airport in Cancun, finding transportation to our hotel, and checking in, our first day in Playa del Carmen was primarily spent exploring. We walked to the beach and along Quinta Avenida, a pedestrian only street filled with little shops and restaurants. The next day, my scuba adventures began.

The ocean's currents were just too strong for novices that day, so we drove to a cenote with our dive instructor. The Yucatan is filled with cenotes, most of which are found in caves or completely underground. My first diving experience was in the Cenote El Jardin del Eden, a great place to refresh the skills I learned in a pool back home.

Part of this cenote was completely in a cave, and part of it was open. We had to stay in the open area since you need special training to dive in a cave. We saw a bunch of divers training to do just that as we were getting our equipment ready. After a seated entry off a little dock, we were ready to go under!

The water was cool but comfortable since we were wearing full wetsuits. The visibilty was perfect (though not so much when we beginners started kicking up algae when we lost control of our buoyancy a few times). It was so fun to swim by green, algae covered rocks and tree roots with these cool, silvery fish with iridescent fins. I think the peaceful sounds of inhaling through my tank, then exhaling bubbles has to be one of my new favorites. (The cenote fish photo was borrowed from http://alanformstone.com/pics/ponderosa_jun_04.html).

The next day, thankfully, an ocean dive was in order. The cenote was fun, but I wanted salt and currents and waves! We packed our group and our equipment onto a tiny little boat docked right at the each, and off we went, hurtling over the waves to Sabalos Reef and Barracuda Reef. The sun was hot, the water was warm, and I couldn't wait to go under!

It was quite a challenge donning the necessary equipment on a tiny, cramped boat. After a safety check, we sat on the edge, put a hand over our mask and regulator, and fell backwards into the deep blue. We used a line to control our descent. This helped me a great deal with some equalizing issues I was having in the cenote. You're supposed to equalize the pressure in your ears every few feet, and I found it was easier to do that when holding a rope.

Eventually, we made it to the sandy bottom and let go of the rope. We neutralized our bouyancy, making us essentially weightless and floating, and off we went to explore the gorgeous reef. We drifted by an amazing shelf filled with purple sea fans that waved back and forth in the current. We swam by corals, anemones, and huge sponges. The blue was everywhere, the water temperature was so perfect, and the peaceful bubble sound I loved had me smiling so much that my mask kept filling up with water. I'm glad they had us practice mask clearing so much!

The reef was so colorful: red, orange, yellow, green, and purple everywhere there wasn't blue. It was like floating through an enchanted alien forest. We met a big, dark lobster hiding in the crevices of the reef moving about his antennae. There was a sponge so big I could comfortably fit my whole arm inside it. The sea fans moved so elegentaly and effortlessly back and forth, slowly with the current. I heard a metallic tapping when our dive instructor spotted a beautiful hawksbill turtle, swam over to it and watched it eat. A spotted moray eel curled into a hiding spot nearby.

Eventually, the last dive was over and we followed our bubbles up to the surface. There was a scary moment when we realized we drifted so far from where we initially started, that we couldn't see the boat at all. It was just us bobbing over the waves, no boat in sight. I half thought we might have to swim to the shore, and I thanked my lucky stars that the shore was in site. Thankfully, we were spotted over the waves somehow. The tiny boat picked us out of the strengthening current, and we were returned safely to the beach.

Now that I'm officially certified, I can't wait to go diving again!!!

More turtles, scuba, snorkeling, and vegan food coming soon!

I've been a little delayed in writing about my recent trip to the Riviera Maya. I'll write all about getting scuba certified in a couple of days. I miss it already! It's too cold in NJ.