Snorkeling & Shopping - Puerto Morelos & Downtown PDC

Today was an early rise, but for good reason-we were going on a half-day snorkel trip to Puerto Morelos! PM was only about a 20 minute drive, so we'd be back before lunch to enjoy some time at the resort during our last (sad face!) day.

A little side note about booking this trip. We found a bunch of great deals on snorkeling tours online before we left. But because we wanted to leave some flexibility in our schedule, we decided to hold off booking until we were down in Mexico. I figured prices would be cheap and tours would be plentiful. Not quite...we haggled the Apple Vacations rep at the Iberostar to sell us the half-day tour for $59. Had we booked online, the cost would've been approximately $35 and there would have been more amenities. Lesson learned!

Sydne ready to snorkel!

A bus picked us up and drove us to a quaint beach resort. We got set up with lifejackets, flippers, and masks. There was a 30 peso "reef preservation" fee because the reef at PM is declared a National Marine Park. This means it is less visited and therefore healthier than the large reef in Cancun. Its usage has been highly controlled-so much that only biodegradable sunscreen was allowed in the waters to protect the coral. Our sunscreen didn't meet the requirements, but we decided not to purchase any because we wouldn't be out during peak sun hours. Though I will definitely pick some up before my next snorkel excursion.

Eventually we hopped on a speed boat and went to our first of two stops. We jumped off the boat and followed one of the guides around the reef. Because the reef is a National Park, the snorkel guides must be certified by park authority. Consequently, they were very knowledgeable and made it a point to let us know what to look for in the waters.

The water at the first stop was deep and fairly rocky. I'm pretty sure I took at least 3 huge gulps of salt water. However, the reef was beautiful and diverse, and included many species of coral and fish. We even saw a stingray (unfortunately didn't catch this on the GoPro)! After swimming around for about 45 minutes, we boarded the boat and headed to another, shallower part of the reef where we spent a while snorkeling in similar water. I found this part of the reef to be more intriguing, with larger coral formations and more colorful fish. The shallow water did make me nervous at times...I was afraid I was going to scrape the edges of the coral so I made sure to suck it in when possible ;)

The snorkel trip was fantastic and we both had a wonderful time. Back at the resort, the sun was struggling to come out, but we made the most of our final few hours on the beach. The plan for the rest of the day was to catch the shuttle into downtown PDC to do a little shopping on 5th Avenue, and then enjoy our other specialty dinner reservation at the resort. Dressed and ready to go, we decided to take a pit stop by the pool to say goodbye to some of our Star Friends. One of our favorites, Yeya (the "Mexicoma" lady), had her day off, so that was a bit of a bummer. But we got to say goodbye to our other two favorites, Dario and Cesar. Dario, front and center of the picture below, was the Emcee at most of the pool games and nightly shows. Not only did he have one of those "announcer voices," he could also speak Spanish, English, Italian, French, and I'm sure some other languages. Cesar, next to Sydne, was crazy and hilarious and always "neighed" like a horse whenever we walked by..not sure why. After pictures finished up, we realized that we were about to miss the shuttle to PDC. Good thing we had connections-Cesar called the front desk and had them hold the bus for us! We sprinted up to the front of the resort so the bus wouldn't have to wait for long.

Sydne and I with some of our Star Friends-Javier, Dario, and Cesar

5th Avenue was bustling as usual. Both of us bought a few things for ourselves, family, and friends. (I'll discuss my favorite purchases in my next post.) We also got to stop by 'Ah Cacao' Chocolate Cafe for their famous hot chocolate, widely recommended in online blogs. Hands down, best hot chocolate I've ever had...super rich and just devine. And pretty too! Mine was the one with the cute little dog :)

Me, very happy at dinner!

We made it back to the resort just in time for our dinner reservations at the Mediterranean restaurant, La Dorada. Mediterranean normally wouldn't be my first choice, but I saw so many positive reviews online that we had to try it. And wow, I'm SO glad that we did! It was by far our best meal all week. We started out with wine and a buffet of heavy hors d'oeuvres: prosciutto, eggplant, cheeses, breads, and more. 

Dinner was what stole the show. Our tactic was to order the two best-sounding meals (it was so difficult to pick!), eat half of one meal, and then swap plates. Pictured left was Sydne's choice, the Surf and Turf with lobster tail and shrimp. My choice, picture right, was the pork tenderloin in a tasty mushroom and wine glaze. The best part was the side of gnocchi in a parmesan cream sauce. Heaven!



Even though we were so full from dinner, we managed to make it over to our final nightly show, which was a plethora of comedy and dance acts. The professional dancers did an awesome rendition of Gangnam Style, which was a highlight of the show. As always, we really enjoyed the performances. Afterwards, we were pulled up to do a few line dances on stage (the Wobble, Cupid Shuffle, etc). It was fun since we actually knew what we were doing, but when the time was right, we discreetly exited from the stage and grabbed drinks at the bar. That's when a lot of the show cast members started dancing, which was very entertaining and impressive to watch from afar. Then the worst happened. My bachata dance partner from Saturday walked over to our table, grabbed my hand, and said he wanted me to come salsa. Salsa...ok...I learned that one Monday at the pool I think, and from what I remember, I was pretty decent. I was hesitant to go up on stage with the professionals but realized he wasn't taking no for an answer. While Sydne watched (and laughed probably), I went up with him to dance and tried to recall the moves I had learned at the pool. After a few wrong turns and steps (by me), let's just say it wasn't going well. While I had learned a beginner's salsa, this guy was assuming I could follow his lead and do an advanced version. He was wrong. He also poked fun at the guy who taught me how to salsa by the pool, saying "He doesn't know how to dance!" Well I sure as hell didn't either...

Thankfully, it wasn't too long until he dropped me back off with Sydne. It was then back to the room to pack and get some rest for our trip home tomorrow.

Goodbye!