Crowd free Cancun

Our Central American vacation is done and dusted. Last Sunday, we flew from Panama City to Cancun, Mexico. Since then, we've spent our time lounging by the pool and swimming in a surprisingly warm ocean. As you’ll have read in earlier posts, I took a day trip to Coba and Tulum while Garry soaked up more UV. We then spent two days in Chichen Itza, before returning to Cancun for a final night.  

Getting here was half the fun. Our route from Panama to Mexico was far from direct. Our ticket restricts us to airlines within the One World alliance, so we flew to Cancun via Miami. Our American Airlines flight from Panama City departed shortly after 2:30 pm. We arrived in Miami shortly before 6:20 pm and transferred onwards to Cancun. We finally landed in Mexico at about 8:30 pm, an hour after sunset. Naturally, our transit through Miami involved the usual immigration charade American authorities love.

Flying out of Panama City was memorable. I’d completely forgotten that it sits on the Pacific coast. We’d originally flown in after dark so we never saw the isthmus bridging two continents. However, our departing flight crossed it in broad daylight. It's surprising just how narrow this strip of land really is. Our plane was still climbing as the Caribbean coast came into view.

As we flew out of Panama City rows of ships were anchoring off the coast waiting to transit the Panama Canal. Dozens of vessels were visible from the air. Unfortunately, my hastily snapped photos failed to capture everything. However, if you look carefully at the image above you’ll see two flotillas at anchor separated by a channel leading into the canal.

Our home away from home in Cancun has been The Westin Resort. It was the perfect hotel for a relaxing beach vacation. It’s located at the southern end of Cancun’s gently arcing white sand beach stretching 13km down the Caribbean coast. Every morning we woke to a stunning ocean view. 

The hotel’s location was a godsend. Cancun’s intensive tourism infrastructure is concentrated to the north in what’s known as the Hotel Zone. You’ll find a relentless cavalcade of American fast-food chains, bars and chaotic traffic here. Think Hooters and McDonalds. There’s very little that’s distinctly Mexican (and local Taco Bell wannabes really don’t count). Contrast this with the Westin. It’s effectively the final hotel along the coast. As a result, there’s limited road traffic, no shopping mall, and fewer people on the beach.

We also discovered something special in the sand dunes nearby. Apparently, turtles still venture out of the sea to lay eggs above the high tide zone overnight. Local volunteers retrieve them the following morning and transfer them to a fenced-off zone in the dunes next to our hotel. We never saw any turtles, but it’s kind of cool to think that there was a turtle nursery right next door.

We ventured out for lunch earlier in the week. However, the experience wasn't exactly memorable thanks to the traffic chaos and jostling throngs of people. Our meal was also nothing special. In fact, the most authentic meal I've eaten was at a roadside cafe during my Coba tour. I enjoyed a classic Mexican Chicken Mole for lunch made with hot chillies, dark chocolate, spices, and tomatillos. Yes, you read that correctly. Chocolate in its raw, unsweetened form is a bitter ingredient that gives the sauce an earthy base.

Our final night in Cancun, after returning from Chichen Itza, was back at the Westin. Sadly, the hotel booked us into a dungeon-like ground-floor room without a view. Although, on a positive note, it was abnormally spacious and comfortably air conditioned, perfect for watching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony live on TV. There we were, two Australian citizens, sitting in Mexico, watching live events in China. We’re now in LA, having flown here via Dallas. Later tonight we fly to Auckland. How small the world has become.