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, I also took a day trip to Coba and Tulum while Garry’s soaked up more UV. We then spent two days in Chichen Itza, before returning to Cancun for a final night.  

Our route to Mexico was far from direct. The Round The World ticket we’ve booked 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 p.m. We arrived in Miami shortly before 6:20 p.m. and transferredp onto our flight to Cancun. We finally landed in Mexico at about 8:30 p.m., an hour after sunset. Naturally, our transfer through Miami involved the usual immigration entry charade American authorities love.

I must confess that I somehow failed to notice that Panama City sits on the Pacific coast. We arrived at night so the winding isthmus was hidden from view. However, our return flight to Miami crossed 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.

The Westin Resort was the perfect hotel for a relaxing beach vacation. It’s located at the southern end of a gently arcing white sand beach that extends 13km along the Caribbean coast. Our room for the week offered a stunning view over the sea. 

Even better, much of the coast’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 few people on the beach beyond guests staying in the hotel.

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 dinner one night earlier in the week. However, the experience wasn't exactly memorable thanks to the traffic chaos and jostling throngs of people. In fact, the most authentic local meal I've eaten so far was lunch at a roadside cafe during my Coba tour. I enjoyed a classic Mexican Chicken Mole 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.

As I noted earlier, we returned to the Westin for our final night in Mexico. 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, which was 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. Later tonight we fly to Auckland after making our way to Los Angeles via Dallas. How small the world has become.