ColoradoGal’s Three Mexico Travel Secrets

Here’s a fun game going around the travel blogosphere that’s the brainchild of Katie at the Tripbase Blog: writers post about three of their “travel secrets,” which will eventually be compiled into one giant Creative Commons list and shared among the community. Each blogger tags five more bloggers to spread the game, literally, around the world.

Melanie of Travels With Two and Hillarye at Dotting the Map tagged me last week, and after thinking this over, I decided to focus on Mexico for my travel secrets. (This could have something to do with the fact that I’m dreaming of my trip to steay Cancun last week while it’s 8 degrees at my Colorado home today.)

Playing with snakes at Crococun Zoo near Puerto Morelos.

My family and I have taken more than a dozen trips south of the border in the last 10 years. Coming from a land-locked state, we crave sun/sand/surf for our annual beach fix. We’ve vacationed in some of Mexico’s major coastal cities — Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Playa del Carmen — but I have fond memories of our stays at some smaller towns outside of these bigger resort areas. In fact, we like to split up our time during a Mexico vacation — perhaps 3 nights at an oceanfront all-inclusive resort and then 3 or 4 nights in a vacation rental in a small town.

Here are three, slightly more off-the-beaten-path (but by no means remote) locales in Mexico I’d recommend:

Puerto Morelos: Just 20 minutes south of Cancun, this small fishing village feels worlds away; this is where the Riviera Maya (which stretches down the coast to Tulum) begins in the north. We spent our time in Puerto Morelos lolling on the beach in front of our condo, which was within walking to the the lively town square, lined with a spot to get ice cream (which we did at least once daily), a bookstore owned by ex-pats, and a number of seafood restaurants. The zoo Crococun, where you can handle lizards, snakes and other creatures, is a short taxi ride away.

Holding a baby turtle in Sayulita before it was released in the ocean.

Sayulita: This coastal town about 45 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport draws lots of surfers — in fact, I took my first (and only) surfing lesson here. It’s not unusual to see chickens making themselves at home on the cobblestone streets, and you’ll find plenty of gringos who have relocated to the laid-back spot to open vacation-rental businesses, restaurants and shops. We visited in October, when it was crazy-hot — at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit every day. So, we spent plenty of time in the ocean and in the refreshing pool at our apartment rental at Los Delfines, a small gated complex 7 blocks from town. A highlight for all of us: watching turtles being released into the ocean after a local environmentalist group had protected the eggs by burying them and fencing them in on the beach. It was a nifty serendipitous moment we stumbled upon, and the kids talked about it for days!

Who's that Sayulita surfer wanna-be?

Best sangria ever at Karen's Place in Bucerias.

Bucerias: This town is just 10 miles from the Puerto Vallarta airport. We spent five nights at an awesome, thatched-roof condo complex here, Casa Manana, which was a welcome respite from Old Town Puerto Vallarta, where we’d spent a week at family Spanish-language school (the Spanish Experience Center, which I’d also highly recommend). Once again, we picked a condo that was within walking distance to town, where we found some yummy beachfront restaurants. One we went to twice — because I couldn’t get enough of the best sangria ever: Karen’s Place, ranked the #1 eatery in Bucerias, according to Trip Advisor users. I agree!

Well, that was fun taking a walk down memory lane — thinking about past family vacations. It’s making me eager for our next one, that’s for sure!

And now I need to tag five more bloggers to play the “spill your travel secrets” game. I nominate:

• My colleague Spencer Spellman, who blogs about lodging with me over at Uptake.com.
• Fellow Coloradoan Lisa Bergren at The World Is Calling.
• Another Colorado mom Amber Johnson who writes about her misadventures at Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck and Mile High Mamas.
• Fantabulous, mulit-talented Jody Halsted at Have Kid Will Travel.
• And finally my Belize trip buddy Gennaro Salamone at Enduring Wanderlust.

Have fun with the posts, you guys. I sure did!