I have a couple friends who go to Playa del Carmen multiple times a year. Like the Masters, it's a tradition unlike any other for them. PDC is their spot to unwind - less calm than the spring break menagerie in Cancun, but still plenty lively and scenic. The dudes are seemingly a fixture in the local bar/club scene. When someone leaves a spot, promoters will occasionally update us on their whereabouts. Hanging with these dudes is like the Copacabana scene in "Goodfellas." Life is good when you're Ray Liotta at the Copa.
The dudes have invited me to join before, but my interest waned because I've been to Mexico and there are so many other places I'd like to visit. As you probably know by now, when I travel - I have to DO something - the more unique or crazy - the better. I get antsy if I'm just laying out, sightseeing, or clubbing. I enjoy all those things, but it's not enough. Unless you give me Ritalin.
But then I realized all the amazing sites to see along the Riveria Maya, the Caribbean coastline of Mexico's northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, and realized I had to go. I'd be out there for 6 days to visit Tulum (where I've been longing to go ever since missing out on a friend's wedding there), Chichen Itza, cenotes (sinkholes or caves to swim or dive in), and peep this - whale shark diving. Yes, I'd kick off the whole trip snorkeling and free diving with whale sharks off the coast of Cancun. I don't care if I just laid out on the beach the rest of the trip, if I was going to be able to swim with some mother f'n whale sharks - the trip would be worth it already.
Now let's go to Playa:
Condo kitchen and living room right on the beach.
Hallway view of beach.
Sunrise view from our patio.
After coming back early on my first night out (around 430am), our whale shark/deep sea fishing tour was set to pick us up at 6am. Ugh. Why so early? Let me explain how this went down. Whale shark viewing season doesn't actually begin until May 15, but I reached out to a tour operator who said hundreds of whale sharks were already in the area and he guaranteed we'd see some. The catch is, because it's technically not the season, we'd have to go on a deep sea fishing tour as an excuse to be out searching. The operator mentioned to me there's an unlikely - but still a chance - that the Coast Guard would stop us if we were out searching for whale sharks! This did add a bit of intrigue to the tour. We rode out around 20 miles off the coast, which took forever and was rougher than watching Austin Rivers play basketball. I rarely get motion sickness, but around 4 hours at sea, I started feeling nauseous, maybe it had something to do with the hour of sleep? The entire tour with transportation lasted almost 12 hours. It included deep sea fishing - we caught several wahoo and tuna, snorkeled the reef near Isla Che, but you know what we didn't see on our whale shark tour? F'n whale sharks. Forget the verbal guarantee that we'd see them. The company sent a second boat out to help search, but to no avail. You know what a whale shark tour without whale sharks is? A boat ride. A long ass boat ride.
Tuna. Not whale shark.
Blue wahoo. Also not whale shark.
Fresh ceviche on our boat with Isla Mujeres in the backdrop. This along with a Kloster, the cheapest beer I've heard of outside of the generic Beer that Albertson's used to have. Isla Mujeres is a quiet, gorgeous island, much in line with Caye Caulker in Belize. Slower-pace, an oasis from the ruckus of Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
Another shot of Isla Mujeres, which lives up to its name.
You a lie. This diploma said we swam with whale sharks. Don't mock me, faux-certificate.
Cutting up the tuna. Totally professional and clean.
Fresh guacamole and fresh tuna burgers. Get your tuna! We had so much damn fish our fridge smelled like a sushi restaurant with a C kitchen rating.
We rented a cabana/mattress at Mamitas resort. Very popular area. Much needed R&R.
Playa del Carmen statue off 5th Avenue, the tourist hub.
No filter. Sunset was crazy pink. Locals playing futbol.
Playa scenics.
Tequila hombre. Waiting for his amigo.
Maybe it could be him? There were so many dudes trying to sell flowers at the club. Leave us alone!
Mexico's Wal-Mart, outside of Wal-Mart, which they obviously have, too. This place was enormous. Trippiest thing: Coronas are cheaper than Tecate there. Huh??
Food:
Solid breakfast spot on 5th Ave: 100% Natural. It's a healthier, organic spot to eat, which is very helpful after late evenings and adult beverage consumption. I ordered some tofu rice which was fine, but that juice was the money maker. Forgot what it was, but included banana, papaya, pineapple, and a bunch more.
Republica Taco is just another of a long-line of taco spots. Solid late eating. They were tasty but I preferred Don Sirloin, another late night taco spot. Just be wary that their salsa verde is extremely spicy and not the same as an avocado salsa.
Shrimp burrito at Casa Adela. Nothing spectacular. It's on touristy 5th. They did have nice bathrooms though. Be careful not to have any ice with your beverage. I did and Montezuma's Revenge followed me back to the states. A solid food suggestion - although massively touristy - is Tequila Barrel, also on 5th. Their Mahi tacos are legit.
We met some new local friends who took us to a pasta spot called Cheester. Homemade pastas, huge portions and menu. The place is away from the tourist zone and seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
We ordered some sort of seafood pasta, and a creamy chipotle pasta, as well. All tasty.
More late night street food. Gonna be honest, don't recall feeling tip top the next morning!
Viva Margaritas right off 5th Ave has delicious and large margaritas. This is watermelon. Might I also recommend mango and strawberry. No losers on this menu.
Clubs:
Mandala. We spent a lot of time here. Seems to be among the more popular spots.
La Santanera: late night spot. Rooftop bar.
La Vaquita: Nothing like hanging with gigantic cartoon cows.
Blue Parrot: outdoor spot with beach access. More spacious. Not as smoky.
Next: Beaches, cenotes, and ruins in Tulum & Chichen Itza.
Go slow. That's the motto on the island of Caye (pronounced "key") Caulker, about a 30-minute water taxi ride from Ambergris Caye ($15US roundtrip). You'll find those two words plastered all around the island like a Where's Waldo of catch phrases. The pace on Caulker is slower than a Peyton Manning jog, but the island's vibe is all the better for it. There's a sense of relaxation and calm to the island. There are no cars and you can seemingly walk the entire island in 45 minutes. There's a good chance you'll catch a waft of weed as you walk around. Not that I condone that, I'm just saying chill goes to another level here. And it's perfect.
Told you "go slow" is everywhere.
Hoops.
Sponge.
This is my dude Terry's Grill. His name is Terry. He's got a grill. Just outside of his home. His restaurant is called Terry's Grill. Brilliant. The menu is small, but everything's crazy fresh. We stumbled upon this spot which is located on the northern end of the island on the western side (the water taxi drops you off on the eastern side). That may sound fire, but that equates to a 3-minute walk. In our effort to find a spot that wasn't too touristy, we stumbled upon Terry's out of hunger desperation. As you can see from the park benches in his yard for seating - his set up screams Caye Caulker. His next door neighbor was cooking up some fresh conch fritters for the family, but offered us some for a $1US each. As you can imagine, they were delicious.
That's Terry grilling up a whole lobster for me. $12.50US, freshly cracked, and covered in a butter garlic spread. Dude is crazy nice. I was trying to tan while waiting for the food (which will take awhile - remember: go slow), and was sweating profusely. But all us New England-transplants know - you have to take advantage of sun whenever you can. So I'm sweating buckets - it's gross and Terry noticed, so he told me to sit in the shade with a cool beer. Even set our food under the shade, thinking I was about to have a heat stroke. I told him - nah, bruh, I'm all good. Just got to get dark right now! It was the thought that counts. Terry even disregarded my weird and unhealthy sun habits and invited us to celebrate his birthday with him that night because it was going to be an epic party. We didn't make it, but in the future I'll say we did and make stuff up about how amazing it was.
Don't know if this pic gave the lobster justice. This mother f'er was amazing.
The view didn't hurt. Go to Terry's Grill: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g291963-d3237337-Reviews-Terry_s_Grill-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes.html
If you don't go diving or on a manatee snorkel tour - which sounds amazing - but only runs certain times of the year - there are still plenty of island tourist activities. Almost anything you can do in the water is available: fishing, sailing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, jet-skiing, tubing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, you get the idea. We opted for the jet ski/wakeboard combo, which set us back a pricey $120US for about an hour-and-a-half - but it was so worth it. The sky was gorgeous and the water was pristine - warm, calm, and jellyfish-free. Jellyfish are dumb.
This is what the view looks like riding into the sunset.
Two times on this trip I realized I'm older than I think I am. This would be the first. We took turns wake boarding for about 80 minutes. That was a lot of boarding - your forearms get beat up, as do your lats and shoulders. As per usual when I travel or in general do anything I love, I try to savor the moment, make it last, and do as much of it as I can. I didn't want to stop riding. I paid for the next day in soreness - getting a tight back, shoulders, moving very slowly, my thumb cramped. You know you're lame when your fingers cramp up. Y'all have been there so shut up! And if you haven't, those days are coming! I tried to pull off a sweet jump to end the day in style, but alas, no luck.
Requisite jet ski selfie. I was focused on getting cool shots here, so who knows if Pete is even on the wakeboard. I mean, I've got priorities. Pete may have been floating alone for a good 20 minutes. Photography takes sacrifice, people.
Dat Caye Caulker life, tho.
I mentioned that Belize isn't much of a beach town, but Caye Caulker is an amazing sea town. When the sun is pounding down on you, and it was when we were there, you'll see a lot of people laying out on the docks. I also saw some people laying out on paddleboards. To me, that would be perfect. Tan on a board, float away, work out if you want, then jump back in. The water is rarely deep, I'd say you could keep your head above water several 100 yards away from shore.
Bask in Caulker's glory. Also impressive about Caulker, if the weather is stormy over Ambergris Caye just 30 minutes away, the weather can be still gorgeous on Caulker. Caulker can take even that to the next level. If the weather is windy on the eastern part of the island, the western part will feel calm and still. So per usual - west is best!
Far less threatening than the mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans. Go ahead and google for those uninitiated.
So a couple days later, I came back to the island with our new friends, and wanted to eat at Terry's again. But Terry doesn't do any breakfast items and the girls were feeling breakfast. So he suggested we drop by Maggie's Sunset Kitchen. Terry delivers again! This place was amazing. Just like Terry's, the restaurant is wrapped around Maggie's home. According to Trip Advisor, Maggie's is the 2nd-ranked restaurant on the island: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g291963-d6517076-Reviews-Maggie_s_Sunset_Dinner-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes.html
This is a lobster omelette with fry jacks. Spot on. I don't remember the price, but you can be assured it was cheap. We also added a papaya smoothie, which if I have to be nitpicky - was a little too yogurty for me. But the omelette was amazing, as were the beans everywhere around the country. I don't normally care for the musical fruit, but every place I ate had amazing beans!
You can go snorkeling on the northern tip of the island. Not much to see - starfish, barracuda, but visibility isn't great, maybe it's because people weren't adhering to the sign above.
To sum: Caye Caulker is all about that chill life. An amazing spot for 1, 2 days. 3, or 4 - you might get antsy. The benefit would be, of course, that you could that many more lobsters from Terry.
Next: Exploring the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal, and cave tubing on the mainland.
There's a movie title that perfectly sums up a travel addict's mentality: "The World is Not Enough." If you don't know, it's a crappy James Bond flick where Denise Richards plays a nuclear physicist. Yep. But, let's focus on the title. I can't speak for all travelers, but for me, all my self-indulgent travel began with a small list of places I wanted - nay - had to visit (Brazil, Australia, Thailand - where I have yet to reach). Then I ended up traveling to wherever with whoever, oftentimes whenever; the list went out the window, and it became all about the exploration… and the passport stamps. Ultimately, traveling the world will never be enough. Visiting a new country, environment, culture - It's an appetite that can never be satisfied.
This is really just a loquacious way to explain why I ended up going to Belize. No great reason. Just because. Just because it's warm there in December and January. Just because it's f'n freezing in Connecticut. And just because I like to go big on New Year's Eve. Collecting another stamp ain't too shabby either. As per usual, I went with my travel bro Pete. Not as usual, it was a 6 night/7 day trip. Longer than my average trip. It's actually more time than you need in Belize. We spent most of our time on Ambergris Caye (pronounced "key"), a small island around 80 minutes east of the mainland. I'm breaking down the trip in 3 photo/blogs: Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, and Guatemala/Belize mainland. All photos unfiltered. AMBERGRIS CAYE
Right outside our hotel, Banana Beach. There aren't many big beaches in Belize. This is the average amount of beach you'll see on San Pedro and Caye Caulker. It's more of a dock and shore town. Keep that in mind if you're looking for beach travel - I wouldn't recommend Belize.
Belize's main beer is Belikin. It doesn't taste fantastic, somewhat like Tecate, but it's much better ice cold. Of course, when in Rome… That's my excuse for drinking a lot of these bastards. Conch fritters in the back.
This meal was at Caramba, recommended by some cab drivers and Fodor's, but it's totally a tourist spot. I ordered a Mayan fish fillet wrapped in banana peel flavored with local peppers. As per usual, I was always order some random BS that the menu says is local/native. It doesn't always pay off. A burger might've been better...
I didn't go here, but I did have the urge to join a local gym and play dodgeball. #FnACotton
The backyard of our hotel. Private beach, with dock pick-up depending on the excursion. Banana Beach was all right, especially for one of the cheaper hotels on the island - as far as I know - we didn't do that much research. One drawback is that their wifi is weak. It turned out to be quite a nuisance trying to meet up with people or make plans with tours, but the rooms itself were spacious. There's also two tiny pools. The biggest issue with Banana Beach is that it's a $5US cab ride from the town center. That's not much, but when the cost of living on the island is so cheap, you're just wasting money. It's a 5-10-minute bike ride from the city (will talk more about bikes below), or a 2.5-mile walk, which we accidentally found out.
Simple breakfast as Island Torch Grill in the Town Center. Those fried dough pastries here are called "fry jacks." They're almost like a breakfast funnel cake - only healthier! Hahaha, I just made that shit up. No way these bad boys are healthy, but they're good.
The town center and the clock tower. Doc Brown and Marty McFly would've had a much easier time if HillValley was in San Pedro. Clocks and time are seemingly more symbolic on the island as everyone takes their sweet time and nothing is punctual.
We rented some bikes and started exploring the island. After riding about 90 minutes north of town, you start to run out of things to see. Bike path becomes spotty at times. There's a ton of incomplete construction of vacation homes… and apparently a lot of drug deals. The dude who rented us the bikes made it seem like West Baltimore with Marlo running the show. We didn't see any such commotion, but we didn't feel like testing either.
Caye Mart! Sadly, caye is pronounced "key" - so it's not quite the homonym awesomeness we all wanted. Also not sure if that's a statue of Jesus or the bearded guy in the Diet Dr. Pepper commercials.
Requisite paradise pic. Screw you, clouds!!!
Went snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley. Pete went diving, I did not (check this blog why: http://tcarychow.blogspot.com/2014/12/pirating-caribbean-ii-st-croix.html). He had close encounter with a moray eel. I had a close encounter with these weiner fish.
And this nurse shark.
These are striped fish. You can tell because they have stripes. #IDontKnowWhatTheyreActuallyCalled
My turtle friend. He didn't have a surfer accent, but he did help Marlin find Nemo.
Evidently this guy does believe fish are friends, not food. Look at all them buddies chilling.
The bustle of San Pedro.
Town Center for New Year's Eve. Tons of mainland residents came out to the island to celebrate, as well.
Different angle of the midnight madness.
The fireworks show lasted for awhile - seemed like 15-30 minutes. To be honest, I don't really know. Time became more of a concept than a measurement at this point. #YouKnowCuzIWasSleepy
More fireworks. Normally San Pedro - and Belize in general - is a sleepy town. Bars close at midnight, very much-driven by day-time tourism like diving and snorkeling. However, for NYE, the town came to play like a 4th quarter Russell Wilson.
Some of that New Year's Eve crew. Them tykes go hard!
Found me some stage.
New Year's Day is uber slow and quiet in the islands. We trekked out to Caye Caulker - will profile in next blog. Had dinner at a solid local spot - Pupuseria Salvadoreno, an El Salvadorian spot with great pupusas, a thick handmade corn tortilla filled with meat, cheese, and beans. The woman in blue outside is cooking pupusas. Ate some ceviche, as well - all ceviche on the island is good.
On New Year's Day, I had to watch the college football playoffs. Missed almost all of the FSU-Oregon game, and was watching Alabama-Ohio State at Pupuseria, but as you can see, the restaurant was closing and waiting for us to leave. It was 10p!!!
So we headed back to the hotel and found Carlo n Ernie's Runway Bar, right next to the municipal airport with a huge projector screen, and as you can see - huge crowds were amped to watch the Sugar Bowl. Had a Lighthouse lager, which is made by Belikin, but way better. Very light, but not as - what's the word - ass-y.
Windsurfing proved to be an epic fail. Our instructor with Kitexplorer, Audrius, was a well-informed guy, but he couldn't control the weather. As I had the kite attached to me (which I couldn't figure out for the life of me), our anchored boat started to float away. So as he and Pete ran to get the boat, the kite was whisking me away. With Pete now holding down the boat and a squall heading towards us, Audrius decided to take the kite back. Good call. As the storm came, we used the kite as a tent in the water. Good times. On top of that, water leaked into my GoPro case and destroyed the camera. Today was not the smoothest day.
But dinner was good. We hit up another hole-in-the-wall that another traveler recommended to us. Called Waruguma, it had pupusas, as well as 2 lobster tails for $17.50US.
One of the main bars on the island is Fidos (pronounced Fee-doughs). We may have ended up at this place at some point on every night. They say they have the largest thatch roof on the island, which isn't exactly a boisterous claim. What I do know, is that the Belikins and Lighthouses cost $2.50US each, which can be either really good, or really bad! They have live music every night and were showing UFC 182 on Saturday night. San Pedro is very much a Saturday night town, as opposed to Friday night. People aren't out too late on Friday, but Saturdays for sure.
Our last night on the island, we hit up El Fogon, which is another spot that all the locals and tourists seems to like. We had an array of local dishes, shrimp creole, fish balls, this chicken whatever it is.
Goodbye San Pedro. From outside our hotel room.
Transportation:
It's about a $15US water taxi ride (1-way), from Belize City to San Pedro, which takes about 80 minutes. There're three main ways to get around the caye - golf cart, taxi, and bikes. Our hotel, the Banana Beach was about 2-miles south of the town center, and considering the $5US one-way rides started to add up, we rented bikes. Two good bike rental spots: Joe's Bike Shop (no credit cards, $15US for 24 hours) and this random ice cream shop that also rented bikes. Seems like a weird combo, but it turned out to be convenient because I could get a fresh pineapple, papaya, banana smoothie while getting a sweet cruiser with a basket (no credit, $12US for 24 hours). No word on how many ice cream cone-influenced biking accidents there are in San Pedro, but this spot could be directly responsible for any... rocky roads, hey-yo!!! Video:
Next: Caye Caulker, a slow-paced island that had one of the greatest meals I've ever had.
