Our Favourite Things Archives - InPuertoMorelos.comInPuertoMorelos.com

Happy Hour Update!

09. December 2021 · Comments Off · Categories: Our Favourite Things

Another sign that things are starting to return to normal in Puerto Morelos. For quite some time we have been going without these wonderful times of the day. And after all what is a beach town without a HAPPY HOUR?!

Since our state has moved on the stoplight system (explained here along with COVID protocols) to GREEN Level Two (updated every Thursday night here), restaurants and bars have been able to start returning to normal business.

There are still many restrictions in place. You still have to wear a mask when entering or standing up, even to go to the bathroom in both restaurants and bars. Plus you must have your temperature checked, gel your hands and walk across a sticky mat before entering an establishment. This is the same for all shops in Puerto Morelos as well.

But bands are back and you can even dance again!

So check out our UPDATED Happy Hour page. If you act fast you will even find some really great coupons! But act fast, they expire soon.

The Cars of Puerto Morelos (and a few other spots in Mexico)

Go anywhere in Mexico and you are going to see vehicles on the road that you would never see anywhere else. Beyond the generic white vans and little white cars that seem to make up most of the vehicles in our state, you will find the unique, the unusual and the downright weird. I present to you, some of our favourite cars and trucks we’ve spotted. Most of these are from our town, but a few are from other spots in Mexico. Enjoy!

One of the more unusual vehicles ever to roll in Puerto Morelos, this truck sported a classy palapa roof as a camper. As we recall, the palapa was in good shape, but the truck was not, and its lack of a muffler made it easy to hear it coming. We took this pic back in 2015. I have not spotted it recently.

This truck belonging to Materiales Tauro in the Colonia is a proud survivor of Wilma. Wilma was an especially nasty hurricane that hit us in 2005. It did a lot of damage, but the town sprang back nicely. We took this photo in 2015. Not sure if the truck survived old age as well.

Rob’s first car was a Ford Maverick, so he’s happy to still spot them on occasion in Mexico. Ford only made them for 7 years and stopped making them in 1977, but you can still see one on the streets, or even in car shows. This one was on the cobbled roads of Guanajuato, Mexico.

Whoever loaded this truck deserves an honourary degree in engineering. We assume the boss told him to make one trip, but bring all the produce to town. We took this pic in the Colonia in 2016, but we often see similarly loaded trucks around town.

Volkswagen Beetles are ubiquitous in all parts of Mexico. They are relatively inexpensive, fun and they seem to run forever. We joke that every man, woman and child in Mexico can fix a Beetle. They are also fun to customize, so you will see many versions in Mexico that VW never intended. Volkswagen has a giant factory in Puebla where the last “old” Beetle rolled off the assembly line in 2003. It is still on display there. The “new Beetle” was also built in Puebla. Its last edition was built there in 2019. We spotted this one, with “all-natural” air conditioning on the streets of PM. It looks like a whole lot of fun.

You will also see many Volkswagen Combi vans around Mexico, though most of them don’t smile as big as this one. An actual “clown car”, this one brought a travelling circus to town in 2016.

This vehicle looks perfect for Puerto Morelos! It belongs to a local man who has lived here for many years, so you might just spot it rolling through town.

This pic isn’t so much about the car, but the situation. Back in 2018, the town suddenly moved ahead with its project of redoing all the roads around the square. The road this car drove into town on, no longer existed after it was parked for a few hours. We imagine the driver was just a little bit surprised after having dinner at a nearby restaurant. Not sure how the driver did it, but the car was gone the next day.

We are not sure what was going on at Ojo de Agua Hotel on this day in 2106, but it certainly drew a lot of well-parked police cars!

This truckload of marigolds is for the Day of the Dead celebrations in Michoacán. There were many of these trucks overloaded with the most beautiful cargo ever. We were in Patzcuaro for the Day of the Dead in 2015.

This fantastic “5th Beatle Beetle” was spotted in Puerto Morelos.

We’re sharing some of our favourite vehicles as an attempt to “drive” you into coming to Puerto Morelos! 🙂 We are now taking vacation reservations for next season. With so many people finally able to travel in 2021, 2022 is looking VERY popular. Contact us today to book your place. We have lots of availability right now if you are missing your favourite beach town.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our website so you never miss a post! Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram for exclusive pictures of Puerto Morelos. Fresh photos most every day! Hope to see you soon in Puerto Morelos.
Check out our extensive website InPuertoMorelos.com for all the info on your favourite town. Hasta Pronto!!

Classic Salsa (pico de gallo) Recipe

26. May 2020 · Comments Off · Categories: Beach Reads The Blog, Our Favourite Things

This is the recipe our friends ask us for again and again. It’s always a hit and luckily, it’s also one of the easiest recipes I know with few ingredients.

This is the dish we throw together for arriving guests or to make whenever we are away from Mexico and feeling homesick.

**DUE TO COVID-19, WE ARE OFFERING YOU THE CHANCE TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW, NO MONEY DOWN. CONTACT US TODAY FOR DETAILS.**

It was Miguel Robles, owner of the now-closed Mi Rueda Restaurant in Puerto Vallarta who taught me this recipe many years ago and after we had all shared a few too many Coco Locos.

The proportions of this recipe are inexact, which may have been due to the Coco Locos or that fact that is a traditional recipe that is just known by most Mexicans.

Ingredients

beefy tomatoes (I use Roma or Cherry)
sweet white onions
cilantro (optional for you cilantro haters)
fresh lime juice
sea salt

Cut the top and bottom off tomatoes. Squeeze out the seeds and juice. Chop into small squares.

Chop an equal amount of white onion to the same size. Add chopped cilantro. I like lots of cilantro, but I have also learned over the years that there are people who HATE, not just dislike, but really hate this herb. I personally think it is a crime to leave the cilantro out, but hey, it’s your salsa. Cilantro is added to taste.

Then add the juice of 1 to 2 fresh squeezed limes, depending on the size of your batch. The secret ingredient in this salsa is sea salt. Regular salt does not cut it. Salt to taste. Mix it all in a glass bowl (not metal), cover and let sit for a few hours or overnight so the flavours can meld together. Before serving, drain off excess liquid.

For an easy and tasty guacamole, mash a ripe avocado (in a molcajete if you have one) and add a couple of tablespoons of this salsa. Pro tip: Add a dash of avocado oil for a smooth and silky guac.

Enjoy!

PS. Writing this post made me ask the question, “what’s the difference between salsa and pico de gallo?” I found the answer on the wonderful Kitchn website.

Free Wi-Fi in Puerto Morelos

28. August 2019 · Comments Off · Categories: Our Favourite Things

Puerto Morelos now has free Wi-Fi in the square. It wasn’t a quick or easy process, but it is finally here. If you visited our town last November you may have witnessed this little construction site, right on the north side of the square.

It was supposed to be a free Wi-Fi location, but for some reason, unknown to us, it was torn down and moved to the other side of the square in January.

VACATION RENTALS: STAY HERE IN PUERTO MORELOS

And it was reconstructed to become this.

A Wi-Fi tower, complete with a seating area, is located on the south side of the park across from Alma Libre Bookstore. If you are in the square you can look for a Wi-Fi signal called WiFi Caribbean Mexican.

After connecting, you will get a pop-up that asks you if you want to “surf” or if you want “tourist information”. Or if you are having an emergency to click here (not sure what that button does).

To hook up to the signal you will either have to sign in with your Facebook account or by filling out a short form with your first name, email address, sex, age and answer if you are a resident. The form can be viewed in either English or Spanish.

Once you have completed the form you will get a pop-up saying “Gracias”, which means you are connected.

The signal is not terribly fast, and it may not “remember you” the next time you try to sign on, but it is better than nada. You may be better off to patronize one of the many businesses in town that offer free Wi-Fi to their customers. There are many, and their signals are usually faster and more stable. Their chairs are likely comfier too!

We are currently curating a list of local businesses that offer free Wi-Fi to their customers. If you are a business owner that shares your Wi-Fi, let us know! You can click this link to message us through our FB page.

Puerto Morelos On Location

23. February 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Our Favourite Things · Tags: filming, on location, Puerto Morelos

Did you know that Puerto Morelos has been used as a location for many films, TV shows, commercials, and music videos. Everything from Mexican telenovelas to Spanish music videos have been shot here. One of the most recent videos featured American country superstar Dierks Bentley. His follow up song to the hit “I’m Getting Drunk on a Plane”, was titled “Somewhere on a Beach”, and Puerto Morelos played the part of the beach. You will likely recognize Unico and Que Hora Es in the video.

And HGTV is no stranger to Puerto Morelos. They have taped many episodes of their popular series House Hunters International as well as Mexico Life here. They featured real estate agents Amber Pierce and Kim Temple.

Before the tragic death of their lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan, Irish rock band The Cranberries shot their last album cover here in Puerto Morelos. In this picture you can see our local crew from Mayan Riviera Grip.

Popular Spanish pop band La Oreja de Van Gogh (Van Gogh’s Ear) did a walkabout around Puerto Morelos and the Ruta de Cenotes for their video featuring the song “Las Noches Que No Mueren” (“The Nights That Do Not Die”). If you don’t blink you will see a quick shot of the iconic Alma Libre Bookstore in the video.

And supermodel Heidi Klum created quite a stir when she visited our little fishing village to film a perfume ad. She really did “Shine” when she took over the dock at Pelicanos.

Puerto Morelos is such a beautiful and diverse location that we make a great backdrop for filmmakers. These are just a few of the more popular pieces that have been shot on location in Puerto Morelos. Our beautiful little town makes a great location and a great backdrop for your next vacation.

Packing Tips

13. February 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Our Favourite Things · Tags: electronics, gadget, packing cubes, packing tips, travel

We love to travel and we do it as often as we can. Usually our journeys are within Mexico, but we recently completed an 11 week trip through Europe, which had us staying at 16 different vacation homes and renting four cars (which turned into 6 cars after 2 broke down on us) and taking a variety of trains, planes and ships for transport. Moving around this much, we found a few items that came in extremely handy and we thought we would share them with you.

When you travel to several locations, we cannot say enough about the humble little packing cube. These zippered bags kept our luggage organized, our clothes wrinkle free and allowed us to unpack and repack in seconds, saving precious vacation minutes. We bought ours in the family section of Ikea. But you can get similar ones here on Amazon.
 I went even one step further with my cubes and used some liquid paint to tell me what is inside each cube, so that I don’t have to go looking through them when I am in a hurry.

Another thing that I found invaluable, is this little travel blow dryer. My husband actually laughed out loud when he opened the box that this came in. It is so small that it looks like a toy, but it isn’t. It is a really powerful travel dryer. A lot of hotels in Mexico do not offer blow dryers, so this one comes in really handy. And you can switch it from 120v to 220v for travel abroad.

We seem to travel with more and more electronic devices that need constant recharging. When overseas, we like this one. It converts 220v to our 120v. It has four USB plugs, and it comes with enough adapters to plug in anywhere from from Albania to Zimbabwe. It works when plugged into 120v as well, so you can use it anywhere. It’s compact, but has lots of places to plug in, because there are never enough outlets in most hotel rooms or vacation rentals.

In Mexico we use one like this that has a built-in surge protector for the sometimes unsteady current we get in Mexico. This has saved our gadgets on many occasions, plus the USB connections come in really handy.

Good idea to have a two-prong adapter as well, as you will see two prong outlets in older Mexican hotels and even some vacation rentals.

And one last item. If you are renting a car, most of the cars in Mexico are very basic and don’t come with USB chargers. We highly recommend bringing a USB lighter/adapter to keep your phones/GPS charged while you are enjoying that driving trip to Chichen Itza.
 
If you have any travel gadgets your can’t live without, drop us a line, we would like to hear about them.

Artisan Market in Puerto Morelos

26. January 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Our Favourite Things, Photo Post

It’s a big weekend here in Puerto Morelos. The town is playing host to a large Artisan market, featuring art and artisans from all over Mexico…and our own local artists. Have a look…..

For some though, an Artisans Market will always play second to a game of soccer on the most scenic pitch ever!

The market runs every day from today through Tuesday.

A Peek Into the Mangrove (with a special guest)

12. January 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Beach Reads The Blog, Our Favourite Things, Photo Post

Between the busy “Cancun to Tulum” highway and the beach side of Puerto Morelos lies the mangrove, a two-kilometre wide stretch of water and greenery, and a tranquil home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Most of us shoot through the area at high speed in a car or taxi. You can’t see much at 70 kilometres per hour, but take the walking path one day, and you are guaranteed to something interesting. (click the photos for a better view)

There are two paths nowadays. The southern one is the best to walk as you can get shade and the bikes tend to take the red path on the other side.

Walking from the square to the highway is a little over 2 kilometres (about 1.5 miles). It took me about 30 minutes, and I was guilty of some meandering and gawking at the scenery. The most scenic bits however are about 1 kilometre from the square, so you could walk up a stretch and walk back.

A few years ago they built these little boardwalks so that you could get a better view of life in the mangrove, but unfortunately they were not maintained and are now just a little “peligroso”.

Wherever there is a break in the foliage though, you will get a view like this. I must go back at sunset as the colours at that time are stunning.

I have walked this path dozens of times and have only spotted a crocodile once before, but I got lucky on this sunny afternoon and saw this fellow, catching some rays near one of the dilapidated docks.

Back in town, I spotted this more genteel wildlife, catching a late afternoon siesta.

So plan a quick trip to the mangrove some time during your next visit. Early in the morning, you will likely see more birdlife. I took these pictures closer to noon, so I saw no birds, but I did spot the croc.

The mangroves are protected, so development in them is not allowed. You could say that the expansive mangrove has saved and protected Puerto Morelos, so we must save and protect the mangrove.

Find lots of town information, maps, restaurant list and more at InPuertoMorelos.com

Colourful start to 2018!

01. January 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Beach Reads The Blog, Our Favourite Things, Photo Post

Up early on a lovely, calm 2018 morning in Puerto Morelos. The colours were outstanding. There is a cruise ship in the middle of the shot, but it is a little hard to make out. (Click the photo for a better view)

And here are a couple of scenes from last night.

Here are a two of the “Viejos”. A part of Mexican New Year’s Eve tradition is to create a dummy and fill him full of fireworks. At midnight “los años viejos” (the old years) is lit and explodes in a ball of fire, filled with loud bangs and small explosions. This is thought to get rid of the “bad” of the past year and bring hope and prosperity for the coming year.

And this is how the town square looked last night in the early evening.

To get an idea of what the dummies look like when they are lit, check out this video we made 10 years ago.

Hope your 2018 is off to a good start wherever you are!

InPuertoMorelos.com

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

18. December 2017 · Comments Off · Categories: Beach Reads The Blog, Our Favourite Things, Photo Post

On a recent trip to the square in the Colonia in Puerto Morelos, we were surprised and delighted to be whisked away to Santa’s Village in the North Pole!

One of the highlights has to be this recycled tire snowman…who will not be melting anytime soon!

We even have our own hashtag #MiNavidadEnPuerto

Santa was able to find a parking spot for his sleigh

For more information on Puerto Morelos, be sure to check out our page, InPuertoMorelos.com the new home of our Beach Reads town updates, an interactive map showing everything you might want to find in PM, an updated restaurant list and taxi fare sheet, and general information to make the most of your trip to our part of paradise. You can sign up for Beach Reads, and an email come to you whenever we post some news…

Also check out Casa de los Viajeros, a great place to stay in Puerto Morelos.

One and two bedroom suites available

All have full kitchens & private bathrooms

All suites have private balconies or terraces to enjoy the Puerto Morelos breeze