We don’t get the snow and cold you do up north, but there are still a few ways we can tell that Christmas is coming to Puerto Morelos!

First, Christmas trees & poinsettias start showing up in the local grocery store.

Then the giant Christmas tree slowly starts being assembled in the Colonia town square…

Another sure sign is when crews started clearing the rodeo grounds on the Colonia side. This is traditionally where big parties like Carnival celebrations are held. Today, midway rides of various quality started showing up. I believe this is all in preparation for the Guadalupe celebrations in early December.

Here is a little video we shot this morning…

Traditionally, the town likes to celebrate Christmas in a big way. Here are some blasts from the past:

This was our post from 2020 (Click the photo or the link to the left to visit the page)

Here is a post from 2018, where we looked at past Christmas celebrations in Puerto Morelos, all the way back to our first Christmas in 2002. (click the photo above or the link to visit Christmas past.)

Here’s another post from 2018, when Santa relocated his workshop to Puerto Morelos and brought a whole Santa village with him! (Click the photo or the link to visit Santa’s southern workshop and village)

Search “Christmas” on our site at www.InPuertoMorelos.com to find more posts.

Any time of year is pretty special here in Puerto Morelos, but a Christmas without snow is not too bad at all. You can still have gifts and hot chocolate, but you are going to sweat in that Christmas sweater!

Hola friends,

Well, that was unexpected! One day we were having fun in the sun, walking the beach, swimming the sea, eating, drinking and speculating about the leaning lighthouse….then suddenly, everyone left and the season was done.

That’s pretty much how it happened.

So now, we are left alone in our town. The beach is stellar, the streets are quiet and the weather is warm, but there’s nobody here but us locals to enjoy it.

Social distancing is very easy here. Staying six feet apart is a piece of cake on our morning walk on the beach when the nearest person is more than 100 metres away.

Some of our favourite restaurants and watering holes have closed. La Sirena led the way, followed by My Paradise, Don Mexkal and most others. A few restaurants and cafes have remained open and offer delivery only or isolated dining.

More places will likely follow soon.

Most of the stores from Chedraui to the pharmacies to the Alma Libre Bookstore have remained open. The grocery stores are generally well stocked with food and even lots of TP.

We take neighbourhood walks in the morning or evening, nodding at our neighbours and friends or yelling messages of encouragement or comedy from safe distances. It’s very strange as we usually average 5 hugs a kilometre on our walks.

We bid “adios” to our last guests at Casa de los Viajeros on Sunday morning. Now our place is empty, but it always needs some sort of maintenance, so we are not too worried about getting bored.

Many of the big resort hotels have closed, suddenly putting hundreds of workers out of a livelihood. We worry about these folks, they cannot afford to miss too many paydays. A food drive has been started to help those in need.

So as we, like so many of you, self-quarantine and wait for this storm to pass. We look forward to seeing your return to your favourite little beach town. Be assured that Puerto Morelos will be here waiting for you when this is all over, and we’ll be very happy to see you.

Until then we will continue to post pictures on our Facebook page and our Instagram page. Be sure to follow along as we all go through this together.

Stay healthy friends.

InPuertoMorelos.com & Casa de los Viajeros

A recent rainstorm re-arranged things at the beach and left us with a lovely view. Enjoy!

This video is the beach at the end of our street at Casa de los Viajeros. Check out our places at www.CasadelosViajeros.com 

We still have some great dates available for 2018 & 2019

The Banco de Mexico is changing the 500 peso bill. Gone are Diego and Frida in favour of Benito Juarez and a pod of whales. The bank made the announcement by producing this overly-slick video.

At first glance, the new bill seems to strongly resemble the current 20 peso bill, which will undoubtedly delight sketchy Pemex pump jockeys, but the new bill will be almost the exact same size as the current 500, so much larger than a 20. The other side of the bill features a pod of whales. The new bills have up-to-date security measures built in, to discourage counterfeiting.

This bill is the first of a new generation of Mexican bills, featuring Mexican history on one side and nature on the other.

The current 500 peso bill was introduced eight years ago and featured portraits and art by famous Mexican artists, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. These bills will still be accepted everywhere, but banks will no longer recirculate them.  Eventually, they will disappear.

 For reference, this is what the current 20 peso bill looks like.

For more information on Puerto Morelos, check out the rest of our site here on In Puerto Morelos. We just updated the restaurant list…again!

And be sure to check out our suites at CasaDeLosViajeros.com

We still have some good dates available for 2018 & 2019

Here are the cash exchange rates for March 3, 2018 at CI Banco in Puerto Morelos. I post these rates on occasion so that you can compare these rates with the rate your bank or the ATM may offer. To see where the rates have been in the last couple of years, search “exchange rates” on our page at InPuertoMorelos.com 

Here are the cash exchange rates for February 23, 2018 at CI Banco in Puerto Morelos. I post these rates on occasion so that you can compare these rates with the rate your bank or the ATM may offer. To see where the rates have been in the last couple of years, search “exchange rates” on our page at InPuertoMorelos.com