Today (June 8, 2020) we are officially moving from red light to orange light on the four stoplight system that has been put in place in our area for Covid-19. The new light means we can open up ever so slightly. The beautiful beach remains closed but restaurants and cafes are now allowed to open and seat up to 30% of their capacity. You can read a detailed description of what is allowed to open here.
Essential services like grocery stores can now be open up to 9:00 PM under the new rules, instead of the current 6:00 PM. This applies to food deliveries as well. A restaurant source tells us that they will be allowed to be open until 9:00 at night, but not serve alcohol after 5:00.
We still need to wear masks and only one person from each family can go to the grocery store.
After 12 weeks in self-quarantine, we are very excited that things are starting to loosen up. The first cafe to announce that they will be reopening is Lola y Moya. They have been open for delivery and takeout during the shutdown and will continue to do that, but will also now add 30% of their tables into the mix.
We chatted with Eduardo, owner of Al Chimichurri and they will be open beginning Tuesday at 30% capacity. Sunday they were cleaning, painting and freshening things up. We look forward to a nice big steak!
I just took a little bike ride around the port side. A few places like one of the T@cos.com locations has put their tables out on the street again. A couple of cafes like Le Cafe de Amancia and Local Coffee + Shop were open, but I saw no tables out. Mem Al Mare had its decorative bike out hanging again and was definitely prepping to reopen. Construction at The Fives is underway again and there is more traffic out on the streets.
I extended my bike ride to the Colonia. A lot of places had chairs and tables out and others were preparing. Micheladas del Semáforo had chairs and tables occupied in the early afternoon, they are running special hours, 11am-5pm to conform to the new rules. A few small stores were open too.
But not every owner is opening right away. We talked to a few, like Arturo at El Campanario (open for delivery and takeout – dining room to open June 16) and Karla at El Pirata and they are going to take a “wait and see” approach. Anthony over at La Sirena will be opening the airy rooftop area later in the week (Friday if all goes well). El Nicho is also open for delivery and take-out only right now.
Marco at I Wanna Pizza says they will continue to be open on a reduced schedule, Thursday to Sunday, for delivery and takeout only.
Under the stoplight system, bars and nightclubs are not allowed to open until there is a green light. So we are not sure what this means for most of our beach bars as many of them are restaurants as well. And with the beach remaining closed, it looks like we will have to wait a while longer before we see these establishments open.
Alma Libre Bookstore will be opening this week. They have taken advantage of the Covid-lull to renovate, and they now have air conditioning! If you have read (and reread) all of your books while in quarantine, you have a great local place to restock.
The other big news in Puerto Morelos is that the remodelling of our town square has begun. This controversial project, which was set to begin last February, at the height of the tourist season, was delayed due to push-back from the community. Many residents like the square and feel that the funds would be better spent elsewhere in the town. As a protest and to show their love for the square, a local group occupied the park and staged entertainment every night to the delight of visitors and residents alike. This worked well until the Covid-19 lockdown forced them to leave.
Late last Thursday night, during a tropical storm, city officials moved in with heavy equipment and began to tear down the square in Puerto Morelos and replace it with a new, modernized one. State police were called in to keep protesters away from the site.
So we say a sad farewell to our town square and we will have to wait to see what the new one will be like.
Last Friday we were visited by Tropical Storm Cristobal. We were on the outer edges of the storm so we had some high winds and a lot of rain. No damage was done and our beach was left looking beautiful.
That’s all for now. We will try to keep you up to date with what’s happening in your favourite little beach town. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter and when you want to visit Puerto Morelos, make sure you stay with us at Casa de los Viajeros.
