Posted by Robert in Plano on August 06, 2002 at 13:00:30:
We have returned from the Yucatan coast with only a single major regret; that we could not stay longer. Our only other experience with this part of the world was four days in Cozumel and that trip was wonderful. 7/10 - We caught the red-eye flight, it left at 6:00AM, on Champion Air from DFW and landed in Cancun at about two and a half hours later. Got through customs without any problems and went looking for the rental car agent from Buster Rent-a-car. We could not find the car agent. Looked at the conformation letter from Buster and for stupid reason I told them to meet us at 10:00. The agent shows and we are off to a hotel to pickup the VW. All seems well until I start signing the paperwork. The last page says you, the driver, are responsible for 10% of the value of the car if there is damage. Meaning if the car is worth $10,000 and suffers $800 damage you pay all the $800. Buster’s Web site says they have no hidden costs and their prices reflect the ENTIRE cost of the rental. Not true, if you want truly full coverage, Buster wants an additional $20 per day. We are upset and let them know we think their rental policies are dishonest. They reduce the extra full coverage to $10 per day and we take the car. Pull out of the parking lot and discover the brakes do not work and something is wrong with the steering. They give us a Chevy Pup (Pop?) for the same price and that turns out to be a better choice that the VW. At last, we are on the road. Get some gasoline and drive to PDC for a late lunch and a small open-air pizza place near the beach. Food, price, and service were very good and now we are feeling good about the trip again. Uneventful drive to Pueblo Tulum, (I owe a great deal of thanks to whoever mentioned that left turn signals indicate passing) and we find Cabanas Copal. Our first impression is, “what a great location…” Our cabana is on the cliff overlooking the water and very near the beach bar. Great view and close to the open-air bar. It can’t get much better than this. When we first started looking into going to Cabanas Copal, we received several opinions, both in public forums and in private emails, from those who loved or hated the place. Everyone has varying expectations and managing those expectations can be difficult in a unique setting such as CC. If you want an insolated experience like what is found at an all-inclusive resort then you will not be happy at CC. If going to a place where people from many cultures, socio-economic levels, and ages are in close contact and the lines between guests and hosts (staff) are not always well defined, CC is the place. Patience and tolerance are required for a great time. We get settled in our cabana, have a beer, walk the beach, and go eat at the CC restaurant. I had the fish with rosemary sauce and I believe that was one of the finest seafood dishes I’d ever eaten. My wife had a chicken dish and that too was very good… It has been a very busy first day… 7/11 – It has been a very warm night and sleep was a little difficult. In my (maybe) humble estimation, there is a design flaw in the cabana. The air vents are on top of the windows, not at the bottom. Our solution was to forsake a bit of privacy and leave the door open. It’s not a big enough problem to send us packing. Started out with breakfast at the cabanas and it was good especially the fresh orange juice. Need ice and drive into Tulum pueblo to fill our collapsible (another good idea found here) with Coke Lite, Coronas, water, and hielo (ice). Come back to CC to walk the beach and snorkel. The snorkeling is okay but not spectacular. I swam out a long way (maybe 200 meters) until I became concerned about boat traffic. Saw some small fish, one small manta ray, and a pair of largish white flat fish that scared the hell out of me because I wasn’t expecting them. They swam up from up from my left and stopped right in front of my mask and looked. After the shock, it was great because they swam along with me for about five minutes. My wife hung out on the beach and at the beach bar making friends and reading. We decided to sign up for the Temazcal that evening. According to the directions for this event, we were supposed to eat light and drink lots of water. Ate medium and drank lots of water. A Temazcal is really a communal sweat bath with some rituals included. It takes place in a small stucco covered hut that has a pit in the middle of the floor that holds hot rocks. My wife started to go in but she does not do well in small crowded dark areas and decided to not participate, instead heading for the bar. I do not want to provide too much detail about what happens within the Temazcal because the mystery of not fully knowing what happens next adds to the experience. There are a few points that I feel are important to add: First, only do this if you are in good health. Drink lots of water before starting and stay away from the alcohol. The sweat is clothing optional and I suggest that even though the Temazcal is non-sexual, nude will improve the experience (it may be hard to accept a strangers opinion on this but once done you will know what I am saying is true). Finally, there is no mention of this in any of the CC literature, but have a sports drink available to you after the Temazcal to help replace electrolytes in the sweat. Warm or not we slept well. Tulum is a fascinating place whose ancient glory is steeped in a modern carnival atmosphere. Purchase tickets to explore and talk with a guide who wants $25 American to show us the place. He also wants us to pay so he can ride the tram to the ruins. I don’t feel that great and I’m not that young but am able to hoof it to the ruins and decide to do the self-guided version (read the signs). The ruins and the surrounding landscape and beaches are very pleasant. It is also very touristy and by mid-day very crowded. Take many pictures and eavesdrop on some of the different guides. Watch the guys on the pole do their show and make a donation for the privilege. Make another payment to get the car out of the parking lot and head back to Cabanas Copal. I find another bottle of water some shade and a hammock and rest. That evening we drive to Anna y Jose’s for dinner. It is a pleasant albeit expensive meal. Based on the rave reviews we have read here, we are surprised that there are very few people there. Drive back to CC and watch the fire show. The fire show consists of two young men and two young women from Argentina. One man drums and sings the other three twirl torches. The show lasts for about 20 minutes. It isn’t high brow stuff but it is fun. They pass the hat and we give them a few pesos. Another long day and I need some rest. As we proceed up the beach one of the vendors tries to sell us a fishing, sailing, diving, or guided snorkeling tour. We talk with him for a while and he explains that we are required to have a guide to swim in the bay. We do not believe him but he does tell us that that best deals for lodging are near Yal Ku. We meander up the road of topes and potholes and stop at La Sirena y La Iguana. The place is very quite and very pleasant. Negotiate a room, well it is much more than a room, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a glass wall overlooking Half Moon bay, and a large private patio. It being low season, we get the place for a very reasonable sum. Our lodging is now taken care of the duration of our vacation. It’s time to go explore. First, we want to go down the coast to Sian Ka´an preserve and check out the beach and jungle. We decided that we should head back to the park entrance when we see a pickup truck with several men in street clothes carrying machine guns looking at us very suspiciously. Asked the gatekeeper who these guys are and he says they are secret police. Contribute a few pesos and his son gives us a tour to the cenote near the entrance. Does a nice job of pointing out some of the different flora and fauna even though he doesn’t speak much English and our Spanish is only good enough to find a meal and a beer. We are hot and need a place to cool off. So away we go and head over to Grand Cenote and snorkel there. Nice swimming hole, but next time I want to do the cave dive. Then we head over to Calaveras Cenote. Calaveras might be a good cenote for scuba but it is not much for swimming. Another busy day, we head back to CC and eat at the Cabanas next door. It’s the second day of having their cocina open, but we are brave and the food is good. Walk back to our cabana and start the long process of saying goodbye to all the new friends we have made amongst the staff and other travelers. The road to Coba is narrow and has the surprise pothole. We are shocked at the level of poverty we see and my wife says we are stopping on the way back to buy something at one of the ‘shops’ along the road. We prefer Coba to Tulum. Coba doesn’t have the carnival atmosphere that Tulum has, yet. There are great shade trees there, but don’t touch them, some have a sap that can cause serious skin damage. The guides are the descendants of the Maya and take pride in their ancestry. We start to wander and meet the resident artist from Cabanas Copal and join with him and his guide for a tour of the ruins. On the way back we stopped and bought a few nick-knacks and gave a young boy a box of cereal we had originally purchased to take back to my youngest son (his favorite brand, only in Spanish). When the boy got the cereal, he ran to his home and his brothers, sisters, and mother came out to share this treat. When you have nothing, anything must look great... On the way back to our place, we stop at Punta Soliman for a beer and a meal at Oscar and Lalo’s (again, thanks to this board for this hint). Great food…as we are eating we see the fire dancers that were at Cabanas Copal looking dissolute and generally unhappy. We asked them how they were doing and they tell us in a great amount of detail their troubles. The problem is they do not speak English and our Spanish is not good enough to understand fully what has happened. It appears that they lost their fire show job at Cabanas Copal and were now living in a tent at Punta Soliman. We were not too concerned about their welfare because they were also living in a tent at CC. The story also included something about injustice, Guatemala, going back to Argentina, that they had never burned anything down, and a reference about people at the bar. They each gave us a heartfelt hug and we went back to Akumal not sure of what had happened. 7/15 – There is a note on the windshield of our car informing us of a live show being done by the locals tonight in town. We put that on our calendar. Walked over to Yal Ku with our snorkeling equipment, pay $5 each, and enjoy some of the best snorkeling I’ve ever seen. A large herd of children appeared and stirred up the sand and the water went from crystal to murk in a few minutes. Head off for some random exploration, beach walking, beer sipping, and general tourist stuff. Eat dinner in PDC drive back to Akumal and arrive just in time to catch the show. It ain’t Broadway, but it is fun and enjoyed it… 7/16 – Lay low and rest…
7/12 – It’s another beautiful day on la playa. I eat breakfast and the eggs taste a little off to me. In about an hour, I’m sick so we wait a while until my system has cleaned itself out and I drink lots of water to keep from dehydrating. Take some plug-up-my-gut medicine and off we go to the ruins at Tulum.
7/13 – We enjoy CC but decide to move on after tonight. Drive up the coast towards Playa Del Carmen to figure out where we will spend the rest of the trip. During our explorations, we look at a couple of resorts and realize that we are not all-inclusive resort people. The resorts look very nice for fenced and guarded compounds. We go on up the road to Akumal and start walking the beach to see what the snorkeling might be like.
7/14 – Get up to a great sunrise and pack. Check out and we take our stuff up to La Sirena y La Iguana in Akumal. As we pull into Akumal village, we see the proprietor of our new digs and give him a lift to the hotel. Drop our bags in the room and meet the lady who will keep our room clean. We are back on the road to Coba to see the ruins. Take the following: Water, 100% Deet bug repellant, sunscreen, water, a broad brimmed hat, and water.
7/17 – Drive back to Cancun explore the town and catch our plane.