Michael Powell's Blog, page 97

The Cozumel Pearl Farm

It was as though we’d left reality and entered an advertisement for Bacardi. A group of friends taking a leisurely boat trip across the turquoise water of the Caribbean. Anchoring and carrying a cooler full of drinks onto a private beach. Snorkeling out into the water, lounging on the sand, drinking and eating pineapple burgers. This was our excursion to the Cozumel Pearl Farm: just another day in paradise.

The only pearl farm operating anywhere in the Caribbean is found on the little-visited...

Cozumel – Island of Swallows, Scuba and Cruise Ships

Almost ten years ago, we took a cruise leaving from Miami. Turns out, and we might have suspected as much, Jürgen and I are not cruise-people. We found it to be a week-long exercise in boredom, and even the scheduled stops were agonizing. Pushy vendors in Jamaica, Margaritaville in the Caymans, Bingo on-deck. Luckily, there was one bright spot on the itinerary: Cozumel. We had a fantastic time during our day on the Mexican island, and vowed to return one day. A decade later, we made good on t...

Río Secreto

A vast system of underground rivers flows through the limestone earth of the Yucatán Peninsula, with the largest found just south of Playa del Carmen. The Río Secreto allows visitors an exhilarating chance to walk, wade, and float through a massive network of subterranean chambers.

Río Secreto is one of a number of attractions along the Riviera Maya promoting themselves as family-friendly theme parks. Despite rave reviews, we almost avoided it for this very reason. “A special adventure in Secr...

Playa del Carmen

Still in the midst of its heyday, Playa del Carmen had to wait until the 1990s before being discovered by tourists and developers. The former fishing village is today a bustling city catering to club-hopping party people and sun-hungry beach-goers. We spent two days here and, almost despite ourselves, were left with a positive impression.

Playa (as it’s usually referred to) is a strange city, defined by a few very distinct zones strung out along the coast. We were staying in Playacar, on the s...

Where to Eat in Puerto Morelos

For such a small town, Puerto Morelos has a number of great eating options. We didn’t try them all, because there were a few we loved so much, that we returned to them over and over again. Here are our favorites, and one that we would urge you to stay away from.

Our unofficial office for the week was at Restaurante La Pirata. Finding a comfortable place in which to work is always difficult, so we were thrilled to discover La Pirata. Speedy internet, friendly service, and a pleasant and not ove...

Learning How to Scuba Dive

One reason Jürgen and I chose the Yucatán peninsula as our home for 91 days, is that we wanted to learn how to scuba dive, and Mexico’s Caribbean coast is one of the best places in the world to do so. After some research, we decided on the four-day certification course offered by Wet Set: a scuba-diving shop found in the village of Puerto Morelos.

We were introduced to scuba diving almost ten years ago, when we participated in a two-hour, beginners-level course offered on a cruise ship. There...

Puerto Morelos: Chilling in the Shadow of Cancún

After a week in Mérida, we took our first road trip, venturing east to the neighboring state of Quintana Roo. But unlike the majority of visitors to Mexico’s Caribbean coast, our destination wasn’t the party mecca of Cancún. Instead, we hopped a bus headed for the quiet village of Puerto Morelos, about a half hour south.

The Leaning Lighthouse is Puerto Morelos’ most well-known sight

With an agreeable blend of locals, expats and tourists, the small town of Puerto Morelos is found directly betwe...

Mérida’s Paseo de Montejo

One of the best reasons to travel is the opportunity to challenge your poorly-held assumptions and purge yourself of them. A child of the US Midwest, I grew up with the vague concept of “Mexico” as a dry, dusty place where poor people lived simply. This idea was embedded into my subconscious by a lot of factors; mainly, our proudly ignorant American culture, and a media overly reliant on stereotypes. By watching The Three Amigos and Speedy Gonzales, I learned to identify Mexico as a mud-walle...

Dzibilchaltún – The City of Writing on the Rocks

The longest continuously-inhabited Maya city anywhere on the peninsula, the ancient site of Dzibilchaltún is found just a few minutes outside of Mérida. The Maya occupied this spot from roughly 500 BC to 1500 AD, and they’ve left behind ruins which, though badly eroded, are a wonder to behold.

An eroded stele, and the Temple of Seven Dolls in the background

Dzibilchaltún means “City of Writing on the Rocks”, and was the name bestowed upon the place by the Spanish in 1689. Only recently did arch...

The Casa Catherwood

A few blocks west of the Plaza Grande and across from the Iglesia de Santiago, you can find the Casa Catherwood. Hanging on the walls of this gorgeous old home are the drawings of Frederick Catherwood, an English artist who was one of the Yucatán’s first modern-day explorers.

Catherwood, together with the American adventurer and author John Lloyd Stephens, embarked on a series of expeditions into the jungles of the Yucatán between 1836 and 1844. Together, the two men uncovered Maya ruins which...