I just returned from a quick trip with the Bride to Puerto Morelos, Mexico. We left Birmingham, AL early on Saturday morning and arrived at the Cancun airport by 3 pm local. We had already arranged for transportation to where we were staying and were in our room by 4 pm. This was my first stay at the Azul Sensatori and an “all inclusive” resort. Our room had a view of the ocean (through lots of palm trees) and was very nice – including a jacuzzi in the room (which we never used).
Our plan was to relax on Sunday, go SCUBA diving on Monday, more relaxing on Tuesday, and we were scheduled to leave Wednesday afternoon. We went mostly according to our plan, but we did have to avoid the rain showers every day. As it seems with most beach trips, the nicest day was the day we were leaving…. After living abroad in an arid country for a year, I was more than ready to play in the water so I took my mask and snorkel with me. I also took our point and shoot camera with me that is waterproof down to 60 ft to see how it would perform. I spashed around in the water in front of the resort and saw a sand ray, a small coral reef, many small fish, a Trigger Fish that kept swimming by checking on me.
On Wednesday the bride and I went SCUBA Diving with Wet Set Diving Adventures in Puerto Morelos (www.wetset.com). I had arranged for a taxi the day before and it was waiting on us when we arrived downstairs. The taxi ride was approx 15 minutes away and we quickly filled out the appropriate forms and were fitted for gear. I have nothing but great things to say for this dive operation, but as a note I will probably bring our own gear next time. My wife had some difficulty finding a wetsuit that fit properly (we have one at home) and the fins were full foot fins and I prefer the ones I have instead. I’m not saying anything about the dive operation at all – they were great! We just prefer our gear that we know fits properly and we are comfortable using. I did like that everything was included in the price and the staff was very knowledgable, helpful, and I will use them again if I am in the area.
We did two dives. The first was a max depth of 60 ft at Grouper Alley (we didn’t see any large grouper) and the second was a max depth of 45 ft at Pez Quad. Wet Set uses a small boat as the dive locations are fairly close to shore (15 minute ride). There were six divers, 2 dive masters, and 2 personnel on the boat. We conducted a backward roll to enter the water and after the surface safety check, began the dive. We were diving in a Nature Preserve. That may sound odd to non-divers but underwater areas need to be protected as much as areas above the water. This prevents anyone from catching or harvesting any wildlife and the results are obvious! The lobsters were huge and plentiful! It was almost impossible to look and NOT see several fish. We saw many fish including an Angelfish, too many lobsters to count, a scorpionfish, and even a small spotted eel. Here are just a few shots taken from my little point and shoot camera.
After diving we had lunch at the local authenic Mexican resturant, walked around the small village of Puerto Morelos and did a bit of shopping. After a busy morning, we were ready to take a quick nap before hitting the beach in the afternoon.
Tuesday and Wednesday went by very quickly and all too soon we were headed to the airport to go home.
I love this part of the world and plan on coming back soon. We have stayed in Cancun and Puerto Morelos. I think next time Playa de Carmen is on our list of places to stay.
bad biscuit 