How long is "Long Enough" to be in Akumal? We've stayed most often for a week, and we've been there for shorter trips. This time we stayed for 11 days. We still don't have an answer. The 11 days was nice…definitely nicer than a week would have been…but still not long enough!

March 6th we got up early and were at the airport in plenty of time for our 6 AM departure. There had been a bit of snow overnight and the plane had to go through some de-icing, so the departure was delayed about 20 minutes. The Sun Country pilot was able to more than make that up, thanks to a nice tailwind, and we arrived at Cancun about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Despite the proximity to "Spring Break", traffic at the airport was minimal and we were able to clear immigration, baggage claim, and customs in about 20 minutes and emerged from the terminal to find Avicar's Manuel waiting for us with a Verna with automatic transmission. That's a first for us; never had anything but a stick shift before. We were on the way south just about a half hour after landing. A quick stop at Covi in Playa for some agave-juice and then we were on to Akumal. We checked into one of the Bungalows for the first two nights and soon were on the beach. Later in the afternoon we made a quick stop at Super Chomak for a few supplies and on the way out the door ran into two Locogringos, Hawk and Needabeach. All of us, along with a bunch more people from Locogringo's forums, would get together for Happy Hour that evening in a very successful library fund-raiser. I know I am going to miss a lot of people, but to name a few more of the participants, Marco, Amantes de Playa, Wes242, Red Sky, Digummm, Nicky, One Poor Hombre, and of course Kay. Thankfully many of the details have sort of blurred, or I could be in trouble. I do recall something mentioned about a 2007 calendar with some interesting pictures, though, and a lot of beads. We finished off the evening at La Buena Vida.

Marco, Hawk, Kay, and Needa

Amantes, Marco, Hawk, and Needa

Craig, Marco, and Amantes

Kay, Craig, and Hawk

March 7th: after breakfast at Lol Ha we stopped in front of the web cam to say hello to everyone back home. Then it was off to Tulum for some cash and shopping. Swung through Akumal Pueblo then went to Lucy's for lunch...both fish and shrimp tacos, and they were just as good as everyone says they are. Hit the beach and did a bit of snorkeling. We saw a small eagle ray and the usual assortment of fish, then two turtles, one of which surfaced right next to Kathy. During happy hour we met some Locogringo "lurkers" from Seattle and had a nice chat with them, then met Marco, Hawk, and Needa at La Cueva del Pescador. Great margaritas and grouper fillets. We ended the day at the Lol Ha with coffee and dessert.

Craig, Marco, Hawk, and Needa

Dessert at Lol Ha

On Wednesday the 8th we started with breakfast at Turtle Bay then a little internet time at Cyber Akumal. We headed to the library with supplies and had a nice talk with Carlos. Maggie arrived and the chat continued, along with a look at the areas that are slated for a new roof. Carlos talked about his history: born in Akumal, then at age 4 moving back with his parents to Yucatan so he could attend a better school. After he finished school he came back to Akumal and went to work at the library. He also told us about staying in his parents' house in the pueblo during last year's hurricanes, how the whole house seemed to breathe in the wind, and their fear that the three-story building next door might collapse on top of them. It was a very interesting hour or so with Carlos and Maggie. We then moved from the bungalow to the Cannon House, lunched at La Buena Vida, then headed to the airport to pick up brother Jac and his wife Betty. During this day the wind began to pick up, but we managed to enjoy happy hour on the Cannon House terrace (and Lol Ha) and dinner at La Lunita.

Jac and Betty on the Cannon House Terrace

Thursday we again had breakfast at Turtle Bay. It was still very windy, which would continue through the weekend and into Monday. There were also some brief rain squalls and at one point the table umbrella on the terrace took off, bounced on the roof, and landed behind the house near the driveway. We rescued it then headed to Tulum and Coba. At Coba we rented bikes, which might have been more thoroughly considered beforehand, since none of us had done much bike riding in, shall we say, a number of years. Most of us survived the ride to Nonoch Mul, the tallest structure on the Yucatan, where Jac, Betty, and I climbed to the top. Kathy sensibly remained on the ground taking pictures.

Climbing Nohoch Mul

Descending Nohoch Mul

Descending Nohoch Mul

Jac and I biked back and Kathy and Betty shared a "Mayan Taxi". We made it back to Akumal in time for Happy Hour, then had pizza at Leo's.

On Friday we had breakfast inside at Lol Ha. We brought a load of clothes to the laundry and then checked email. We piled into the car and headed to Puerto Aventuras. Among other things we had lunch at Gringo Dave's and posed with Gringo Dave for a picture.

Kathy, Craig, Gringo Dave, Jac, and Betty

We wanted to check out the CEDAM museum, but they were closed for the early afternoon. We also located the ATM near the Omni, only to find it out of service (and apparently that's rather a permanent feature these days). We did find another ATM between the CEDAM museum and Paradise Realty, this one working. Back at the Cannon House, we went for a walk along the ironshore looking at the huge waves and took a short siesta. We picked up the laundry and enjoyed Happy Hour, then caught a CEA presentation on the reef. After a Turtle Bay dinner we were totally stuffed and ready for bed.

Saturday started at Lol Ha again. Still too windy to be outdoors. We went to the Xel Ha archaeological zone, checked out the murals in the ruins as well as taking the walk back to the Jaguar group and cenote.

Xel Ha mural, c. 300 AD

Xel Ha mural

Cenote Jaguar at Xel Ha

For lunch we stopped at Nacho's. Still good, but somehow it seems that Nacho has raised his prices. I can't recommend him any more because of the very high cost now. After lunch we headed to Hacienda Doña Isabel at the Bahia Principe complex for some shopping. We had a windy happy hour then drove up into the pueblo to drop some bibles off at the Catholic church. We all just felt like a simple supper of snacks back at the house and then hit the sack early.

Sunday was a fairly simple day. About the only thing we did all day was wander around Playa del Carmen, having a great lunch at Karen's. Much more (and somewhat better) food and drinks than yesterday at Nacho's for a little less cost.

Monday was interesting in a couple of respects. First we learned of a substantial snowfall at home, which ended up being around 20 inches! That made us feel quite smug, at least until we managed to get the car stuck in the sand while driving towards one of the beaches at Tulum. Might just as well have been at home in the snow! A nice couple from California driving a Jeep helped us out of the sand. We also visited the ruins at Muyil and had lunch at La Vita e Bella at Tulum. We had heard lots of good things about La Vita, but found it merely all right. We spent a little while in the pool at Hotel Akumal Caribe. Pools aren't my ideal, but after all the wind we just needed to be in water somehow! For Happy Hour we got together with Marco and family, Hawk and Needa, and Iguana Mama and her family. We brought some food back to the Cannon House from the Lol Ha.

Castillo at Muyil

Tuesday the wind finally began to calm down. We staked out a palapa just south of the Akumal Dive Center and spent most of the day on the beach. Saw three turtles and some other sea life while snorkeling, but the water was still pretty murky from all of the wind. A group of folks we know came down to Akumal from the Iberostars north of Playa for a visit…Sandi and Bob from MN, Ellyn in St. Louis, Blanche and Rick, and others. Had lunch with them at the beach bar and also visited with Iguana Mama, Falcon, Hawk, and Needa who were in the next palapa south of us. After dinner at La Cueva del Pesdador we spent time on the terrace at the Cannon House having our own happy hour. Jac and Betty were heading home Wednesday so we all went to a final breakfast at Lol Ha, then headed up to the airport. Back in Akumal Kathy and I had lunch at La Buena Vida then went snorkeling in Akumal Bay. After happy hour we stopped at a showing of some of Richard Mazzola's art at Turtle Bay, then had dinner there, followed by dessert at Lol Ha. We went back to the Cannon House terrace to look at the stars for awhile and decided we ought to come back again!

Last night: moon over Akumal Bay from Lol Ha

Thursday morning we were back at Turtle Bay for breakfast when they opened so we could be at the airport at 9 AM to return the car. All was smooth for both the return of the car (maybe 2 minutes) and check-in at the airport. Unfortunately more snow was falling in Minneapolis so the flight was delayed about an hour and a half, and as a result we had lots of time to wait before takeoff.