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Here's a sneak peek from this
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week's episode. We did book an excursion on that first trip to go to Chichen Itza. I think, again, that's like a big thing that if you haven't done, like it's a great thing to see. It's
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I'm Scott.
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And I'm Melissa.
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And we are the Sunshine Travelers. Our passion is travel and sharing our experiences with those who enjoy it as much as we do, or those who want to learn more about travel, or even those that just want to live vicariously through our travel stories. No matter where you follow along that journey, get ready to hear about our first-hand experiences as we visit some of the most interesting and amazing places on Earth. One of the places that Melissa and I have been many times as we started our journeys outside of the U.S. is Cancun, Mexico. Many people recognize Cancun as the home of all-inclusive resorts, but we want to show you a way to visit Cancun and experience the ancient culture, foods, and places to play while you're visiting. So pack a bag and let's take a short trip south of the border as we experience Cancun.
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You know, Scott, I'm actually very surprised that we haven't talked about Cancun or Mexico in general until now. It's one of the places, as you mentioned, that we have been. I don't even know how many times I didn't even try to count that we have been a lot.
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And this was before we kind of set our minds on going to different places, right? We were just looking for something to do that was outside of the ordinary, beyond what we had done before. And so we decided that very first time that we were going to go down to Cancun and stay at an all-inclusive
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resort. Yes, we did. I mean, we wanted to do the beach and we wanted to do somewhere tropical. And so we, we settled on that.
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And quickly it became love of ours, right? Because we went down there several times after that trip. Yeah,
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we've been, we've been a lot. So on that particular trip, I think that was for our 15th anniversary. And we actually stayed at a place that is just, it's near Puerto Morales. It was called the Secret Silver Sands. It was an adult all-inclusive. And like you mentioned, that was the first time that we had been to Mexico, not out of the country. We had traveled to Germany and, but to Mexico. And so now it is called the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun and they've done some renovations and things like that. But I think it's a family resort. So it was all inclusive, which we loved. I think we just wanted a relaxing vacation and just kind of have everything included. But what was funny is I think that second day we like we went and had massages and we're sitting there and you were like, I want to go. I want to go do something. I think that's like a pattern with you. And so you're like, OK, where can we go? And you went and found like they had like a tour. you know, place where you could book tours and stuff like that. And so they had something where we could do like jet ski, like a snorkel jet ski trip that went into Cancun and they would take you or we organized it where we could go into Cancun. I think it's funny. I think we just wanted to see a little bit more because there you really couldn't. You couldn't swim in the beach, like you could get in the pool, but you couldn't swim in the water. That area is very rocky and stuff like that. And so I think we're just like, okay, we're here, but we're just really felt maybe confined to just seeing that. And so we wanted to see more. So that was what we did on that first trip.
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Yeah. And, you know, I know a lot of people like to go to the all inclusive resorts and they'll sit out by the pool and they'll, you know, they'll have drinks all day long and, and that's what they enjoy doing. I think for us, it was just, you know, we were there, we enjoyed the pool, but I was like, we're in Cancun, we're in a different place and all we're seeing is this resort. And so we really did want to step outside of the resort and see other things. And so when we talk about this, there's nothing wrong with all inclusive resorts. Matter of fact, there's a few that we've talked about that we'll probably still go and see in other places. For us now, when we go down to Mexico, We're all about experiencing, like I said, that ancient culture and the foods and stuff like that. You know, I really don't want to go to Mexico and go to a hibachi restaurant.
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Yes, that's true. I think we do. We enjoy Mexican food. And so I think even when we go to some of the places that may be considered more touristy or upscale when we go to Cancun, like they typically, though, are somehow related to like Mexican food as well. Well, so I will say though, that I think that we have been to Cancun so often is because it is a way that you can have like a relaxing vacation for several days, but then also get out and do some other things too. So I think a lot of times, just like we've talked about your work before and things like that, is that you've needed that as well. Like you've needed that relaxing vacation. It's just for us, if we've gone down there for say a week, Like we, we don't do that for like seven whole days. Like we, we still want to be able to have a chance
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to go do some other things too. Yeah. I think one of the other things is like from where we lived in Atlanta, it was a four hour trip to Cancun and we could go and drive four and a half, five hours and get to Panama city or we could go to Cancun. And for me, I was always choosing Cancun over Panama city.
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Yes, that's that's true as well. So since then, when we have gone, we have always stayed in Cancun and we've always stayed at the same place, which is the Westin Laguna Mar. And so the first time that we went, it was actually owned, it was actually a Starwood property. And we got invited to go down there and do that for like three or four days and do the timeshare presentation. And so that was a shorter trip. We did that for three or four days and It was just a way, I think, for us to get down there. And pretty much since then, we've always also used airline miles to travel down there because it hasn't been very many. And like you said, it's a quick hop from Atlanta. The flights never cost us that much. And so on that first trip, again, we had a few days to spend at the pool, but we did book an excursion on that first trip to go to Chichen Itza. I think, again, that's like a big thing that if you haven't done, like it's a great thing to see. It's actually one of the seven wonders of the world. And so we booked that through the hotel concierge
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there. And by the way, the hotel concierge is at the Westin Laguna Mar there in Cancun. They are top notch. They're the best in the industry, I think. Matter of fact, some of them have been there throughout all of the years that we've been doing this. And so we still see them. We still talk to them when we go there and, you know, just fabulous, but they will help you book any kind of excursion and stuff like that. So I don't, I think no matter where you stay, they're going to have some kind of concierge like that because often these concierge just get some type of kickback, I believe. for booking these tours and travel and stuff like that. Matter of fact, they want to book your dinner reservations as well. And they call down and they're like, hey, this is so-and-so from the Westin Laguna Mar and want to book our people. And they give you a coupon for some free drinks and stuff like that. But using the concierge, we started just having conversations about what are some of the other things that we can do in the area. And so we've gotten a lot of great recommendations where we ventured out away from the hotel zone and we're able to go and experience some of the local cultures, the local food. There's a place in downtown that we like to go and eat. And I would say it's probably for the locals. It's like one of those places where you might go for a special event or something like that, because it is a little bit kitschy. But, you know, when you go in there, it's a lot of local people eating at that restaurant. And that's called the La Prilla.
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Yeah. And I think we've noticed like we've been there on like a Sunday before they'll have like more like a buffet, like almost like a, like a family, you know, buffet. And so it's, it's super crowded. So I did want to mention that. So that it's funny enough that that was the place that we actually went on that first trip. So we came into Cancun, they brought us, we did the snorkel tour and then the person who drove us, we said, okay, Hey, we've got a few, we've got some more time with you, like take us somewhere. So they took us to one of the touristy markets. So that area, though, is actually close to where like if you were on a cruise ship, that's where you would come in. But in the hotel zone, like it's a little bit of a trek to get there. So the market, I think, is probably intended more for the cruise ship type things. But I don't know that then you have to walk several blocks to get to this restaurant. So he had taken us here. Hey, you need to go here. like you mentioned La Prix, I think we have actually been there on every trip since. That's how good the food is. And so now what we do, and I think Scott was going to mention this later, but now what we do is when we get there, because the place, the Western Laguna Mar, it's like condos. And so we have like a small kitchen or a kitchenette. And so we will make the trip into town to go to like the Walmart Super Mercado that we've been to the Costco a couple of times too. But before we do, we'll, we'll usually try to combine it with a trip to this, like eat at this La Perea fill up. So we're not like buying all the things and then go do our shopping. Yeah.
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And, you know, I mentioned it's a little bit kitschy because like I was looking through some of the videos that we had in the last trip when we took Will and Emily with us, you know, there was a little guy and he was balancing several margaritas on his head and walking to the restaurant. So, you know,
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Oh yeah. Well, we'll have to post that video too. And I think they do, like they'll have the mariachi and stuff like that. But, but you're right. Like it does seem to not just, it's not like a, just a touristy place for sure. Yeah. Excellent food. Funny enough, we always laughed because where we used to live, there was like a whole chain of La Pereas as well.
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Yeah, I think that's just a common name. Yeah. So we went on that trip to Chichen Itza. We went during the middle of summer. So it tends that we always go either around our anniversary or Melissa's birthday, which is right dead middle of summer. And so it's pretty hot there, right? You know, this is a kind of a desert climate. So when we would go there, really hot temperatures and we decided that we would go to Chichen Itza and that was that was a fun experience except for melissa on the trip over they had coronas on the bus and you know who doesn't like a good corona on the bus when you're driving over and then it was really hot and i remember we almost lost melissa chichen itza
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I almost passed out. And it wasn't because I had too much to drink. I just think it was like really like you really needed to be drinking, drink, be drinking water. And you mentioned about the weather. We have been in the fall as well. And I think that it's always been very warm there. So just plan for that. Like it's always been
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very hot. I can't remember if it's really arid or humid. I think it's humid because it's near the ocean. Heat and humidity is something that you can expect there.
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Yeah. And we're used to that. It was just, just especially hot. So, so we definitely recommend that do that trip. So if you're going to do a trip to Cancun, that, that Chinchinita trip is very good. Now you could all, you could rent a car and you could drive there. We actually did it on a tour. So they had like the trip to Chinchinita, you had lunch there. And then on the way back, they took you by a cenote and you had a little what bit, a few minutes to swim in the cenote as well.
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Yeah, so you want to tell people what
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a cenote is? Yeah, so a cenote is a natural sinkhole and it results from the collapse of the limestone bedrock and then it exposes the groundwater underneath. And they are very, very common in that area, in that Yucatan Peninsula. There are a bunch of them. So we have actually been to several since then, but you can, and we'll talk a little bit about like how to find some later, but just all over you can find them. There's other places as well, but they are all over in that particular
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region of Mexico. And I guess we probably should have, you know, said a little bit about Chichen Itza as well. You know, Chichen Itza is Mayan ruins, so built back in the time when the Mayans lived in that area of Mexico. And, you know, these were very, very intelligent people. They were very in tune to the sun and the stars and stuff like that, as well as mathematical.
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Yes, and we had mentioned that we had gone to see them in Yucatanich as well when we were in Belize, but very mathematical. They're basically pyramid structures and they coordinated their architecture of them to the sun. So like the summer and the winter solstice and spring and the fall equinox. And so now we haven't gotten to see that, but if you fall, if you get to see them on those particular days, tell them what
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you see, Scott. Yeah. So one of the times, and I don't remember which one, but it cast a shadow onto the pyramids and it looks like the pyramids are just broken in half the way that it casts this particular shadow. And then on the others, it has a shadow that looks like a giant serpent on the pyramids. And that was, they planned all these festivals around those times, right? They didn't necessarily call them the solstice or whatever, but they knew that at specific times of the year, the sun would align just so that the shadows would fall. And that's how they planned all of their calendar was around those seasons, if you will. Right.
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Yeah. So it's absolutely fascinating that way back when they were able to like not only understand that, but then construct everything in such a way that it would just be like this spectacle as well. So if you, if you want to see that and you plan to see that definitely plan ahead. I would say for that, for that particular time, you would want to book your, book your tours ahead of time or make plans ahead of time to be able to go in and see those. And and tension eats is not the only one that is just the most common one, the most prominent one. These types of phenomenons take place at some of the other ones in the area as
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well. But like you said, this is one of the seven wonders of the modern
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world. So. Right. Yeah. So I would highly recommend that because it is, I mean, that's, that's a big deal to get to go see one of the seven wonders. So I would definitely recommend putting that on your list if you're interested in that type of thing and you have a tour guide and things like that to tell you about all those as well.
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And I think with all of those, if you want to drive yourself there, so you want to rent a car and you want to drive yourself there, you're still going to need a tour guide inside the park because they require that you have a local trained tour guide to take you through.
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Right. And that's what we had talked about. That's what we had found out in Belize. So another time when we were there, we rented a car for a day and we drove down to Tulum and went to see the ruins there. And so in that case we did, we hired a guy once we got there to walk us through and like tell us everything and show us everything again, just so that we could learn, like what we were seeing. I'm not sure if it's required there or not, but it just same thing is that we found out in Belize like you just understand what you're seeing and they can tell you so much more about like what it is that you're looking at and and like what they what everything was used for and things like that as well. So, a couple of tips about that. So, whenever we've stayed in Cancun, we haven't rented a car for the whole time. So, we, that Westin Laguna Mar is in the hotel zone, and there's places to rent a car. I think we always rent a car just from a place across the street. We don't need it for the whole time, so we just don't want the cost. And so, you can just rent those. So the other thing I would say, though, about if you want to go to Tulum and you're not staying there, just be aware that you might want to do some research about like how you could get into a place or like rent like a like at a beach club or something for the day, because a lot of those places in Tulum, if you're not staying there, it's hard to like, like get into the place. It's hard to find a place to park. It's hard to, I mean, yes, there's restaurants, but to like go to the beach and stuff like that. So you might want to do a little bit of research there. Like if you plan to see or go to one of the places that like you see Tulum on, let's say Instagram or something like that, it's going to be hard for you to get in there. So you might have to actually, even if you're not staying the night, you might have to like rent a room for, you know, for a night just so that you have access to that if you want to spend some time there.
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One of the other things, and the concierge at the Westin told us this, and I think it's important for you to know, first of all, let me say, we've never felt unsafe in Mexico. I've heard lots of stories that people have out there, but we've been all up and down the hotel zone, we've been into the downtown, and never once have we felt like we were not safe in Mexico. But one thing that the the concierge told us and so every time that we rent a car we make sure we do this is to take $20 and put it in your wallet and then hide the rest of your money because inevitably you're going to be stopped by the Mexican police or the Cancun police or whatever they are. And they're going to shake you down for money. They're going to want you to pay the fine right there on the spot. And so if you keep that $20, you know, you show them, look, this is all I have, $20. And usually they will take that. You don't necessarily offer it to them, but once they ask you for money, just pull out your wallet, show them that you have $20, make sure everybody in the car is well aware of what's going on. It did happen to us. So we were coming back from Playa del Carmen one night. We were doing the same speed as everybody else around us, but then all of a sudden I saw a flashlight on the road and it was motioning me to pull over. The guy comes up to the car, and he tells me that he pulled me over for speeding. Well, I was going the same speed as everybody else who was around me. But then later, he comes to the door with something that looks like a pitching radar gun. So it's not a real radar gun like you would expect to see from the police. you know, it looks like something that you might find a ball field or something to measure how fast a pitch is going. And so anyhow, we were thankful because she had told us this and prepared us. And so when it got to, you know, him asking us to pay the fine there, you know, directly to him so that he could help us out, that's when I, you know, went into this bill about, well, you know, we're leaving tomorrow. All I have is this, you know, $20 bill. We've spent all of our money. And so he was like, well, you could at least buy my partner and I a cup of coffee. And so we gave him the $20 and then, you know, got onto the rest of our, our trip. But, uh, you know, it's an inconvenience. It's, it's probably a little bit scary, like the first time that it happens, but the end of the day, it was a, it was no big deal.
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Yes. And that was the only time that it's happened. So, but she did tell us she had helped us organize the car the first time and just said, Hey, you need to know this. And so we were extremely thankful. And we saw her the next day and said, Hey, thank you for telling us this.
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Thank you for telling this like eight years ago about this, because we we actually used
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it. We encountered that. Yes. So so we have been to Playa del Carmen a couple of times. And funny enough, the first time we went, we actually found a tapas restaurant. So we've talked about that before as well. We love to eat tapas. And so we wanted to kind of get away from, again, the touristy area. So Playa del Carmen is another place where lots of people go. If they're not in Cancun, they'll go down there. There's lots of hotels and lots of resorts, beach, things like that. So they have a very touristy shopping and dining district.
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Yeah, like a pedestrian path where, you know, it's closed to traffic and only people can walk through there and stuff like that.
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Right. And as you know, like, so the restaurants are going to be more expensive in that type of area and probably and usually not as, you know, high quality as well. And so we had found this place called El Tapas and Company. I think we just found it on TripAdvisor or something like that. And fantastic. We will leave a link to that, like the Google so that you can find it in the show notes, but it's outside of the tourist area on 15th and 10th. It's near this big plaza where they have markets. The last time we were there, I think they were having a market, but the best and inexpensive tapas that you will find. So we have actually been there a couple of times to that particular restaurant and eaten there as well.
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Yeah, so also down in that area between Cancun and Playa del Carmen is the Puerto Morales. I think that's the name of the area. And that's where we've gone several times to go to cenotes. You can just drive down into that area and there's a long road and there's lots of different cenotes that are off of there. We've got one that we went to, it's called Kenha. And believe me, Melissa, this is the one where there was a big hole in the rocks, and you just jumped down in the hole. And then underneath the rocks, there was like a pool, the natural formation down there. And you could swim around in it, but you had to jump down. come to find out there's a way that you could walk down some stairs to get there. But the main way is to jump through this hole and you don't know what you're jumping into, which is, I guess, kind of the fun of it. But, you know, and it's really fun once you're in there is to swim out by that hole and just watch people as they're jumping in. And, you know, they can't see down in because it's bright outside and it's darker. down in the cave, but, you know, they're like, do it, do it, you know, and then they scream as they're jumping in and they make the splash and, you know, really was a fun time.
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Yeah, it is a lot of fun. So the cenotes, they have like open cenotes or partially open. So I don't know if that one, that one would really only had the hole. So I don't know if they considered that one of the partially opened or one of the underground or cave cenotes because that groundwater, right, is flowing on all, you know, all kinds of ways. So yeah, so we did that. And a lot of these places have like life jackets and changing rooms and bathrooms and little restaurants and stuff like that. And so on this particular road, which as you're traveling down that main road and you're going past Playa Morales down to Playa del Carmen, it's actually called Monumento ruta de los cenotes. There's a big sign on the right hand side of the road and you travel up there and then I think it's like a dirt road and there's a whole bunch of them off that road.
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And I got to thinking, we went with Will and Emily to another one I remember where they had the platforms.
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Yeah, so then they had the open one. I think it was, may have been at the same, like it may have been the same complex, right? So a lot of these they've turned into like little parks, right? And so you'll pay some kind of admission to use their lockers, to use their bathrooms, to use their life jackets. And then I think they had like a little truck that took you out. So you're right. So that one was an open one. And so they had built some ziplines and you climbed up the ladders to the different, they had like some different levels and then they had some rocks you could, you could jump off of. So that was a lot, that's a lot of fun just to go and explore those different cenotes. There's a bunch of them on that particular road. Um, there's a bunch of them in that area. And so like if at your hotel, like you could definitely just ask, you know, a concierge or something like what's your favorite one or where would you recommend that, that you go as well?
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Yeah, and so while we're in that area, though, we went to and had a cooking class on that road.
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We did. So that cooking class was actually before we had done this cenote. So at the end of 2020, we actually got a really great deal to go down there and stay at the Western Laguna Mar and we hadn't been a lot of places that year. And so we were like, let's, you know, let's go and let's do this. What, what can we go do that's different? And so we booked this cooking class actually through Viator. The place was called Mexico Lindo. And that time we probably should have rented a car. I'm not really sure why we didn't. So we had to get we had to get a person to drive us, which I think actually ended up being pretty expensive. But that particular time it ended up only being us. I guess just because of the time period that it was, I think it was like five or six hours. And we cooked chicken tingo. We made tostadas. We made They made corn tortillas from like absolute scraps, like started with the corn, soaked it in the lime. Like I helped her grind it and then she made the tortillas. We made caramel flan. We made beans and the churro beans, like a ton of stuff. Like all day long we were cooking with her. And of course she had some assistants like helping, but we had like an absolute feast. She took us through like a tequila tasting and told us all about. So like in the U.S. like people do like tequila shots and stuff like that. But there like tequila is for sipping with family on special occasions. And so just having them tell us like all these things about. like the Mayan customs and their customs because a lot of the people that were helping her were Mayan descendants and were helping her do that. And so she was actually switching back and forth between speaking English to us and speaking with them and then also speaking Spanish to some people. as well. So highly recommend that we actually have a link. I'll put the link in the show notes to that, but we have actually have a link on our websites under tours and experiences where that one lives all the time. So if you're ever in that area, want to do a cooking class, I would just definitely recommend getting a car and driving and you can have somebody take you there. But that was actually on that road because then we went to the cenotes. I was like, Oh, that's where we, that's where we went and did the cooking class that day.
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In another place, I think it's generally in that area, not necessarily on that road, but somewhere in that area, we did a tour one time and went to Xel Ha. And so that was like kind of a mixture of cenotes and like a river and stuff like that with this crystal clear water, beaches. And then they had food there, so that was all included in the price of the visit to Chau Ha. You could snorkel. I mean, that was, you know, if you've got kids with you and you're traveling and, you know, you want to get out and do something, that's a great, I think that was a great place to take kids and have fun.
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Yes, it was. I remember so we took Will, Will was on that trip with us and we took him and he would do like climb up and like jump off the rocks and climb up and jump off the rocks. Love that. I think they had tubes you could do and like you said snorkeling, beaches. Yes, that's a great day trip. I think that that's one where they pick you up from a lot of different hotels as well. So that and then there's a lot of other ones that are just like adventure parks and like swimming parks and adventure and four wheelers and all kinds of things. So I would just say like see which one fits with your family and what they would enjoy doing and. Yeah. Book one of those. Cause it's just a lot of fun. And, and again, like Scott was talking about, they rely on our tourism dollars as well to have their economy. Right. So to have these adventure parks, to have these cenotes, their restaurants, all this type of stuff. So yeah, get out and spend, you know, spend some money and, and see some other things and do some fun adventure things as well.
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So one last really adventure thing that we did before we move on to maybe some of the places to eat is that we went and did a whale shark encounter.
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Yeah, so if you're there in July, that is when the whale sharks will be. Now for this one, I would highly recommend that you call and book in advance because we mentioned before, that's one of the reasons that we, it's really laid back to go there is because you don't have to pre-plan like all your meals before you go, all your excursion before you go and have everything because everything is not going to be sold out. But this is one, it's a short window when they're there. So if you, if you time it right, But I would definitely call ahead I think July timeframe. That was incredible. So you do have to be able to ride on a smallish boat out and back for a good ways. But those boat captains like talk to each other and So while there were a lot of boats, they have also very organized, right? So you like two people jumping at a time with the guy who's in charge, and he tells you exactly where to be. And they just kind of like, let them swim by you. But just being like, you just feel so tiny in the water. These things
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are the size of a Greyhound bus. That's how massive these whale sharks are. And you know, I've got a picture And it doesn't do it justice, but I've got this picture that I took on a GoPro, and it's this whale shark swimming directly at me, and it's got its mouth wide open. And just imagine, because its mouth wide open was as probably as tall as I am, and this thing is swimming directly at you. Yeah,
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that was incredible experience. So if you ever have the opportunity to do that, I mean, that was absolutely amazing. Then they took us back, I think pretty close to Isla Mujeres and fixed us like Ceviche. And I don't remember if we got out on Isla Mujeres on that particular trip, but we had Ceviche and stuff like that. So it was just a great day. I mean, again, that was a, that was a pretty good, um, long excursion as well, but highly, highly worth it. That was just a lot, a lot of fun. So speaking of Isla Mujeres, we have actually been over there a couple of times and to explore over there when we've had like a whole day. So that's a pretty easy ferry ride. You can like take the bus from that hotel zone and you'll see big signs, ferry to Isla Mujeres and for a few dollars you can take the ferry over there for the day. It feels like a totally different experience. Like it's like a tiny village on that island. Of course you could go over there and stay. So like if you want a different experience and you want to stay the whole time in Cancun, you could go over there and stay as well. Lots of restaurants. The water there is very different. At one end of the island, like it's just, what would you say? It's just like a, like almost like a bay and you can just like go out in the water and have a drink. You can rent a golf cart and that's what we've done a couple of times. We've rented a golf cart. We've gone to like the Turtle Center. We've gone all the way down. The last time we went all the way down to the tip end, which is called Punta Sur, and you could kind of like hike around a little bit and they've got a bunch of ruins. If you see, and I couldn't find the name of it, but if you see on the way or on the way back, this little restaurant that's kind of on the side of the road at the top of the hill with like these wooden signs that talk about frozen mojitos, you need to stop and eat there. I think we stopped and had lunch there. So it's a great day trip, I would say, just to explore something a little bit different there. The other fun experience that we had there, it was really hot. So the last time we went, it was in July, and it was really, really hot. And we saw, I guess, maybe a sign like advertising one of those ice bars, as I was called, ice bar. And it was so hot. And we don't we don't normally do things like this. But I was like, let's go do this ice bar. And you just kept on going. And I was like, no, I'm absolutely serious. Like, turn around. Let's just go do this. Like, that will be fun. That was one of the most fun things that we have done. We had Will and Emily with us. And again, it was so hot. We had taken them on this hike. And so, I mean, it wasn't cheap. It wasn't ridiculously expensive, but it wasn't cheap. And so we went in and if you've never been in one of those ice bars, so this particular one was like not a permanent structure, they had done it in like a container, like a refrigerated container. And so inside you go in and of course, it's freezing cold, they had these like little fur things you can put on if you want to wear them. And they had all these different lights and music and like little ice sculptures, right? So like Frozen, like Elsa stuff and like different ones, ice sculptures. But it just felt so good in there. And I think it was like a couple of drinks, like a beer and something included, right? You could buy more if you wanted. And but the deal was like you could stay as long as you wanted. But of course, I mean, I think what, 30, 45 minutes, maybe? Seemed like that. It probably wasn't even that long. So I don't have any idea if that thing is there all the time. couldn't really tell you how to get there it was near like a restaurant we saw signs for it right so if you're going on that road that takes you to like the turtle farm and then down to that puntas are like if they have it there you'll see it um but
00:35:12 SPEAKER_01
i think it's a beach club so there's a beach club right there and attach this beach club, they built this ice bar. And so if you want to go there for the day and you want to rent a cabana or a beach chair or something like that out on the beach, you can do that there. And they've got a nice bar that you can get drinks and stuff. But this ice bar was something else that they had added in.
00:35:37 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. So absolutely very touristy thing to do, but it was a lot of fun. So, and I know that they have those like in different places around the world. So if you ever get a chance to do that, just a fun little, just a fun little thing to do. And if you're on vacation, sometimes you just need to do those vacation-y type things, right?
00:35:54 SPEAKER_01
That's right. Well, let's talk about some places in that hotel zone where you could eat. You know, when we go, we typically go to the Walmart. We'll buy stuff to have for breakfast. We'll buy things to like fix a sandwich for lunch, you know, and those type of things, or maybe tacos or something like that. but we'll go to somewhere for dinner, right? And we'll go to one of the restaurants down that hotel zone. We've got a few that we really like, but let's talk about a few of those that we just really enjoy and always like to go
00:36:32 SPEAKER_00
to. Yeah. So the first one is called L fish for Tonga and it was actually on the show diners drive in and dives with guy Ferrari. So I said, okay, for a Ferrari, Ferrara,
00:36:44 SPEAKER_01
something like that.
00:36:46 SPEAKER_00
And so what was funny about this is though the first time we went or first couple of times we went that was before that. Right. And it really was like a dive. It's just like on the side of the street and you go downstairs, they have a takeout window that's right there by the road. I mean, it was fine. It just was, it was very plain, right? It was just very plain. Plastic chairs to sit at. I think
00:37:11 SPEAKER_01
still plastic chairs
00:37:12 SPEAKER_00
to sit at. It was a taco stand. Yes. It's basically a taco stand. Great fish tacos. Great. I mean, they actually have a huge menu. I think the first time it was like two for one cervezas or two for one Coronas or something like that. But just really good food and compared to the other places, like really inexpensive as well. Like it's nothing fancy. But since then, since that show, they have like this huge like octopus mural on the wall. They've put like rattan like light fixtures. I think the tables are still the same, just maybe different tablecloths or something. but maybe a little bit more elevated, but still great food. What's funny is like Scott had mentioned a lot of these places, like we'll see the same people who have always worked there, like they still work there and stuff like that. And so that's, that's
00:37:59 SPEAKER_01
really neat. And so typically on a visit, we will go to El Fish Fratanga once or twice.
00:38:05 SPEAKER_00
At least one, but usually twice. Yeah, I think there have been times when it's like been three times. That's a short
00:38:11 SPEAKER_01
walk from. Because it's right near the hotel. So sometimes we've done lunch there. If we just wanted to get out and, you know, have a break or whatever, we'll walk across, have lunch. Because like I said, great tacos, you know, fish or shrimp, they have good ceviche, really good octopus. I was looking at a picture of the octopus that we got there and I was really shocked by that because, you know, it's these tables out over the sand.
00:38:41 SPEAKER_00
And so what I would say about that, so in that hotel zone, it's basically just like a skinny piece of land where on one side you have the ocean and the other side is a lagoon. So all these restaurants that we're going to mention, I think all of them, they're on that lagoon side. So like, that's one thing that you might want to say, like make your reservation if you want to be outside or if you want to be on the water to have like your concierge say, like, we want to be on the water. So the next one is Porfirio's, which I know is a chain type of a place, but just really a skill place to go. Great food, great service. Yeah. So I'll fish for Tonga
00:39:21 SPEAKER_01
where your flip flops and your shorts and t-shirt over there. But when you go to Porfirio's, you do need to, you know, dress up just a little bit more. Going there. It's a nice restaurant. It's gonna be a lot more expensive than fish fatonga, but great food I mean matter of fact the last time we were there we're celebrating your birthday and Boy, they brought out all this stuff that was like a little sparklers and fireworks You know in your food and stuff like that and you know We were so afraid that this place was gonna catch on fire because it was really, you know blazing coming out of it
00:40:02 SPEAKER_00
So another place that we've been a couple of times, if not more than that, is Rosa Negra as well. So just really great food. And then also Puerto Madero, which again, it's like they have a lot of those in different cities, but just a good place to go. And Scott really enjoys their creme brulee.
00:40:25 SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I think they have some of the best creme
00:40:27 SPEAKER_00
brulee that I've I think it was like a caramel creme brulee or
00:40:31 SPEAKER_01
something like that. That
00:40:32 SPEAKER_00
was just the dulce de leche. Oh, there you go. But there's lots of other things like there's a hard rock close by. Well, so we should say we have been to see nor frogs. They are just for you know, just for fun type of a
00:40:45 SPEAKER_01
There's a whole party zone down there, got clubs and stuff like that. So listen, if you're into nightlife and the clubs and you want to go out and you want to go dancing, it is all right there. And those are things that you can do. Uh, you know, Melissa mentioned the send your frogs. We went there with my brother and his wife and you know, had fun and, Matter of fact, I even got called on the stage one time and had to chug a beer and take a shot or something like that. Yeah,
00:41:16 SPEAKER_00
totally not your, but you did it. Good sport. Been
00:41:20 SPEAKER_01
there, done that. Don't care to do it again.
00:41:23 SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so a lot of times, though, in the evening, we stay pretty close to that area. And so that's that's why we like pick these places. So in the course of like a week, we cover those places like if we're out a couple of nights, like so if we have gone over to one of the excursions or gone down to do cenotes or something like that. we would have stopped somewhere else or if we're over on the island or we would do our shopping and go to La Prija one night that kind of covers that kind of covers the gamut of those so but I would just ask as well so like ask your concierge what they recommend there have been a couple of other places that we would frequent that unfortunately like shut down you know during the pandemic or right after the pandemic or whatever that aren't still there there was a couple of other places that before we would always go to but these places have been Just a good so we also should mention at that. We always call it the mall across the street, but there are some places by the water there. that are good to eat too. So there's actually a La Perea there as well. So we've eaten at the La Perea branch that's there. It's not as
00:42:30 SPEAKER_01
good though. Yeah,
00:42:31 SPEAKER_00
it's not as good, but it's a place to go and you're on the water. There's a place called Tacos and Tequilas there on the water too. So it's just kind of, again, that's going to be more, I feel like you're more touristy stuff, but just don't, whatever you do, don't miss the El Fish Fatonga. Like for real, go, you have to like, don't get, I mean, you could get it to carry out by the stand, but just make sure that you go downstairs and sit by the water. And like, that's, that's funny. That's our top places. And I kind of felt bad, like making this list because like, this is the one place where we always go to our favorite places. And I was looking up something about that fish for Tonga now on this other person's blog. And he said, I know we'd always don't recommend like going to the same places, but like these places are just that good. And it's like, It's sometimes it's nice to go to a place and always go to those familiar, you know, those familiar places as well. So since it is a place that we travel to several times or have, you know, have gone to several
00:43:27 SPEAKER_01
times. So let's talk a little bit about, you know, you're going to fly into Cancun, uh, getting to the hotel. Our recommendation is that you booked that ahead of time to try the transportation from the airport to the hotel, because when you come out of the airport, You're gonna have a million different people trying to can I help you get a cab? Can I help you get a ride? Can I can I help you? Can I help you? Can I help you right and each one of these? People are usually attached to something right something that they're trying to sell you or something that they're trying to get you to You know go and see and do So our recommendation is arrange this ahead of time, they'll tell you where to meet them, and then you just go out, get in your car or your van or whatever, and go on. There's also going to be people inside the airport, so like right as you're walking out, and they're going to have signs that say information. No, those are not information desks. Do not stop there. Their primary job is to get you hooked into doing a timeshare presentation somewhere. So just walk as fast as you can out through that area and don't stop.
00:44:42 SPEAKER_00
And I'll be honest with you, we have found that it's almost just the same price to get the transportation like that the hotel books for you. So like the Westin Laguna Mar, for example, they have a, they have something that they organize. I've booked it like not through them thinking it was going to be less. And I think it's just been the same and you book it round trip and stuff like that. So I think that's just been the best option for us.
00:45:06 SPEAKER_01
Well, with any episode, one of the things, you know, for a destination that we always ask Melissa at the end of the episode is what should you pack? Hey, before you say that, I want
00:45:15 SPEAKER_00
to talk about the Braves games already started.
00:45:18 SPEAKER_01
Oh, is it something important about the pool? Okay. It's
00:45:21 SPEAKER_00
your favorite thing in the whole world. So
00:45:23 SPEAKER_01
one of the things that we really like about the Westin Laguna Mar is the pool there. This pool is fantastic and we spend a lot of the time while we're there in this pool because it's an infinity pool that looks like it just kind of drops off into the ocean. And you'll see a lot of people right there on that infinity side. And that's where they park for the day. And they just spend their day looking off into the ocean and enjoying that. And so if you have kids, they have like a little splash pad area for the kids. They have not so deep area pools. And then they have the big lagoon pool, bars that you can swim up to, get a cocktail. One of the things I was going to say about Walmart is if you go there, you can get your alcohol there at Walmart. So if you want to bring that back and you want to make your own margaritas and put them into a Yeti bottle and carry them down there with you to the pool, you can do that. That's usually what
00:46:27 SPEAKER_00
we do. If you're staying at a resort that allows that. So they do allow that at our resort. So
00:46:32 SPEAKER_01
obviously we're going to recommend Marriott property, but Anyhow, that would be something that you could think about. But make sure that you're allowing yourself time to enjoy this pool. They've got people that roam around. They'll give you free foot massage because they want you to go to the spa and get a full massage, which we would
00:46:54 SPEAKER_00
recommend. Yes, the spa is very nice, too. And again, comparatively, like in price wise, it's a great value for massages as well.
00:47:03 SPEAKER_01
So with every travel episode or destination episode, we ask Melissa to wind it down for us by saying, what do you need to pack on this trip?
00:47:13 SPEAKER_00
So definitely swimsuit cover up. You do want to do some nicer clothes for dinner because I think you do want to experience some of those fun, nice restaurants for dinner. Other than that, just shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, especially if you're going to venture down to over to Tuncininsa, down to Tulum, over to Isla Mujeres. So we always bring like a smaller cooler for the pool, like if they allow that. And that's something that you could pack as like your carry on as well. So you could put stuff in that and then have like a cooler or if you have one that folds up. So we bring like Yetis or some kind of cups for the pool to keep things closed. I also like to go ahead and bring some of those grocery shopping bags. So we'll like get a taxi to take us to the grocery store and then we have stuff to put it in. when we buy everything. And so, of course, you're going to want your hat and your sunglasses and your sunscreen because the sun is very hot there. And then again, a beach or a pool bag. Just keep it simple. So another reason that we like to stay at the Western Laguna Mar, and I promise y'all this is not sponsored. It's just this is where we go. But in any of those is because you have a washer and dryer. And so that just like you can just throw everything in there and then just not have like a lot of extra stuff because you can wash.
00:48:32 SPEAKER_01
Yeah, you can pack really light and, you know, watch those things two or three times if you're staying there. And yeah, it's, we're not sponsored by Marriott, but we would love for Marriott to sponsor us. If you're listening to this and connected to Marriott in some way, let's talk.
00:48:49 SPEAKER_00
Yes, because we do plug all the time. So thank you for letting us reminisce and share all these things. And so we hope that you will visit Cancun or that area and we hope that you will venture out and to see some of these other things as well. So the all-inclusives are nice and the Western Laguna Mar is nice, but to be able to see at least for a day or two on your trip to go see some other stuff. And I told Scott as we were Like repairing and I usually look at pictures and videos and kind of go back through, you know, what were the places so that we can link them in the show notes. And I was like, well, you know what? It's been too long. We going to have to make that trip back.
00:49:31 SPEAKER_01
Melissa, you said earlier looking through some of the photos made you want to go back. We'll have to do another episode where we take you off the beaten path in Cabo as well. I think that Cancun is just special to us because that is where we got comfortable traveling outside the U.S. for pleasure as a couple. If you're thinking about taking your first trip outside the U.S., this is an easy trip to make and it's very easy to navigate thanks to the friendly people in Cancun. And as always, we invite you to share your travel experiences with us. Send us a message and let us know where your first international travel was. We're always inspired by your wonderful stories.
00:50:07 SPEAKER_00
We hope you enjoyed this episode and we'll find some inspiration to help you with your travel journeys. Please consider going on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. The more five-star reviews we have, the more likely we are to be featured and discovered by others. Make sure to follow or subscribe to our podcast to be notified of new episodes when they are released. You can also find us on Instagram as Sunshine Travelers Podcast. Remember that's travelers with one L. Most importantly, share it with your friends and help them catch the travel bug. You never know, they may become your greatest travel companion.
