Tulum

[Magnolia3]

Am planning a trip to Tulum in Mid March 2012... both to visit and possible house hunting..
Any suggestions on hotels, fairly inexpensive or dive ops that one would reccomend..
thanks..

[TSandM]

Are you looking for open water diving, or for cenote tours?

You might PM kathydee here on SB -- she's stayed somewhere in Tulum for about $50 a night, and she was happy with the accommodations. I know of several cave diving shops that have attached lodging, but that might not be what you have in mind.

[Magnolia3]

Are you looking for open water diving, or for cenote tours?

You might PM kathydee here on SB -- she's stayed somewhere in Tulum for about $50 a night, and she was happy with the accommodations. I know of several cave diving shops that have attached lodging, but that might not be what you have in mind.

I am done with caves... open water... thanks..

[CenoteXperience]

Diamante K by the beach is a very good option, well located and good rates.

Cheers

[Magnolia3]

Diamante K by the beach is a very good option, well located and good rates.

Cheers

cool thanks..what if I were looking for a long term rental? Not necassarily beach side... safe, inexpensive in that order..

[Oldbear]

I do not know if you have your heart set on Tulum, but as an alternative, right up the road is Puerto Morelos. It is often overlooked for more flamboyant destinations like Cancun and Playa.

Bret Neilson runs a nice dive shop there with his wife, who also is also manager of several properties. I have stayed there twice and my daughter a third time when she did her DM internship. The town is small, friendly, safe and quiet, with a few local bars, markets, shops and resturants. The town is still focused around its town square or Plaza. And English is no problem if you are not fluent in Shanish. When I was last there, there was only one large resort, but it was about a mile down the beach and you hardly ever saw anyone from it. I have never seen the drug peddlers there like I have in Cancun. I have been just amazed that the crowds have not found Puerto Morelos yet. It is about a 30 minute drive down to Tulum and about a 20 minute drive up to Cancun's beaches. The reef is nice; not Cozumel nice, but Mainland nice.


Here is Bret's website and you can email him for more info if this appeals to you.

Welcome to Dive in Puerto Morelos


Have a good stay where ever it leads you.

~Michael~

[Magnolia3]

thanks so much... the ultimate goal is not just a dive vacation. It is also semi permanent move out of the US.

I am a retiree on a semi fixed income. I have lived in tourist towns, never again. I don't mind having access to one...but slower pace of life is more to my liking. I have been interviewing, as it were, several places.. Dominican Republic, Belize, Mexico (yucatan specific) all are high on the list. I am up for any town that is relatively safe, as safe as anything in CA can be....... I never cared for the towns that are dominated by ExPats. If I wanted a little slice of the US in Mexico or somewhere else I would stay in the US. I grew up a military bratling. My feet get itchy for walkabout every couple or three yrs. Its that time again... and I want a place where I can do more than sit in a rocker and read books.. to young for that right now...
As for reefs, I don't think my skill level is ready for Cozumel just yet.. so mainland nice is fine by me.
I am pretty realistic about my skills levels... and my comfort zones.. pushing those limits was back in my long lost salad days. Thanks again.. I always figured that there had to be more than just Cozumel and Cancun...

I noticed that Xcaklak has a lot of dive sites too.. and I have a friend who lives there... if he is still alive he up and disappeared off the nets a yr or two back..

A.

I do not know if you have your heart set on Tulum, but as an alternative, right up the road is Puerto Morelos. It is often overlooked for more flamboyant destinations like Cancun and Playa.

Bret Neilson runs a nice dive shop there with his wife, who also is also manager of several properties. I have stayed there twice and my daughter a third time when she did her DM internship. The town is small, friendly, safe and quiet, with a few local bars, markets, shops and resturants. The town is still focused around its town square or Plaza. And English is no problem if you are not fluent in Shanish. When I was last there, there was only one large resort, but it was about a mile down the beach and you hardly ever saw anyone from it. I have never seen the drug peddlers there like I have in Cancun. I have been just amazed that the crowds have not found Puerto Morelos yet. It is about a 30 minute drive down to Tulum and about a 20 minute drive up to Cancun's beaches. The reef is nice; not Cozumel nice, but Mainland nice.


Here is Bret's website and you can email him for more info if this appeals to you.

Welcome to Dive in Puerto Morelos


Have a good stay where ever it leads you.

~Michael~

[Oldbear]

A.,

Puerto Morelos just might be waht you are looking for than...while there are a few ExPats there, difinately not as many as Coz. You might have to feel it out yourself if you get there.

I work in Kuwait and have joined a British Sub-Aquatic Clus here. And there has been quite a bit of talk of retiring in Cyprus. I know it is a different hemisphrere than what you where looking for, but at least if there are Expats there, they will be foreign to you.

Good luck with your search and I hope that your friend is still alive...they make better conversation that way.

Cheers,

~ME~

[Magnolia3]

I spent 1976-78 living aboard a sailboat and cruising the Med. Lovely place.. My instant reaction to your comment about Cyprus was, OMG NO, no place where the politics are unstable. The laughed at myself.. CA is not the most stable either. Check out Greece.. away from Athens along the coast.. stunning vistas, wonderful people. We wintered in Turkey and Greece both. It is much better away from Athens and the cities..

Since Mid November I have gone back three long weekends to DR... quite a few cruising buds have settled on the N Coast.. Sousa/Luperon/Puerto Plata. It's okay, but well.... again if I wanted a slice of the US.....

While Belize is not totally off the table. I have friends living there long term. I get reports from them almost daily.... and many are opting to move across the boarder to Chetumal, Playa and Merida. Hence my looking at the Yucatan.

Another draw for me, besides, weather, activities.. is the closeness to Florida via airlines. And then there are my kids... Son just got back from downrange and has decided to get certified... so has his GF and that means his sister ( who lives in crystal river, fl) and her husband will follow suit. Dtr has made 3 vacation trips to Cancun/Cozumel/Tulum in 2011 and loves the area. All this led me to start looking in the area for a long term rental to base from.
It has the things that interest me, year round tropical weather (that the med does not), its not a backwater with no cultural amenities, beaches and diving.. a place to have a boat... I grew up on boats, power and sail. Any day on or under the water is a great day for me.. a fairly stable government and so on....

A.,

Puerto Morelos just might be waht you are looking for than...while there are a few ExPats there, difinately not as many as Coz. You might have to feel it out yourself if you get there.

I work in Kuwait and have joined a British Sub-Aquatic Clus here. And there has been quite a bit of talk of retiring in Cyprus. I know it is a different hemisphrere than what you where looking for, but at least if there are Expats there, they will be foreign to you.

Good luck with your search and I hope that your friend is still alive...they make better conversation that way.

Cheers,

~ME~

[TSandM]

I don't know how "touristy" is unpalatable to you, but Tulum is pretty touristy. Yes, it's a real town, but the primary business is tourism. It reminds me of a Mexican Lahaina in a lot of ways, with the main street lined with shops that basically sell the same made-in-Taiwan tourist souveniers and clothing, and a lot of restaurants.

There are a number of small communities on roads going down to the beach, like Akumal and Casa Cenote, but they aren't really towns, and I suspect all of the homes are a) very expensive and b) owned by people from out of the area, if not out of the country. Places like Akumal and Puerto Aventuras also have a real pueblo on the west side of the highway, where houses are more on Mexican standard. We have thought about this, but security is an issue if you are not going to occupy the structure full-time.

You should also be aware that Mexican law precludes non-nationals from owning land within a certain range (I think it's 100 km) of the ocean, so all you can do is a long-term lease.

If you are just checking the area out, there are options for relatively low-cost long-term rentals. A friend of mine is currently renting a 2 bdrm condo in Puerto Aventuras for $500 a month.