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Published: July 31st 2010
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I've decided to become fluent in Spanish. To accomplish this I'm planning to study quite a bit in various countries. The first stop was at the
IH Riviera Maya Spanish school in
Playa del Carmen, Mexico. My mom is also studying Spanish, and she was able to make this trip, as well. Of the five weeks in Mexico, we spent three weeks taking classes.
The reason we picked the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area was mainly because American Airlines had a fare sale to Cancun. However, it was a wonderful and beautiful place to study Spanish. The water is blue, the beaches white, there are plenty of activities (scuba, zip-lining, visiting ruins, hiking, the beach, etc.), and the food and drinks are excellent and fresh.
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I flew from Springfield, MO to Dallas, TX where I met my Mom, who had flown in from Indianapolis, IN, and from there we flew to Cancun.
We arrived around 6:30 PM. One of the first things we noticed was the humidity and tropical feel to the air. The arrival area was busy with lots of cab drivers, shuttle companies, pickup drivers etc. We had reservations at Hostel Quetzal and had arranged an airport pickup, which
Quinta Avenida
Playa del Carmen eventually arrived.
Our plan was to spend the first few days looking at Spanish schools, getting oriented, and finding where we wanted to stay while studying Spanish (e.g. hostel, school housing, homestay, etc.).
The first morning there, we walked to Walmart to buy some food and other essentials. We also stopped by a Spanish school in downtown Cancun; the people at the school were friendly, however, it was next to busy roads and didn't have many interesting things around it.
Later we took a bus to the Hotel Zone. The Hotel Zone has a continuous line of resorts along the beach without apparent easy access to the beach.
The next day we took an ADO bus to Playa del Carmen. The main bus station there connects to the main pedestrian avenue (Fifth Avenue or Quinta Avenida) that stretches a mile parallel to the beach (about a block away). This makes it very comfortable to walk around and shop, eat, visit the beach, people watch, etc. Also, Playa's streets are conveniently laid out in a grid... avenues (avenidas) running north/south and streets (calles) run east/west. We liked Playa del Carmen much more than Cancun and decided to
study there.
We visited two Spanish schools and looked at about five hostels. The Spanish school we liked the most was
IH Riviera Maya and they had a price special, as well, so we went with them.
As far as hostels, we decided on
Hostel Rio Playa. It was located only a few blocks from the school (and we could walk from the hostel to the school on pedestrian roads), a few blocks from the beach, newer than some of the other hostels, smelled nice and looked clean. It also had a nice terrace/bar area with great views.
We then went back to Cancun as we still had a few more nights reserved at Hostel Quetzal.
During that time we also took a day to tour around Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres is a beautiful and small tropical island near Cancun. We took the Ultramar ferry from Puerto Juarez, which is cheaper than taking the ferry from the Hotel Zone.
One of the popular things to do in
Isla Mujeres is to rent a golf cart and drive around; locals have cars but other people cannot bring cars onto the island. So, we drove down the west coast, which had views
to the ocean mostly blocked by houses and other developments. We then drove up the east coast where the scenic road overlooks the shoreline/ocean.
After that, we drove to North Beach, parked, and walked along the ocean for about an hour. North Beach is the island's most popular beach with beautiful white sand and clear blue water. It is also close to downtown.
We then drove to downtown and found a little restaurant for lunch called "Loncheria el amigo lucas". We ordered fish, guacamole, nachos, and two beers. The food was excellent and low-priced... maybe $10 or $12 for the both of us.
We then toured around the island taking the reverse route and also drove around a lot of the non-tourist roads.
Overall, we enjoyed Isla Mujeres and it was worth the trip out.
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The next day we walked to
el Parque Urbano Kabah in downtown Cancun. It is a city park and has nice walking paths. It is also a calm place to get away from all of the busyness of Cancun. Lots of trees and plants. It also has a small museum about the history of Cancun. Before January, 23, 1970,
Cancun only
had three residents and was basically a coconut plantation! Quite a change since.
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Also, on one of the nights at the hostel we had a barbecue night and the hostel staff made
mojitos. We all sat and talked in the garden/patio area for quite a few hours while listening to music. There were two people from England, two Canadians, a few Americans, and a few Mexicans. We had a great time.
On Sunday we packed up and headed to Playa del Carmen and on Monday we started classes.
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