This hotel (Plaza Cozumel) is so quiet at night! Great breakfast included. French toast, eggs, fruit, yogurt, granola, rolls, juice and coffee. Best one yet! Walked south along the beach. The shoreline is very rocky, so we had to walk along the Malecon. We wanted to find the hotel where we stayed before, probably twenty years ago, much further south. We recognized some things, but new piers have gone in and the area has been built up. Many spots to rent scooters, several dive shops, more cruise ships in port. We found our old hotel, Villablanca. It had been renovated and expanded. Fun to see the old spot. We had good snorkeling across from the hotel. Continued south past Villablanca, heading down to the park Chankanaab. We thought we could get down to the beach again ... read more

This morning we walked north along the beach past the smaller pier. There is a huge spa hotel down by this pier. More guys raking up the kelp. We wondered what they do with all this kelp, and we saw that they dig a big hole and bury it on the beach. Saw that many of the luxury hotels up in this area have sun beds, with a thick mattress, pillow, and overhanging canopy. We took our books down to the main hostel area and both grabbed a hammock. Bob was now in his element! Thought we might come back to the Yak Hostel after our time in Cozumel. Asked if there might be a quieter room. Last night, Saturday night, was very noisy, with music going until about 5am. This wasn't from within the hostel ... read more

Off to Playa del Carmen this morning. The one hour bus ride cost 62p per person. We had reservations at Hostel Yak. This turned out to be a very clean, modern place, with fast WiFi, fridge, hotplate, and included breakfast. It contained a dormitory area and studio rooms (which is where we stayed). The lounge area in the dormitories is open to everyone, and contained some comfortable seating and hammocks! We found the city very clean, with many tourists, bikers, restaurants, coffee shops. The hostel lady told us that the shops along Avenue 10 were cheaper and geared more to the locals, while Avenue 5 was geared to the tourists. The beach is fairly close to the hostel, about two blocks away. We found a spot for grilled tacos for lunch, then walked down to the ... read more

Rain this morning. The breakfast tables not under the roof were wet, and the cats were not happy. Off to Tulum today. We purchased our tickets yesterday, $21 each for the 4.5 hour ride. The rains let up by the time we left for the depot, but skies still overcast. The bus left right on time, 10:40. The bus was labeled Playa del Carmen, so not all that obvious. It was a first class bus, very comfortable, even a bathroom. Movies were playing on the pull-down screens. Some kind of hammer was attached to the wall by our seat. The Spanish sign said we should use this to break the glass in case of an emergency. Once we were out of Merida, we moved along the highway quickly. Bus paid one $21 fee at a toll ... read more

Spent the morning in Progreso. Walked east on the Malecon, then down on the beach. The restaurants and hotels are on one side of the road, the palapas with tables and chairs for the restaurants on the beach side. The waiters go back and forth across the street with the food. The street was very empty this morning, especially compared to yesterday! More dog paw prints on the beach than people footprints. Today noticed people with large orange bags picking up garbage along the beach. First time we have seen this here. At the end of the beach walk the pedometer registered 2 miles. Then we were off to Merida. We already had our return tickets, and the bus was right there when we got to the depot. It was an express bus with no stops, ... read more