We got a condo! Yay! We finally found a condo, and a very nice one. It’s a brand new two bedroom condo that has never been lived in yet and has just been furnished in Playacar, the resort area of Playa del Carmen. It has a pool, washer and dryer, and air conditioning. It will be great to finally get settled.
The other day we took a trip down to Akumal to take the kids to Yal-ku lagoon for some snorkeling. Last time we were here Kelsey and I saw a sea turtle. To get to Yal-Ku you head into Akumal through the arches and then keep to the left. You follow this road all the way until you see the small signs that point you toward Yal-ku. They rent equipment there if you don’t have any (we do) or you can rent equipment at the dive shop on your right just after you turn after going through the arch.
This time wasn’t good at all as most of the water was all brown in almost the whole lagoon, we were told it was from the mangroves. The water was also murky in the areas that weren’t brown, so visibility was minimal. The only place we saw anything was right at the entrance when you get into the water. Definately not worth the entry fee of $6 per adult and $3 per child.
We left the lagoon and went to Akumal Bay. We drove back through the arch and up the road a few feet to park in the free parking lot, then walked back to the beach. We hung out there on the beach for awhile and the kids had fun snorkeling in the bay, they said that they saw lots of fish there.
I really like the beach here with all the palm trees along the beach, although the beach was a little small and crowded, however it was Sunday which is a busy beach day.
We left and headed back, hung out at the hotel pool for the rest of the afternoon and then had some pizza for dinner.
Monday morning we went to see another property management company to try about a condo, and they were able to help us! We were so happy. We found a two bedroom condo that was brand new and fully furnished with a pool, a/c, and a washer and dryer. Perfect! They said to come back on Wednesday and we could move in then. Sounds great! We looked forward eagerly to unpacking our car!
We came back to our hotel and our friends Deanie and Linda came by to say hello. They were on a mission to find Mrs. Fields’ Cookie Store that was supposedly somewhere near the ferry dock. Sounded good! I invited them to stop back by the hotel when they were done and sit by our pool with us, so they did. We had a quiet afternoon by the pool.
Ready for dinner:
At dinnertime we decided to try Babe’s Noodle Bar on the advice of a friend (Thanks, Mary and Paul!!) and it was absolutely awesome, I think we found a new favorite. And inexpensive too! John ordered the Thai peanut noodles, I had the Swedish Meatballs with cream sauce and mashed potatoes and pickled cucumbers, Kelsey had a chicken ceasar salad, and Jorden had the Pesto chicken noodles. Here’s a pic of John’s and mine:
All of it was delicious. We should have ordered half orders because we didn’t come near to finishing it all, but we ordered all full orders and four drinks and the bill was still only 312 pesos.
After dinner we bumped into Susie and Tyra. John decided to take the kids back to the hotel and I stayed to hang with the ladies. 
Tyra’s shark, Slick, was with her, so we decided to do a photo tour of Slick in Playa. Silly girls!
We found Grady at one point:
Slick enjoying a beer and a smoke:
Slick enjoying Grady:
Cowboy Bob injoying Slick 
Slick decided to go in a little closer:
Slick enjoying his female escort down fifth:
Slick at the Tequila Barrel:
What a fun night!
Tuesday we woke up and decided to go to Tulum. When we got there we decided not to see the ruins this time, though. We had already been to them three times, and we would be taking John’s brother to see them in a few weeks, so we decided to instead head down to check out some of the beaches. So instead of turning at the light towards the Ruinas, we went straight and made a left hand turn at the road that says toward Boca Paila. We headed straight down this road, and when you come to an “intersection” you can go right or left and there are little cabana hotels and beaches all along here. We first went right and headed south, and parked the van at the side of the road and got out to take a look. The sea was really rough here.
Then we got back in and turned around and drove up a little bit and then we got out to check out a little cabana hotel. I took a photo of the beach and a cabana, but I can’t remember which one it was called.
They are really neat, these cabanas on the beach, and they vary in price from really cheap for the really rustic ones, to more expensive for the nicer ones. We’d really like to come back here to spend a night or two.
We headed back down the road aways, toward Cabanas Copal.
Cabanas Copal are more expensive, and the grounds are very nice, it is on a bit of bluff above the water, and they have a spa and such. I think they are quite popular. I believe all of the cabanas along here only have electricity until 11pm at night, I think they work on solar energy, or generators. Here’s some Copal photos:
and here was a little kitty that Kelsey wanted to take home, of course!
We went further down the road, and this time stopped at Paraiso beach which is a beach bar, restaurant, hotel and cabanas. This place was absolutely beautiful, and if we come back I think we’d stay here. We hung out on this beach for a few hours. Here’s some pics of the beach.
When you first walk down to the beach:
The bar:
The kids, looking one way down the beach:
and looking the other way, North:
I REALLY liked this picture of Kelsey:
We played around for awhile in the water
then Kelsey and I decided to walk North a ways and see if we could see the Tulum ruins. We walked around the bend and came across this beautiful expanse of beach:
The sand here on these beaches was even whiter and softer than the sand in Playa. It was amazing. We got closer, and could see the ruins in the distance on the hill, past the fishing boats:
I just loved how the fishing boats looked on the beach, and had to get an artistic photo of one:
We then turned and walked back, and found this fishing boat that was banged up against a tree:
When we got back, Jorden and Dad were hard at work building a sand Pyramid.
I grabbed a photo of the beach quickly before a big wave could hit me and knock me out with my camera.
then I got a photo of the finished masterpiece:
What a proud face!
We left and returned to the hotel, and the kids again enjoyed the remaining afternoon in the pool while we talked with another family who were in from Calgary.
December 4
I don’t have much to report right now, but I just wanted to post some photos of our condo. We’ve just been moving in over the past couple days, getting things organized, catching the kids up on their schoolwork and spending a few hours in the afternoon at Coco Beach. So here’s some photos of our place:
Here’s the livingroom:
here’s looking inside:
(yup, had to throw the Canada flag in there!)
Here’s the kids bedroom:
(Jorden was resting) And it has lots of closet space:
Here’s our bedroom:
and the kitchen:
and finally the pool:
It also has two bathrooms each with a shower.
Anyway, that’s all for now, I’ll write more soon!