XCARET ECO-PARK SWIM AND LUNCH

Today was another early morning wake up. We are North of Cancun, in Puerto Juarez, but instead of seeing Cancun we are today taking a 50 mile bus trip to Xcaret (pronounced sh-karet) for the day through Cancun and Playa del Carmen rush-hour traffic. It took us about an hour and 20 minutes each way, including loading and unloading.
Xcaret is a beautiful eco-park - the Disney World of Mexico - with the added bonus of the Caribbean as a backdrop. The protected lagoons near the ocean are swimming beaches. The reef dives are just a few miles offshore to the left.
We got there about 10 am and there was a dizzying array of possibilities. We were basically dumped at the entrance without a great deal of guidance, so we had to navigate our way through the maze of alternatives and quickly decide how to budget our limited number of hours in the park. Each couple in the Caravan naturally had their own interests, so we quickly scattered, only to see other members of the caravan on occasion.

We knew we had come to swim in the Caribbean sea, so one of our must-do activities was the beach. We also had planned to dive in the reef, if at all possible, because of our fond memories of our Key Sal dive south of Key West soo many years ago.

We quickly made it to the changing rooms and into our swimsuits and found the beach. This is really a picturesque place. It was crowded with tourists from South America, Europe, Canada, the US, and many MOSTLY WHITE Mexicans! The Mexican tourists were not representative of the mixed native/Spanish blood of most of the population of Mexico.

The water was cool for an instant but wonderful to swim in for the rest of the time. Unfortunately, this was definitely an artificial beach built on a coastal reef, and they needed to pump more of that fine sand on the bottom to cover the sharp coral rock poking at the soles of our feet.
It was also quite hot.
After the swim we had a little time to enjoy lunch at one of the open restaurants. The buffet had many international delicacies as well as the Maya dishes. To the left is our new friend Ede Trockels.