Jungle Cruise and Dinner on the Beach in Mayakoba, Mexico

It seems everyone who travels to Mexico has their favorite place to stay. Especially those who visit the beach resorts on either the Pacific side or the Caribbean side. For us, we like a resort about 40 minutes south of Cancun called Mayakoba for a number of reasons. First, we like how easy this part of Mexico is for us to get to. It’s only a 2.5 hour plane ride.

The other thing we like about Mayakoba is there are 4 hotels, all smaller than the mega resorts, to chose from. They range in price and 3 of the 4 do offer a meal package, if you would like.

What we like the most are the things included in your stay, like bicycles to get around the property, nature trails, paddle boarding, kayaking and eco tours around the jungle in a boat. On this day we took an eco tour in the boat with a guide.

This is over looking the lagoon and the dock where we picked up the boat. They also offer cruises where you can have lunch, cocktails or dinner.

The lagoon is partially man-made covered in mangroves. The water is brackish, a combination of fresh and sea water. There are cenotes (natural sink holes) throughout the lagoon that you can see under the water and along the shore.

This is a type of Heron

Much smaller than the great blue herons we see in the US. We took our tour in the morning so the birdsong was super loud.

Our guide called these birds, snake birds as they have long snake like necks. Looking it up, it’ s real name is Anhinga, originally from South America. It’s kind of hard to see but look at the nest with the baby snake birds. Mommy was feeding them while, Daddy was “yelling” at us to keep away.

The developer of this 620 acre resort has done a good job, preserving and restoring the area. It feels natural to the Yucatan peninsula, filled with wildlife and jungle.

We did also see turtles and a small crocodile but I did not get a good picture!

Below is where we stayed….just kidding (checking to see who’s actually reading this.)

This is actually a residence that you too can own for about $8M USD.

After a great jungle tour in the morning and an afternoon in the sun, it was time for dinner on the beach. We’ve noticed a lot more of these “pop-up” type restaurants around this part of Mexico. Smaller, less formal and by the next time you come it’s changed or gone. This literally was a bar and a couple of grills on the beach.

We got there just as the sun was setting behind us over the mountains. It was casting a very pretty glow on the beach

Grilled Oysters

They were offering fresh grilled oysters on this evening. They were topped with delicious butter and garlic sauce with bread to mop up the drippings. They were so good!

Oysters are one of my favorite things to eat but we don’t often have them grilled. After eating these, we wondered why not?

Two chefs took care of 90% of the food coming out to this small pop up restaurant. It was all open air right in the sand. It made me wonder what do they do when it’s raining?

The special of the night was grilled grouper.

We each wanted something different. When I said, that I would have the grouper, the waiter said, “You’re going to eat a whole fish?” Turns out they were not that huge and I guess I was hungry.

I had asked if I could go watch as they cooked my fish. That is something you don’t get to do every day.

Grilled Grouper and Veggies

It was really good, served in a simple grill. Until most restaurants who will de-bone it; you were on your own here. Good thing it was dark by then because, I was not very elegant in my de-boning skills.

Beautiful but windy night. So glad we were able to try this restaurant on the beach, as it may not be the same the next time we come!