Things to do in Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos sits thirty-six kilometres south of Cancún, halfway to Playa del Carmen. It kept its square and its fishing boats. The reef in front of it became a national park in 1998.

The reef and the lighthouse

The reef here runs close in, and the water between it and the sand stays flat. Boats reach the moorings in minutes. That short crossing is why families come.

• The national park. Just over nine thousand hectares of the Mesoamerican Reef, protected since February 1998.
• The leaning lighthouse. Knocked off plumb by Hurricane Beulah in 1967 and left standing as the town's mark.
• The square. One block back from the sand, with the fish stalls and the boat co-operatives around it.
• The botanical garden. Sixty-five hectares of mangrove and dry forest south of town, run by a research institute since 1982.

Behind the town

Inland the scrub starts at once. A road heads west off the highway past a string of cenotes and jungle parks. Quads, horses and zip lines all work out of that strip.

• The cenote road. Sinkholes in the limestone, some of them open pools and some of them caves with bats.
• Quad and horse tracks. Cut through low forest, dusty in the dry months and heavy going after rain.
• Zip lines. Usually strung over a cenote, and usually the last stop before lunch.
• Combined mornings. Operators bundle reef, cenote and land activities into one long half-day.

Practical

• From the airport. About twenty-five minutes from Cancún, a short transfer by Riviera Maya standards.
• Park rules. Snorkel trips inside the reef park go with licensed guides, in capped groups, on fixed moorings.
• Wind. Winter northerlies flatten visibility and cancel boats, mostly between November and February.
• Seaweed. Sargassum arrives from about April to October, and the reef holds some of it against the beach.
• Prices. A guided reef trip with gear costs about what a decent dinner costs in Cancún.
• Getting about. The town is ten blocks. Colectivo vans on the highway reach Cancún and Playa all day.
• Cash. The fish stalls, the co-operatives and the cenote gates want pesos.
• Season. Hot all year, wettest from June to October, with hurricane watch through November.