This is basically a follow-up to the post from gandM under 'Isla Dreamin.' Since it's really about the town of Puerto Morelos, slightly south of Isla and Cancun, I'm starting a new thread.

We, too, have come to love this unassuming and slightly scruffly little town. It started as a one-night thing -- we just needed a cheap place near the airport where we could easily spend the night before driving on the next day to Akumal, Tulum, Merida or wherever, or then vice versa on the way out. But then somehow P.M. began to feel like home to us, more so than anywhere else in the region. Maybe it's because we don't feel like every other tourist has been there and had experiences identical to ours. Maybe it's the intimate scale of the place, and the way the resident Norteamericanos (not exactly rich themselves) seem to blend pretty comfortably into the Mexican community. Maybe it's the palapa-roofed pizzeria where we eat Mayan chaya pizza and play scrabble at least once every visit, or the way the Mexican hostess always welcomes our kids at Ojo de Agua's beachfront restaurant. The one downside, for me but not the rest of the family, is the lack of a pristine white beach with crystal clear water lapping at the shore. The sea grass in the shallow water catches bits of litter that really bug me when I wade in.

If not for this flaw, Puerto Morelos might be perfect. Then everyone might go there, and that would destroy it for me. So I'll happily accept it as it is, and do my shore-swimming elsewhere.