Low Season in Puerto Aventuras 2023
This year has been a much more typical low season, or at least that is what we have been told. When we first moved full time to the Caribbean Coast of Mexico we spent our first low season in a pandemic. We also had 4 named tropical storms that year. Last year during low season the world was ready to travel again and Mexico was high on their list. We had a family visit, and though the snow-birds were not here, there were plenty of tourists.
This year they say we still have record numbers of visitors coming through Cancun airport but it seems much quieter. Maybe it’s because high season was incredibly busy. The weather may also play a part in things seeming quieter. We have just come out of three consecutive heatwaves. One might wonder, how bad is a heatwave in the tropics? And wonder how we can complain when it seems to be always hot here. All I can say is when the locals complain it is hot – it is HOT!
So, what do we do to combat the drop in friends and the heat? A typical day means we get up earlier to do our morning walks. We eat and drink less, partially because it is too hot but also because eating and drinking is such a big part of the social life here. With fewer people to imbibe with, we just do less of both. Afternoons, when the temps are the highest, we have learned the beauty of siestas! I have probably read more books on this “summer break” than at any other time in my life.
We are fortunate in Puerto Aventuras to still have entertainment just about every night of the week. We enjoy at least one night or afternoon out a week listening to great music. This is also the time that locals catch up with one another. During high season we are all busy with winter friends and visiting family, plus restaurants are so crowded it is impossible to flutter around and visit.
We have a boat, which means, depending on the weather and the seas, we can always hop aboard and either explore the coast or visit our cove for some floating, swimming and snorkeling. Kayaking is another great option, which we can do right from our dock.
On days we don’t want to be on the boat but do want to be in the ocean, the PA Beach Club is a great option. Just the other day we were at the beach club and moments after we got in the water a summer squall came out of nowhere. It is amazing how the winds shift, temperatures drop and the clouds unload torrential rains. We gathered our stuff and sat at the bar enjoying the storm and an ice cold beer. A little reminder we really do live in paradise.
Many people like to visit cenotes in the heat of the summer because their cool waters never warm up.
We recently visited Isla Mujeres, which is lovely and a quick ferry ride from Cancun. We are planning to do the whale sharks in August and will probably choose to do it from Isla Mujeres.
This week we finally took advantage of the new movie theater just across the highway. It was scheduled to open not long after we first moved here but COVID hit and it never got around to opening, until recently. When it first opened all the movies were in Spanish. They now offer an afternoon viewing in English with subtitles in Spanish.
We always loved matinees back in the states, it was a great way to beat the heat and the crowds and enjoy a movie, but the cost had gotten so ridiculous that we rarely did it. Here the tickets for both Mike and I together were 80 pesos (less than $5). If we go on Tuesdays it is 2 for 1 – 40 pesos for the both of us. I can say Matinees will be back in our lives.
Mike and I have another website called Sac-be.com which started many years ago, but for awhile we let it go. It is back up, much smaller but still a good source of information. Sac-be means white road in Maya and this site focuses on things pertaining to the Maya World. We decided our dog, Manito, was an important player here in the Yucatan and so we’ve been working to build him his own blog. Stay tuned for more about that.
So, no matter how hot and quiet it is here, we have found ways to keep busy and are still are very happy to say we love our retirement life in Mexico. This is not to say it isn’t without some sad times. I found I was quite blue between Father’s Day and 4th of July, mostly because those were always times we were with our son, Matt. Missing family and friends is the one battle we face in our new lives, but as kids grow, and their lives get busier, it really isn’t the miles that make the difference. We just know that at this chapter of our lives we need to make the most of the times we are together.