Jer and I vacationed in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, this past weekend. We arrived early in the afternoon on Friday and went straight to the beach! Our hotel, Omni Puerto Aventuras Hotel Beach Resort, only had 30 guest rooms, so we were expecting a pretty laid back and relaxed atmosphere. Boy, were we right! We were practically the only people on the beach! That meant we could lay out wherever we wanted, get drinks and food delivered to us expediently, and enjoy the quiet serenity. It was amazing.
Our room was very nice and spacious, but the coolest part was the private balcony. It had a seating area, a hammock, and a jacuzzi. The balcony overlooked the adjacent lagoon and marina. This is where dolphin activities were held, so there were about 30 trained dolphins there. I was hooked! Those animals are freakin' smart, not to mention adorable. I took about a million pictures of them. You could go right up to the water to get a closer look.
On Saturday morning, we headed out on a snorkeling expedition. We visited three different areas. The first part took us out to the open water, where we got to see some sting rays. There were tons of other, smaller, fish in those parts, but nothing too exciting. The second area we went to was more like a fun, adventurous break from snorkeling. There was a place to snorkel, but Jer and I just spent our time riding the zip line and doing some cliff jumping.
The third part of the snorkeling trip was definitely the coolest. We visited a cave, complete with stalactites, bats, and dark waters! It was a little creepy snorkeling in such dark water, but it was worth it.
On Sunday morning, Jer and I chartered a boat for some deep sea fishing. You could do a shared trip, with people you didn't know, and with whom you'd have to share time on the equipment, or you could pay extra and get a private boat. We opted for the more private experience! That way if there were only a couple of bites, we would be assured it happened to us and not someone else on the boat. We embarked on our trip with the captain and the first mate, who would prepare all the rods and bait for us, and help us get any catches into the boat. We started to get anxious when we went an hour without any bites, but then things quickly started popping! Jer hauled in the first catch, a beautiful bright yellow and green Mahi Mahi.
Next it was my turn. I hooked something and started to battle it, and I seriously had trouble! I turned over the rod to Jer because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to reel it in. It's a good thing I did, because Jer ended up battling it for quite a long time and it turned out to be a whopper of a fish! Check out this pic below...look closely and you'll see that I snapped it right as the Mahi Mahi was jumping out of the water. It was a huge fish!
Jer's arms were worn down after that, so I knew I had to step it up when the next one hit. My turn came along again, and this time it was a "normal" sized one. It wasn't easy by any means, but it was manageable! Here are our catches:
We had the first mate cut up one of the Mahi Mahis so we could eat it for dinner. We took it to a local restaurant and they prepared it for us in three different ways. I could not believe how much food came from that one fish!! We didn't get anywhere close to finishing it all.
Since Puerto Aventuras is a private, gated, self-sufficient community, we merely had to walk a few feet to get anything we needed. There were numerous restaurants and shops within a stone's throw of our hotel. Nothing was ever crowded. The prices were typical of a tourist town, but the portion sizes were generous. It was really nice to be in such a care-free atmosphere for a few days. It was hard to leave!
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