InPuertoMorelos.com

Many thanks to those who took part in our annual “Best In Puerto Morelos” survey. We started this survey as part of our Beach Reads newsletter back in 2005 when we owned Alma Libre Bookstore, so that visitors could share their favourite things about Puerto Morelos with other visitors (and to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything ourselves!)

So without further ado… here are the results of the 2020 InPuertoMorelos.com Beach Reads Survey. We will start with the last question we asked, and move up to the first.

Where are you from?

1. USA 48%
2. Canada 40%
3. Mexico 8%
4. Other 4%

What is your best tip or hint to give to a new visitor to Puerto Morelos?
The most popular answer to this question was “Get to know the people of Puerto Morelos”. The charm of our town really does lie in our people, from the friendly staff at your favourite restaurant to the people who smile at you on the street, it’s PM’s people that keep bringing you back. We had some other valuable tips too:

Next we asked, Do you use InPuertoMorelos.com for:
The Restaurant Guide? Yes, most people do.
Happy Hour Information? Yes!
Day Trip Information? No, never thought of that.
Vacation Rentals? No (Please have a look, this is how you can support this webpage 😃 )

Complete this sentence: Whatever you do, do not miss (BLANK) in Puerto Morelos!

1. The beach
2. Snorkelling
3. The square at night

Do you subscribe to InPuertoMorelos.com and use it to have your questions about Puerto Morelos answered? 86% of you said YES

What is your best “hidden gem” in Puerto Morelos?

• People’s #1 answer for this was Punta Bravo also known as South Beach.
• The Murals. Many houses in town and even the sewage plant have started painting murals on their walls. It is well worth your time to take a walk around town and see these.
• The Nobodies! These guys are a great local band that plays at several places around town.
• Mina’s morning yoga on the beach. More info here
• Fonda Americana Grill tucked away in La Colonia. We love it!

Which is your favourite Cenote?

1. Siete Bocas
2. Cenote Zapote & Lucero Verde (tie)
3. Cenote Kin Ha

Best place to listen to music?

A leader by a long way is the popular & pulsing Salsa Night at La Sirena followed by Monday and Friday nights at Tanino’s.

Where is your favourite Happy Hour?

The winner again by a landslide, My Paradise. This was followed by La Sirena’s rooftop bar.

Best place for dessert?

1. Panna E Cioccolato
2. Marquesitas (the stand in the square)
3. The bakery car that drives around town at dusk (People love that car!)

Best place for breakfast?
Congratulations again to the long-time winner in this category, El Nicho. Honourable mentions go to Mangata and Lola y Moya.

Who has the best Mexican food?

There was a surprise winner in this category! And a first ever showing for this family-run restaurant that has been around for many years.

1. Tuch Tlan
2. Tacos.com (the original)

Honourable mentions go to Blue Morelos and El Socio Taqueria Naiz.

What is your favourite place to have a drink? (Does not have to be alcoholic) No one even came close to these two places.

1. La Sirena (The rooftop scored big points)
2. My Paradise (Toes in the sand, eyes on the water…hard to argue)

What is your favourite restaurant in Puerto Morelos?

The restaurant question is always the most popular category. The votes were split this year between over 50 different restaurants and there were lots of changes! Here are this year’s winners!

1. El Campanario
2. Taninos
3. La Sirena
4. La Pizza Nostros
5. El Nicho
6. Cantina Habanero
7. Blue Morelos
8. Los Gauchos
9. John Gray’s Kitchen
10. El Pesquero
11. Punto Corcho
12. Al Chimichurri/Spaghettino

CONGRATULATIONS to El Campanario for their first win! This family-run restaurant works really hard to deliver great food at reasonable prices. The service is always friendly. Arturo, Mary and the rest of the gang always make you feel very welcome. They are so popular at night, they recently opened a second location on the square, Habacuc’s Bistro, for breakfast, lunch and desserts.  

If you would like to compare these to our 2019 Survey Results you can click here. And if you would like more information on these restaurants please check our voluminous restaurant guide here.

A BIG GRACIAS to everyone who completed the 2020 InPuertoMorelos.com Beach Reads survey. We hope you enjoyed the results and we look forward to doing it again next year. Make sure you subscribe to our blog so that you don’t miss out on everything going on InPuertoMorelos.

2020 has been an unusual and challenging year for all of us. We here at InPuertoMorelos.com are no exception.

You may be wondering what happened to the “2020 Best In Puerto Morelos Survey”. Shortly after we launched the survey, our website was hacked! It took until just a few days ago to get the site back up and running and to get our website cleared to be promoted again on social media (Facebook and Instagram blacklists your site if you are hacked for a period of time.)

Now that we have all of this behind us, we are reopening the “2020 Best In Puerto Morelos Survey”. It is short and easy to fill out and we want to know your opinions on Puerto Morelos. You have one week to complete it. The deadline is Friday, April 24th. Don’t worry, if you have already completed the survey, we still have your results and they will be tallied in the final count.

Please note: One survey per person, please. No stuffing the ballot box!

If you have problems viewing the Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey please click here. It is best viewed in Chrome.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience and the delay. We look forward to sharing the results with you. In the meantime, be sure to watch our Facebook feed for pictures of your favourite beach town, we’re posting almost daily! Please “like” our various pages on Facebook and follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss a thing.
InPuertoMorelos Facebook Page
Casa de los Viajeros Facebook Page
Casa de los Viajeros Instagram

Stay home and stay healthy. You’ll reach the beach again soon.

Don’t miss the Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey Results
SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Back by popular demand! Here on our Beach Reads Blog, we wanted to continue on with an old tradition, the annual Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey. Tell us what you think! What is your favourite place to eat, drink or be merry In Puerto Morelos!

We first started the survey back in 2005 when it used to be the “Alma Libre Bookstore Beach Reads Survey”. Above is an example of some of the past winners for the best restaurant, starting with #1 at the top.

We encourage you to take part. We want to hear from you! If you are cannot remember the name of your favourite restaurant or bar visit our handy-dandy InPuertoMorelos Restaurant Guide or Happy Hour List.

COME STAY WITH US!
WE HAVE 1 OR 2 BEDROOM VACATION RENTALS

You have only one week to complete the survey. Polling will close at midnight on Monday, February 24, 2019, EST. Then watch for results to be published on InPuertoMorelos.com.

Don’t miss the Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey Results
SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Please note: One survey per person, please. No stuffing the ballot box!

If you have problems viewing the Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey please click here. It is best viewed in Chrome.

Many thanks to those who took part in our annual “Best In Puerto Morelos” survey. We started this survey as part of our Beach Reads newsletter back in 2005 when we owned Alma Libre Bookstore, so that visitors could share their favourite things about Puerto Morelos with other visitors (and to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything ourselves!)

So without further ado… here are the results of the 2019 InPuertoMorelos.com Beach Reads Survey. We will start with the last question we asked, and move up to the first.

11) Next, we asked one of our favourite questions. “What is your best tip or hint to give a new visitor to Puerto Morelos?” In no particular order, here are your most common answers.

1. “If you snorkel go out from shore in front of Dia y Noche Beach Club and snorkel towards the round white buoys, you will discover the Ojo de Agua ocean cenote teeming with fish.” 
2. “For solo travellers, there are always people to hang out with and have a fun time!”
   
3. “Stay away from the big resorts – stay in a local place, get out, walk around, talk to people, and you’ll see what an amazing community there is here.”
   
4. “Yoga on the beach with Mina”
   
5. “Read InPuertoMorelos.com” (Unsolicited comment, promise)
   
6. “Enjoy the people. You will not be disappointed. Slow down!”

10) We’re always trying to improve our website, so we asked, “What information do you get from InPuertoMorelos.com?“

We were happy to learn that 76% of respondents use InPuertoMorelos.com for our Restaurant Guide, 49% use it for our Happy Hour list, 48% use it for our Day Trips and 37% use our trusted Vacation Rentals page.

9) Where do you get your news/information about Puerto Morelos from?

We also learned that just as many people get their information from our InPuertoMorelos.com site as from our Friends of Puerto Morelos Facebook group. These were your top two sources of information on Puerto Morelos followed by Facebook in general.

8) Another of our favourites, we asked you to complete this sentence “Whatever you do, do not miss (BLANK) in Puerto Morelos”.

The top answer to this question was “the beach”, which was thought was a little obvious. Some of the other answers were a little more enlightening:

1. Spend time in the main town square at night, both on the port side or the Colonia side, meeting people, watching a basketball game or just enjoying some street food. (Great tip!)
2. Take a ride on the local bus. Ride the two Collectivo routes and explore. (Cheap and fun way to get the lay of the land)
3. Salsa dancing at Don Mexcal.
4. Flamenco dancing at Pangea.
5. Catch the sunrise and sunsets every day.

7) In hopes of improving our website, we asked, “Do you subscribe to InPuertoMorelos.com?”

We’re delighted that 81% of you subscribe to our Beach Reads Blog. Gracias! Subscribers get an email every time we share a new (hopefully informative) Beach Reads post. We usually write one or two posts a week. If you don’t subscribe, please click here and join us.

6) A new question this year, “What is your best “hidden gem” in Puerto Morelos?” While many of these are not that hidden to regular Beach Reads readers, as we have written about many of them before and even Shouted Out a few , they may be new to you.

1.”The Pan Man with all the yummy pastries.” (We think this is the bakery car that drives around in the evening)
2. “Churros in the park in the Colonia”
3. “Off the Vine – have wine and a meat & cheese platter while sitting in front of the shop.
4. “The Godfather Jewelry Store – Ruben and Magnolia in particular!”
5. “Alma Libre Bookstore” (We agree!)
6. “DK” (this restaurant was mentioned several times)
7. “The fruit stand on Ninos Heroes with freshly squeezed orange juice.”
8. “Tuch-Tlan” restaurant
9. “Rastaquitos” (we need to check this restaurant out, several folks mentioned it)
10. “Fonda Americana” (one of our favourites)
11. “Casa de los Viajeros” (Thanks to those of you those who mentioned our casa!)
12. “South Beach” (several people mentioned this special spot)

(Gracias to the TexMexExpats for suggesting this question. Click the link to check out their informative and fun-to-pronounce blog)

5) Where is your favourite place to stay in Puerto Morelos?

There was no clear winner in this category, but we learned that almost all respondents stay in vacation rentals, or in their own homes.

4) Where is your favourite Happy Hour?

My Paradise owned this category. People love happy hour at My Paradise.

3) Favourite “local dish”? This dish could be anything that you think is best served in Puerto Morelos.

The top two local dishes that were mentioned over and over again were ceviche and empanadas. Definately two things you really don’t want to miss and are easy to find in Puerto Morelos. But even though you are in Mexico, you still seem to want to a burger! The “Jane Burger” at The Burger Underground was mentioned many times by many burger buffs.

2) What is your favourite place to have a drink? (Does not have to be alcoholic).

La Sirena’s Rooftop was the winner in this category with My Paradise as a close second. The rooftop is a hit!

And last but certainly not least, the most popular survey question we ask is “What is your favourite restaurant?” Below are a few of the results from the first years of the Beach Reads Survey and the early restaurant favourites. How many do you remember?

But, let’s not live in the past! Without further foofaraw, here are your favourite restaurants from our 2019 survey. (Please insert drum roll here)

1. La Sirena
2. El Campanario
3. Chilpayas/El Nicho
4. Cantina Habanero
5. Taninos/Los Gauchos
6. El Pesquero
7. La Pizza Nostros
8. Al Chimichurri
9. John Gray’s Kitchen/Punto Corcho
10. Spaghettino/T@cos.com/El Pirata/La Papillon
11. DK/Mangata/The Burger Underground
12. I Wanna Pizza/La Casa del Pescador

CONGRATULATIONS to Anthony and the rest of the great staff at La Sirena Puerto Morelos for their second appearance at the top of the survey in as many years.

The BIG difference we noticed in this year’s survey results was just how many different restaurants were mentioned. We now have MANY more choices of places to dine than we ever have before. In fact, so many places were mentioned and the votes so close that we extended the list to the top 12 places, (which is actually 19 restaurants because we had so many tie votes.)

If you would like to compare these to our 2018 Survey Results you can click here. And if you would like more information on these restaurants please check our voluminous restaurant guide here.

A BIG GRACIAS to everyone who completed the 2019 InPuertoMorelos.com Beach Reads survey. We hope you enjoyed the results and we look forward to doing it again next year. Make sure you subscribe to our blog so that you don’t miss out on everything going on InPuertoMorelos.

Back by popular demand! Here on our Beach Reads Blog, we wanted to continue on with an old tradition, the annual Best InPuertoMorelos.com Survey. Tell us what you think! What is your favourite place to eat, drink or be merry In Puerto Morelos!

We encourage you to take part. We want to hear from you! We have also put in a few other questions so that we can make your InPuertoMorelos experience better.

You have two weeks to complete the survey. Polling will close at midnight on Friday, February 22, 2019, EST. Then watch for results to be published on InPuertoMorelos.com.

Can’t remember the name of your favourite place? Visit out Puerto Morelos Restaurant Guide by clicking here.

Please note: One survey per person, please. No stuffing the ballot box!

If you have problems viewing the survey please click here. It is best viewed in Chrome.

Please note: One vote per person, please. No stuffing the ballot box!

Here are the results from last year!

2018 Annual The Best In Puerto Morelos Survey Results

Many thanks to those who took part in our annual “Best In Puerto Morelos” survey. We started the survey years ago when we owned Alma Libre Bookstore so that visitors could share their favourite things about Puerto Morelos with other visitors. As residents, we also wanted to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything. Over the years, our most popular category has been favourite restaurant. So without further ado, here is the list:

2018 Best In Puerto Morelos Survey Winners

What is your favourite restaurant in Puerto Morelos?
1. La Sirena
2. El Campanario
3. El Nicho
4. Taninos
5. El Pirata
6. Cantina Habanero
7. Los Gauchos
8. Al Chimichurri / Spaghettino
9. John Gray’s Kitchen
10. Blue Morelos / Chilpayas / El Pesquero

Congrats to Anthony and his staff at La Sirena for taking the number one position this year! They were also high up in the ranks for the best place to have a drink on their new rooftop patio. With honorable mentions going to DK and Caribelos that were bubbling under with a tie for 11th place. Congratulations to all the restaurants in town. And a special shout out to Blue Morelos which is the new kid on the block and Chilpayas which was the only restaurant in the colonia to make it into the top 10.

The restaurants were chosen by our readers who were asked to rank their three favourite restaurants. Their first pick was awarded three points. Their second choice was given two points and their third choice was awarded one point. In all, more than 43 (previously 28) restaurants were chosen as readers’ favourites. Very impressive for a town our size. If you are wondering how many resturants there are in town, check out our restaurant guide here. You will be surprised!

2. What is your favourite place to have a drink? (Does not have to be alcoholic)

My Paradise Beach Club By a long shot! We would like to say that there was a close non-alcoholic second… but there wasn’t. Also mentioned were La Sirena and Cancun Billy’s.

3. Best pizza in town?

I Wanna Pizza Marco, Paco and the team at I Wanna Pizza had more votes than all of the other pizza places in town combined. Way to go!

4. Best vegetarian?

Aarom came out on top! Big congrats to Louise and her crew since this is their first year in business.

5. Best burger in town?

Cantina Habanero With honourable mentions going to Burger Underground, La Sirena and Fonda Americana. This was a close race.

6. Favourite “local dish”. (This can be anything that is best to enjoy in Puerto Morelos)

Most people mentioned shrimp or fish tacos, empanadas followed by guac and chips. We have lots of restaurant choices for all of these foods. Have fun exploring to find out who has the best in your opinion.

7. Where is your favourite Happy Hour?

My Paradise Beach Club By a long shot again! Puerto Morelos loves a good happy hour and theirs is the happiest by far. Other favourites were Unico and La Sirena.

8. Where is your favourite place to stay in Puerto Morelos?

An overwhelming number of you stay in vacation rentals rather than hotels. Many of our readers suggested that people rent a local house or condo and stay in town. “Forget the resorts–you can have a wonderful time without being in a total bubble, because it is so easy to be here as a tourist!”

9. What is your favourite inexpensive or free thing to do in Puerto Morelos?

Most people said “walk the beach” or “watch the sunrise”. Visiting the square at night was also very popular.

10. What topics would you like to see more blog posts on? Or do you even read blog posts?

People told us they are reading the blog and find it a good source of factual information. You also told us you would like to see more features on local resturants, day trips (which we have here) and features on local people. We look forward to writing and researching all of these. Especially the resturants (YUM)!

11. Complete this sentence: Whatever you do, do not miss (BLANK) in Puerto Morelos!

“The friendly people”, “the square at night”, “the reef” for snorkeling and “the cenotes” where the most popular answers. One person even said, “whatever you do, do not miss a chance to go underwater and see the amazing ocean life!” Followed by “wander aimlessly, discovering as I go along”, “bike around”, “don’t miss the Wednesday morning market (by the church)”.

12. Where do you currently get your news/information about Puerto Morelos?

By far the majority of you get your information from the FaceBook group Friends of Puerto Morelos or our blog InPuertoMorelos.com. 

13. Where would you prefer to get your information on Puerto Morelos from?

Given the choice of a book, an app, a website or a FaceBook group most people prefer to get their information from InPuertoMorelos.com or Facebook.

14. What is your best tip or hint to give to a new visitor to Puerto Morelos?

“Come!” “Relax”  “Don’t try to change things” and “Tip big” were the most popular responses. Followed by “don’t miss the Marquesitas in the square at night” and “check out all the restaurants including those in the Colonia”.

15. Where are you from?

Most of you are from Canada or the USA.

Thank you again to everyone who took part in the survey. We hope you enjoyed the results and we look forward to doing it again next year. Make sure you subscribe to our blog (top right hand side of the page) so that you don’t miss out on everything going on In Puerto Morelos.

2018 Annual The Best In Puerto Morelos Survey

Back by popular demand! Here on our new Beach Reads Blog we wanted to continue on with an old tradition, the annual Best In Puerto Morelos Restaurant Survey. Tell us what you think! What is your favourite place to eat, drink or be merry In Puerto Morelos!

We encourage you to take part. We want to know what you think, what your favourite places are in town, and a few other questions thrown so that we can make your InPuertoMorelos experience better.

You have one week to complete the survey. Polling will close at midnight on Monday, March 18, 2018. Then watch for results to be published on InPuertoMorelos.com.

Please note: One survey per person, please. No stuffing the ballot box!

lease note: One vote per person please. No stuffing the ballot box!

We have had several emails and notes from people (thank you very much) asking about how Puerto Morelos is during the COVID-19 pandemic. For us, it is very quiet. Like you can hear a pin drop quiet. There are very few people on the streets and the few you see, you likely know. Of course, you may not recognize them right away, as we are wearing masks. We all wave and greet each other warmly from a distance.

Currently, the town is practising self-isolation just like many of you are. This began happening around mid-March with the closure of businesses like La Sirena, My Paradise and Don Mexkal. This was followed by all non-essential businesses closing including all hotels and all-inclusive resorts.

As far as cases of COVID-19 in our town, (as we write this on April 20, 2020) officially there has only been one confirmed case from Puerto Morelos. It is a woman who resides here but is not in town. She tested positive in Mexico City after returning from Europe. She is being treated in Mexico City. For the latest numbers in the state of Quintana Roo click here.

In late March, the Mexican government issued an order closing all of the beaches in the country, including ours here in Puerto Morelos. They made the move just before Semana Santa (Easter), which is typically a time when families pack the beach, to discourage people from vacationing in la playa.

Last week the Governor of the state issued a stronger stay at home order. All non-essential businesses must close and even essential businesses (i.e. grocery stores) must be closed by 6:00 pm. This means that after 6 pm, no businesses can be open, including restaurants for take-out or delivery.

In Puerto Morelos, we have been told we must wear masks when we go outside our homes. Chedraui Selecto will not allow you in the store without a mask. The only businesses open during the day on the port side (we cannot speak to La Colonia as we are discouraged from travelling there) are the Chedraui Selecto (from 7 am to 6 pm, with the first 2 hours reserved for high-risk people and seniors), the two OXXOs, the pharmacies and the paint store.

A few restaurants still remain open for take-out in the afternoons, but they must be closed by 6 pm. The grocery stores can only sell liquor from 10 am to 5 pm, so you have to plan your home happy hour ahead of time.

Most people in our area work in the tourist industry. With the onset of the virus, the majority of people in our town have lost their jobs. With no social safety net in Mexico, this has made for very hard times for many. The state did issue some food hampers for local people. They included rice, beans, cooking oil etc, but this is really just a drop in the bucket. The local community has been quick to step up and supply food aid to people in need. There have been at least two food drives, thanks to the support of Puerto Morelos fans locally and around the world. With everything closed, and a lot of local businesses unlikely to open again, the need for food aid will be ongoing and growing. If you would like to help those in need, check out the mexiCAN Compassion Project or the Puerto Morelos Community Food Bank. Both have options to donate from wherever you are in the world.

Crococun is also looking for help to feed the animals while they remain closed. They ask that you help by buying tickets in advance or donating directly.

The self-isolation measures for our town are currently in effect until at least May 17, but more likely until the end of May. Nobody knows for sure when we’ll be able to do simple things again like walk the beach or dine with friends.

The irony of all this is that the beach has never been better. We are able to see the shore through the security tape. There is little to no Sargasso and the weather has been amazing! April is a great time of year to be here.

Keep an eye on our blog (subscribe here) as we will continue to update you on what is happening from inside your favourite little beach community. And watch for fresh content daily on Instagram and Facebook.

Don’t forget to complete our short survey on your favourite things in Puerto Morelos, especially the restaurants and bars. They need to hear from you now more than ever.

Stay safe and be well from us at InPuertoMorelos.com and Casa de los Viajeros.

What started out as an idea in Joe’s kitchen, quickly grew to the most popular delivery service in Puerto Morelos, The Burger Underground. Now Joe has made the big leap from delivery only to a full-service restaurant that has some of the best burgers in town.  

Serving good, hot food, fast, The Burger Underground makes each order individually.  So, even though you can get your burger quickly, should you be in a hurry, each burger is still custom made to your individual preferences. Along with top-quality fresh ingredients, the buns are sourced locally in Puerto Morelos and are baked specifically for The Burger Underground every day.   

With a creative, very local menu (can you figure out who the CJ SUNDAY is named after?) The Burger Underground has everything from your “not so basic” cheeseburger to The Yanik, which features a beef patty topped with Oaxaca cheese, gravy and fries right on the burger! Maybe just a little taste of poutine in there. 

The Burger Underground is also making a conscious effort to be environmentally friendly. They wrap their burgers in paper and do not use styrofoam or plastic containers.  

Each burger is made to order. 

Local Tip: You can substitute the beef patty in any burger for chicken or a veggie burger. 

Located on Ave Ninos Heroes, right across from the Coatimundi Park on the port side of  Puerto Morelos, The Burger Underground is open from 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM every day except Tuesdays. And not messing with their roots, they still have delivery. You can call them at 998 353 8838. And don’t forget to “like” them on Facebook.  The Burger Underground is will be a hot contender to be this year’s winner of the Best Burger in town during our annual Best In Puerto Morelos Survey. 

This post is part of a new feature where we will send a SHOUT OUT to one of our local businesses, people or hints that could improve your vacation In Puerto Morelos. If you would like to be a part of this feature click here to find out how you can join in on the fun!