The Rough Guide to the Yucatan UPDATE

The November 07 flooding was intense here, but the city is functioning quite well. Unfortunately, a lot of the museums are closed for renovations—La Casa Siempreviva (p. 294) and the Casa Museo Carlos Pellicer (p. 295) were damaged, as was the Museo de Historia (p. 295). Also, the Museo Regional de Antropologia (p. 296) in the CICOM complex will be shut for several years for a major overhaul. You can’t really walk along the river to CICOM because the waterfront is still stacked with sandbags.

Parque La Venta (p. 296), however, is just fine. The zoo area was undergoing some renovation when I visited in Feb 08 (and it was open on a Monday), but there was no lasting flood damage. There’s now a sound-and-light show in the evenings (Tues–Sun at 8, 9 & 10pm; M$100) that involves walking through the park. Buy tickets at the secondary park entrance, farther southwest on Ruiz Cortines.

On the map (p. 296), the 2nd Class Bus Terminal on the east side, near the market, is no longer there. The main 2nd Class Terminal is at the other spot marked on the map, just north of Ruiz Cortines. (For that matter, the main market is actually just south of what is marked ‘Mercado’ on the map. The area shown on the map is a much smaller, adjunct market.)

Both Soyaquarius restaurants (p. 299) are closed.

Uxmal admission (p. 247) is now M$98, with no discount on Sundays.

The Ruta Puuc bus (p. 245) is now M$132.

Hacienda Yaxcopoil (p. 251) admission is M$50.

I don’t usually mention new items, but The Pickled Onion is a great addition to Santa Elena—it’s on the highway midway between the Flycatcher and Sacbe Bungalows. Great fresh food and a varied menu—local stuff, plus more international items.

Hacienda Tabi is still shut—no sign of it reopening. I’m leaving it out of the new edition entirely.

Ki’bok (p. 233) is closed.

Pancho’s (p. 235) is not open for lunch anymore (although this guide doesn’t say it ever was—just FYI). The quality of the food is such that we can really only recommend it for drinks anyway.

Apologies: the phone number for Hacienda Xcanatun and its restaurant, Casa de Piedra, just outside of Merida, is wrong. It should be 999/941-0273.

The addresses for El Fogon (p. 127) are both slightly wrong: One’s at Av 30 at C 6 bis (ie, half a block north), and the other’s at Av 30 and C 32.

Media Luna (p. 127) was shut for renovation in November. Not sure when/if it will reopen.

La Cueva del Chango (p. 127) is open till 11pm most days now.

El Tigre (p. 128) is open in the evenings.

This bar in Cozumel (p. 143) is still open, but seems to have tossed any style it had in favor of 2-for-1 Corona deals and the like. Ah well.

This great little hotel (p. 151) and cafe (the Cafe del Mar) in Xpu-Ha have closed.

Los Cantaros (p. 158) is shut.

Tuti Fruti (p. 158) is shut.

Hola Primo (p. 159) has been rebuilt in cinderblock. Maybe I’m just nostalgic, but it doesn’t seem as tasty…

Cetli (p. 159) had been closed, but now it has reopened, on Calle Polar near Calle Beta. Great food, sweet owner.

Checandole (p. 95) is open again in Plaza Flamingo, and also in Plaza El Parian, near Hanaichi.

Rincon Yucateco (p. 95) in the hotel zone is closed.

La Casa de las Margaritas (p. 95) has totally changed its menu, and it looks very, very boring. No Sun brunch either.

This cafe in Cancun’s hotel zone (p. 95) is no longer in either of the malls–it’s around Paseo Kukulcan Km 10, just about opposite from Senor Frog’s, and next to a convenience store.

I’ve just heard very positive firsthand reports from someone who really knows her food about The Leaky Palapa (p. 177), which is now open for the season (till around Memorial Day). Costa de Cocos (p. 177), however, sounds as though it’s being neglected, in terms of both food and lodging (see also my update to an earlier Mahahual/Xcalak post below).

I thought Playa was booming before, but now it’s almost completely out of hand. Countless super-chic condo buildings are going in—this is definitely the next South Beach. The construction noise—even in “quieter” Playa Norte (p. 126)–is a real drawback to what has been one of my favorite vacation places along this stretch. And everything is changing so fast it makes me want to give up guidebook writing.

Another drawback: tons of great restaurants are now shut.

Hot (p. 127) is shut at its C 10 location, but you can still find its other location at C 12 bis off Av 5.

Pan y Pasta (p. 127) is shut, as is El Olivo (p. 128), Osteria la Rucola (p. 128) and Carmencita (p. 127).

A couple of bars are gone: El Atico (p. 128) is closed, though I’m not too surprised. Tutix (p. 128) closing, though, is much more surprising—this leaves the Blue Parrot (also referred to as the Dragon Bar, p. 128) as pretty much the last old-fashioned beach bar.

Puerto Morelos also looks good—same sleepy feel, just a few new paint jobs and generally tidier all around.

La Guadalupana II (p. 119) is now called Triny’s—not sure if the food is the same, but it looks great.

Le Marlin Bleu (p. 120) has expanded its menu to include some French items (the owner is from France).

Caffe del Puerto (p. 120) is closed.

The road to Punta Bete (p. 122) has changed a little. The road now forks farther ahead (you’ll pass the old road to the right, all grown over with greenery), just at the entrance to Ikal del Mar. Hug the wall to the left and you still get to Los Pinos and Coco’s; head to the right (looks like you’re going into Ikal’s parking lot) and you get to the old road to Juanito’s beach hangout, which is now shut (though you can still pay M$30 parking and walk onto the beach here), and Bahia Xcalacoco (which I also think is shut, but have not confirmed).

There is no longer a tourist info booth on the highway at the start of the road to Puerto Morelos. Your best bet is just to go into town and stop in at Marand Travel on the plaza if you have any questions.

If you’re planning to spend more than a few days in Puerto Morelos, subscribe to the e-newsletter published by Alma Libre bookstore—the owners really keep up on all the town news.

Like everywhere hit by Hurricane Wilma last October, Isla Mujeres has some construction going on, but otherwise looks great. In fact, aside from a couple of boarded-up buildings, you wouldn’t know anything had happened.

Poc Na Hostel (p. 101) has a new website: www.pocna.com.

Casa Maya Zazil-Ha (p. 101) is now using yet another name: Villas Kiin. All the signs leading up to the place say Casa Maya, however, and the owner is the same.

Vistalmar (p. 102) is now painted green, not pink—in casing you’re looking for that. Otherwise it’s the same, though, and it’s sea-view rooms are a great deal.

Cosmic Cosas used bookshop (p. 107) has moved in with the new Mañanas café at the corner of C Guerrero and C Matamoros; as far as I can tell, there’s no Internet access here, though.

Entrance to Hacienda Mundaca is up to M$20, and I’d really recommend steering clear of the “zoo” area. Also, the turtle farm—which isn’t mentioned in this guide because it was shut when I visited—has reopened, under the direction of the Isla Mujeres government (as is Hac. Mundaca). Entrance is M$20, and you get to see lots of baby sea turtles. The farm is located near Hacienda Mundaca, on the road up the spit enclosing Laguna Macax.

Cetli (p. 159) is shut…[Nov 07: It has reopened in a new location! Calle Polar at Calle Orion, one block west of the main drag.]

The restaurant at Posada Margherita (p. 159) is closed Sundays, at least during low season.

Especias (p. 142) has moved to Calle 3 Sur at Avenida 5.

I’ve heard some reports of attempted overcharging at Sabores (p. 143). I would still recommend this place, as the food is great, and the gouging seems to come from one of the waitstaff, rather than the owner herself–but know that _everything_–chips, side of beans, agua de jamaica, etc.–is included in the price, which I think now is M$45 or M$50. The only thing you should actually get charged extra for is if you order a soda or something like that.

Serious Munchies (p. 142) is closed, and so is Garden of Eatin’ (p. 142).

La Casa 940 (p. 96) is now a reggae bar called Capucino–it still seems to be a popular young subculture hangout, though.

G-Spot (p. 97) is now called Basic, allegedly with a website at www.basic-cancun.com, but so far there’s nothing on it.

La Boom (p. 97) is shut.

Senor Frog’s (p. 96) is at Km 9.5, not 5.5. Sorry about that.

Glazz (p. 96) is shut.

Siete (p. 95) is shut–it was in the Fiesta Americana Aqua, which is still undergoing serious repair. No word yet if Siete will be included in the remodeled place.

Rincon Yucateco (p. 95) is shut in its hotel zone location; the downtown location is the same, though.

Checándole (p. 95) can now be found in Plaza el Parian, near the Japanese resto Hanaichi. I didn’t check if it’s still in Plaza Flamingo as well, but as that mall (Flamingo) was pretty battered by the hurricane, my guess is no.

Directions for Orizabas (p. 184) weren’t so precise: off the northwest corner of the plaza, head one block west, then one block north.

Hotel Ucum (p. 182) has a new website: www.hotelucumchetumal.com.

Arba Internet (p. 184) is now called Web Center, but has the same services.

La Prosperidad de Moncho’s (p. 184) is now called El Encanto de la Pitaya, but the setup looks exactly the same.

Vacabanti (p. 184) is closed. It was a little before its time, I suppose.

Oxtankah (p. 185) costs M$30.

Hotel América (p. 275) is being remodeled, which is good—except the sort of modern décor doesn’t really go with the colonial house it’s in, so it’s still a bit odd and dark and musty, and the prices are now in the (6) category. Not terrible, but there are now better hotels in this price category, such as…

Hotel López (p. 274), which has also remodeled, to much better effect. The place has a nice Twenties apartment-complex feel, and the rooms are quite nice-looking, all with a/c, TV and wireless Internet, for $421 for a double.

Sir Francis Drink (p. 278) is closed.

Business hours at La Casa de Frida (p. 233) have changed—it’s open Mon–Sat. The menu has also been pared down substantially—main dishes are basically chiles en nogada and mole, and a couple of other things.

A correction: El Cumbanchero (p. 235) is at Paseo de Montejo and C 39.

Ki’bok (p. 233) only serves dinner now, Tues–Sun.

Hotel San Carlos (p. 205) is getting a little grubby. Posada San Jorge, on the south side of the plaza, is much nicer, but is a little cagey about its prices—could be in the M$300 range, but also in the M$600 category, if they’re busy; it does have a pool, however.

And no change, just a confirmation: Restaurant Tres Reyes really is worth getting off the bus for.

Holbox got really whacked by Hurricane Wilma last year (2005)–this isn’t reflected in the guide, because it was already at the printers when the storm happened. Floods up to three feet high, buildings knocked down, trees uprooted…but you’d really never guess it, a year later.

The biggest change is that the parque is being totally redone–no more scruffy grass square–so Antojitos Dafne Guadalupe (p. 110) is gone (though it may move back when the construction is done). El General Taquitos also seems to be shut. The new place for morning and evening snacks is now on the inland (south) side of the parque—no name, but very busy.

Perhaps because it’s low season right now (October), lanchas to Holbox from Chiquilá (p. 108) are only M$200, with a maximum of six people (usually) and the ride is a bit quicker than the ferry—handy if you can pull together a group. But there’s also a competing ferry service, for only M$20, that runs several times a day, filling in some of the gaps in the existing ferry schedule (allegedly its last run is at 8pm, an hour later than the original ferry service, but I wouldn’t count on it).

Parking in Chiquilá runs about M$30 per day—but that’s not per 24 hours, so if you park in the evening and come back the next morning, that’s M$60. A little bit of a racket, but at the nicer place (on the right before the end-of-the-road roundabout), at least there’s shade. There’s still no ATM on Holbox, but a couple of the restaurants (Colibrí and Viva Zapata) take credit cards. The laundry looks closed, but there’s still plenty of people willing to do it, for not much money.

This little Mayan/Mexican restaurant in Playa del Carmen (p. 127) is closed. Too bad–it was the closest, tastiest local-feeling place to the main drag in Playa.

Normally I would just save new places for the new edition, rather than post about them here, but the nice folks at Villa Las Brisas (p. 102) were raving about this restaurant, and even sent me this photo. Since they steered me toward some great ballpark tacos, I trust their judgment.

Varadera is the name of the place, and it’s Cuban, and, as you can see from the pic, they even make mojitos! It’s about a third of the way down the length of the island from the main town, before you reach Puerto Isla Mujeres, the big marina. Ashley and Curtis write, “From the low road, the best landmark is Las Palmas nursery. When the road dead ends, you make a right then a left into Varadera’s drive. It’s a great place to watch the boats coming in and out of the lagoon, especially around sunset.”

I’ll check these directions on my next trip, but in the meantime, I hope this will get you there!

UPDATE: I cruised the place in November. The name is El Varadero, and it doesn’t look like much from the road–you have to go back into the lot to actually see the restaurant. Tell the cab or bus driver “El Varadero del Burgos,” as there’s another place in the area named El Varadero de Oscar.

This little B&B in Santa Elena (p. 254) has a new website [www.flycatcherinn.com], and new email: contact[at]flycatcherinn[dot]com.

Additionally, the owners are putting a/c in five of the rooms, and the rates will go up M$100 on these rooms–but worth it, when you consider it’s been over 100 degrees for a long stretch already!

And, the owner says, in the fall a new restaurant will be opening just down the road, run by a Brit/Canadian woman. This definitely improves the eating options right around this area, particularly for people traveling without a car.