Playa may be too small-time to raise a tour operator’s eyebrow, but it was just right for us. An endearing mix of slightly ramshackle palm-thatched cabanas, music bars and small, smart owner-run hotels along a crescent of sand, with a proper town at one end of its main pedestrian avenue, and designer boutiques, tiled lapis-lazuli blue on deep ochre walls, at the other. Stocky Mexicans in sombreros sat on the kerb playing the guitar, and occasionally suggested that you might want to visit their shop, amigo.

The sea was that translucent blue that only the Caribbean can achieve, perhaps because the sand beneath it is so white, and Cuban bands played in beachfront bars to an audience that was mainly seasoned, fashionable young Europeans.

Step back two roads and you were amongst brightly-painted cantinas serving guacamole, tacos and burgers, where we found we could feed the family – including a supply of Sol or Corona (with a slice of lime) for the parents.

Now settled, we alternated beach days with excursions by long distance bus – sweaty seats and smelling suspiciously of disinfectant, but frequent, cheap, and sociable.

One of our first trips was to Cancun, an hour north, the planted colony of shoulder-to-shoulder all-inclusives to which a brochure holiday would have committed us. This was a real Vegas on the beach, an outpost of Americana and a mecca of sun and consumption, where huge sound systems made the sand bounce. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, next to a massive Hard Rock, just down from Bongo Bongo, and across from Planet Hollywood; needless to say we returned home to Playa feeling smug.

Another day we took the ferry across to the cruise-ship ringed island of Cozumel, disembarking amongst a crowd of ecstatic Americans – “pilgrims of Mary” according to their name-badges – who, judging by their girth, lived a regime of praise the Lord and pass the donuts. The pier shop sold a T-shirt printed with “10 lies you’re likely to hear on Cozumel”, which included “no, the free jeep rental has nothing to do with timeshare”, which wasn’t encouraging. We were there, though, for the undersea, Cozumel’s main claim to fame.

In Chankanab National Park, past a dive centre with a sign which read “make new friends – and then eat them”, the sea was gentle and crystalline, and rentable lifejackets helped the children turn their fear of sharing the same water as fish into delight at their colours and sociability.

But perhaps the best day out was hiring a “Herbie” (VW beetles are still made in their original form in Mexico) to seek out the cenotes, pools formed by underwater rivers. We found one cradled in a massive cave partly lit by a natural blowhole up through the rock, and dived in. The water was surprisingly warm, but whenever I stood still little fish took an alarming interest in a blister on my foot.

That was a Mayan ruin day, too. At Tulum, the palaces and temples were scattered like grey dice along a cliffy shore; but at Coba, inland, they were distributed through 75 square kilometres of jungle with the warning poster on the gate identifying Mexico’s poisonous snakes.

We’ll be back very soon, so much left to be seen.
This is the place to stay for a real mexican experience

Dear Denis,

A word of thanks for our stay at El Duende…

On behalf of the Kay family gathering at your hotel on spring break of this year I want to thank you for the great hospitality and service you and your wonderful staff put on for us during our stay of one week. Your hotel is a delightful refuge from the sometimes chaotic scene in Playa. My daughter Tamara loved all the birds and lizards especially Dorothy the turtle!

Very interested to hear of your plans for building another hotel in the Bacalar Lagoon area down the coast. Do you ever look for business partners/investors for these ventures? I am already thinking about the next trip to Playa as I definitely have to get in a dive with the whale sharks up in Holbox. That is just too good an experience to pass up on!!! And of course will be staying at El Duende again.

Please pass along our thanks and appreciation as well to Miguel and that lovely lady (sorry I have forgotten her name!) who served us those great desayunos in the garden.

By the way I never did find out what that strange fish was that I spotted while diving on the outer coast of Cozumel…remember I described a fin with no fin on it’s tail? I followed up here with various searches but turned up nothing even close so it remains a mystery.

Anyway, thanks again for a happy and memorable stay at your hotel and for anyone who’s reading this…WE GIVE EL DUENDE DEL MAR OUR HIGHEST FIVE STAR RECOMMENDATION*****!!!

Muchas gracias!

Vaya con dios,

Fred Kay

Vancouver, BC, Canada