About half an hour north and then half an hour east of Chetumal is the small beach town of Mahahual, Mexico.

The town was almost totally levelled in August of 2007 when Hurricane Dean (my first real hurricane experience on San Pedro) made a direct hit as a Category 5. Situated at the northern end of the world's second longest barrier reef that spans the southern Yucatan, Belize to Honduras, the town has two totally distinct halves.


On one side of town, there is a massive cruise ship dock and cruise ship village. It is like a giant mall in the middle of a deserted beach with none of the places you'd want to visit. They have a Hard Rock Cafe, Diamonds International and about 1000 junky trinket stores. Since the cruise ships come in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays and we arrived on a Saturday, the place was closed and in fact, the whole town was pretty empty.

In the other direction, there is the town proper. There is quite a bit of building going on (and some super touristy stuff like Senor Frogs)...but the beach is very pretty with a nice wide pedestrian promenade along the sea and the water perfect for wading right up to the reef.


We even spotted a bathing suit photo shoot.

See how close the reef is?

The beach walk is lined with beach clubs, bars and restaurants.


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The town was blissfully quiet...and even more quiet as we drove south. Just outside the cement buildings and construction, the road turns to sand and you feel as though you turned the clock back 30 years. A bumpy road, small locals shops and churches, tiny hotels, a few dive shops and mostly empty beach and empty land.

Check out this tiny church we stumbled upon about 2 miles south while looking for a place to camp. The church could probably hold about 12 people maximum and was more decorated than many cathedrals I've visited.

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The beach here is very much like San Pedro.

Looks kind of familiar, right?

There are some good sized hotels...

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In the end, I really like Mahajual. It was what I picture San Pedro to be 30 or more years ago...and then add the cheap Mexican beer. I will definitely be back. But I will be there on any day but Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I shiver to think what happens when a huge cruise ship unloads...

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