Mexico Travel: Scuba Diving Just Got Weird

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I’d highlight one of the coolest things happening in Mexico for travelers — and believe it or not, it’s happening near Cancun.

The newly installed Museo Subacuático de Arte is an underwater collection of 400 life-size concrete “villagers” by artist Jason deCaires Taylor. The last of the figures were submerged in October in the crystalline Caribbean waters north of Cancún, all of it explorable by both snorkelers and scuba divers. Aside from the obvious thrill of inventing a whole new ecosystem

Travel Icon: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Puerto Vallarta

In honor of Elizabeth Taylor’s passing last month and my good friend Joseph Papa’s new book about her, “Elizabeth Taylor, A Passion for Life,” I thought I’d share a bit of travel trivia.

Casa Kimberly

Taylor first traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico while the future love-of-her-life, Richard Burton, was filming “Night of the Iguana.” (Yes, she was married seven times but Burton was her true love. In fact, she married and divorced him twice.) Burton was married at the time so he had a house on one side of the street and he bought Taylor a house across the street called Casa Kimberly, for her 32nd birthday. As the couple was hounded by paparazzi, Burton had a pink bridge built over the street so they could visit each other without being photographed. Before Taylor and Burton arrived Puerto Vallarta was a small port town but once photos of their Mexican romance started appearing back home tourism boomed.

Sadly, Casa Kimberly,  which has been open to tours and at one time was a bed and breakfast, is now surrounded by construction and rumored to become condos. It’s still worth exploring that area of Puerto Vallarta, called “Gringo Gulch” for its winding cobblestone streets and incredible views of the Bay of Banderas.

See my post about Puerto Morelos, Mexico where a different type of celebrity hangs out.

Back in Margaritaville

I may bristle at Jimmy Buffett’s cutesy, gettin’-drunk-in-the-sun lyrics — aren’t his fans the same parents that didn’t let us do that? – but the man knows how to live, sunburn notwithstanding. Case in point: Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

You Heard it Here First: Cheap Charm in Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Back in October, I wrote about a grass-roofed cottage for rent - $380 a week! – in the quaint beach town of Puerto Morelos, Mexico, just south of Cancun in a post called Love Shack. The New York Timesrecently ran a big piece about how the town has managed to keep developers at bay and held onto family run shops, B&Bs and fish shacks. Check it out. (Just don’t go and build a resort there, please.)