Cancun, Mexico

Contributed by Elina Rokhkind  |  Last Date of Travel: February 2010

Kosher Info: Your choice of eating kosher in Cancun (unless you are staying in one of the kosher resorts over Passover) is either ordering catered meals from Chabad or bringing your own food (though no beef or fresh produce allowed into Mexico), which you can supplement by a variety of kosher products found in local stores. Chabad lists what you can spot in Walmart, Sam’s Club and Costco. In addition to the familiar US hashgachos, there are two Mexican ones – KMD and VK Alef Alef  – to look out for.  For example, LALA milk (not Chalav Israel) with VK Alef Alef is easily found everywhere. On our trip to Walmart we also discovered yummy LALA yogurts and another brand with KMD hechsher (very cheap too, they were at about $0.25!), as well as cream cheese, lox, tofu, canned goods, cereals, ice cream, and lots of snacks.

Tourist Info: Cancun is a perfect sunny destination if you want to combine beach and poolside activities with sightseeing and other experiences. Cancun offers an abundance of the latter, with trips and activities sold everywhere from your hotel lobby to a mall or a street kiosk. You can choose from a variety of theme/eco-parks (Xcaret, Xplor, Xel-Ha), ancient Mayan ruins (most famous being Chichen Itza), dolphin swim programs, all-terrain vehicles jungle tours, and a number of sports and aquatic activities from zip-lining to parasailing to scuba diving, and more. If you are not an adventurous type you may choose to see the colorful marine life from the glass-bottom boat or in the aquarium. You have to travel 1-2 hours to some sites, while others are local.

Or… you may skip all of it and simply enjoy the turquoise waters, white sand and the luxuries offered by your resort. Be aware, however, that many beach areas in Cancun are notorious for rough seas – during our weeklong visit in February the waves were pretty high and the red flag was raised most of the time.

On our visit we selected 2 day trips. One – to the beautiful island of Isla Mujeres (a 40-minute ferry ride from Cancun), where we participated in the Dolphin Encounter program at Dolphin Discovery, and later took a golf cart tour from the downtown across the island and back. Meeting and touching a dolphin was the highlight of the whole trip for our 3-year-old son.

The second trip was to the eco-park Xcaret (1.5-hour bus drive away) where you fill your day with various water activities, nature encounters, and cultural explorations, all culminating in a 2-hour-long spectacular night show, which unveils Mexican history and culture through dance and music. We also visited a small aquarium in the La Isla Shopping Village (short walk from the hotel we stayed at), which had an evening dolphin show; browsed through the pleasant La Isla mall itself, and undertook a disappointing trip to the flea market (Market 28) in the mainland Cancun. We did not explore the downtown area, but some tourists were heading there.

Cancun is composed of the city itself, where locals live, and the long strip of land (island, in fact) between the coastline and the Nichupte lagoon, called the Hotel Zone. Compared to the shiny tourist zone, the authentic Cancun was a rather unattractive sight to our taste. Buses run regularly along the Boulevard Kukulcan in the Hotel Zone and to the downtown area, making it very convenient and inexpensive to get around, while taxis are quite pricey. If you are traveling with a small child, pick him up when entering the bus – if the child walks in by himself, you pay the fare for him due to the funny automated system counting the number of feet. Also, sometimes you have to flag the bus in order for it to stop, especially in the evening. There is a number of shopping plazas and convenience stores along the Hotel Zone, where you can exchange money, and buy various necessities, as well as engage in more serious shopping. You can buy Mexican souvenirs and apparel in many places along the Hotel Zone, but you can supposedly bargain at Market 28. Beware of the timeshare sales presentations pushed everywhere – we were dragged into one right in the airport upon arrival. (To tell the truth, we were ready to sign up to one in exchange for huge sightseeing discounts, but it was surprising anyway that such presentations were offered at an airport booth, and unsuspecting visitors were somehow channeled to those booths which seemed to provide only tourist info).

Cancun is all about luring tourists into spending more money, be it a sightseeing tour offered by your airport transfer company rep, or a sunblock sold on the tour bus, so make wise choices and don’t hold a grudge, as many locals depend on the tourist industry to make their living.

Jewish Info: When we came for the timeshare presentation, they changed our salesperson at the last moment. Perhaps, a manager saw us, who knew what a kippah on my husband’s head means. The first thing the new (very Mexican-looking) salesperson did was taking a kippah out of his pocket and confiding to us that his last name is Cohen, but they don’t let him wear kippah at work, and later producing his ID as a proof. According to him, there are lots of Jews in Cancun, which we understood to be mostly unaffiliated or traditional, and some organized Jewish community in downtown Cancun with no rabbi of their own. As nice as our salesperson was, we did not buy the timeshare.

The Orthodox community is represented by Chabad of Cancun with its enthusiastic Rabbi Mendel Druk and his lovely wife Rachel. They run a number of programs, hold services and host Shabbat at their Chabad House in downtown. Twice per month they hold Shabbat services and Kiddish dinner and lunch at Avalon Grand Hotel in the Hotel Zone. They also organize Jewish holiday celebrations and cater to various other Jewish needs both of locals and tourists. We tremendously enjoyed meeting this couple so dedicated to bringing Yidishkeit to as many Jews as possible. Please contact Rabbi Druk directly for any questions.

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Acapulco, Mexico

Contributed by: Yosef Haas  |  Last Date of Travel: January 2008

I visited Acapulco for five days in January 2008 with my wife at the suggestion of friends. Having access to a kosher restaurant was important to us, so we were very excited to be staying in a hotel with kosher food on premises. We were not disappointed.

Kosher Info: The only kosher food available in Acapulco is in the Grand Hotel Acapulco (formerly the Hyatt). For the last 2 weeks of December through the end of February, the hotel converts one of it’s restaurants (El Isleño) to a full service Kosher restaurant. The restaurant serves three meals a day (including Shabbos) which can be paid for per meal, or included in the cost of the room. Other than that, there is very little kosher food available. Not knowing about the kashrus situation in Mexico, we decided to bring snacks. The meals in the restaurant are filling enough that we did not find the lack of other kosher options to be a problem. Additionally, the breakfast is big, and you can make sandwiches (they will provide you with foil and a bag) to bring along if you are going on a day trip. As for the meals, breakfast includes cereal, coffee, eggs, french toast, assorted pastries, bagels and some other local breakfast items. Not everything was available every day, but there was always a variety. Lunch was ordered from a menu, with several choices of main courses and side dishes. Fish, meat and chicken were always available, with the same menu being used every day. Dinner was buffet style and varied day to day. There was a barbecue on several of the nights and always a variety of dishes available. The food was good, not as good as many restaurants (you won’t go home raving about the food) but it was certainly nothing to complain about.

We had trouble finding kosher food elsewhere.

Tourist Info: If you are looking for packed days of touring, Acapulco is not the place for you. While there is plenty to do there, the activities will not fill every day (of course that is depending on the length of your stay). One of the most popular destinations is the Cliff Divers. As the name implies, it’s basically people diving off a cliff. While it’s interesting to see, don’t worry if you can’t make it there. The cliff divers was one of the stops on the city tour that we went on. Other stops included a jewelry manufacturer (the short tour ended in their store) and a flea market (where everything is negotiable). There is also an aquarium, a botanical gardens and an old fort, which we didn’t see, so I can’t comment on.

Other than that it’s really down to water sports and relaxing. The water sports are cheap and fun. I went wave running, para sailing and scuba diving, none of which cost more than $50. To do any of these just go down to the beach. There are booths for all the activities. You can negotiate for a better price, but everyone expects a tip – they will even ask you for one directly so be ready to pay a little extra after.

The hotel is very nice and comfortable. There is internet access, but it’s pretty expensive. That may have changed since the hotel changed from the Hyatt, so you may want to call to find out more. If you forget to bring something, don’t worry – there is a Super WalMart across the street from the hotel and many stores within walking distance.

The beach is absolutely beautiful and so is the weather. For detailed information go to http://www.acapulco.com/en/

Jewish Info: The hotel (Grand Hotel Acapulco) has a shul downstairs. The minyan is Sephardic so it may be a little of a culture shock if you are not used to it. They have three daily minyanim, and of course davening on Shabbos. On Shabbos, they have people waiting by the desk to go upstairs with you and open your room since all the locks are electronic.

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Ixtapa, Mexico

Contributed by: Lisa Damast  |  Last Date of Travel: February 2007

I ditched a week of classes in chilly Boston and went with my sister to sunny Ixtapa in Mexico for a few days instead. We knew we were going to be there for 4 days from Monday through Thursday and that there wouldn’t be any form of Jewish life yet alone kosher food there.

Kosher info: My sister is an expert at keeping kosher in remote locations and made sure that when we packed our suitcases – which were carry-on size so that we didn’t need to wait for them at any point – we left half of it empty to stock with the following food items each:

• 4 LaBriute TV-dinners from a kosher supermarket in Monsey, NY. These can be heated by creating a chemical reaction of heat and steam by pouring provided salt water onto provided flame less food heater. The process takes about 12 minutes. The package also contains soup and a snack.
• 1 package of Chicken of the Sea Albacore
• 1 package of Chicken of the Sea Salmon
• 2 Clif Bars
• 2 Balance Bars

In Ixtapa, there are several small mini-marts that imported snacks like Pringles and cereal that were certified kosher that we bought. We also bought bottled water and Coca-Cola from these stores.

Tourist info: The purpose of our vacation was to relax on a beach and get tans. Ixtapa, which was planned and built as a resort town at the same time as Cancun and is located on the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico, is a perfect location for that. Except for a small flea market near our hotel, the main attraction outside of our hotel (which had an outdoor pool and mini golf among other amenities) was the beach.

On the beach, aside from being in the sun and tanning, there are options to go hang gliding over the water or on the beach, get a massage for a low rate (DON’T get a massage on the beach), and buy drinks, such as pina coladas.

Visiting the tiki bars on the beach or by the pools of hotels near the beach are a must as seeing the art and signs used for decoration or authority is part of the entertainment and fun. At night the restaurants and bars are packed and the area becomes very festive.

For any movie buffs, the neighboring, larger fishing village of Zihuatanejo, is the place referenced as Tim Robbins dream escape in The Shawshan Redemption. Zihuatanejo, where most service providers in Ixtapa live, makes for a great day trip. You can take a local bus from the main road in Ixtapa to nearby the harbor of Zihuatanejo. You have to walk for about 10 minutes before you see the harbor, but for much of the walk, there are fun little souvenir shops on both sides of the street. You can find souvenirs that replicate the designs of the area’s original natives, including rain sticks, woven baskets and trivets.

Once at the harbor there are more shops that you can walk by while looking at the beautiful harbor. Between the shops and the harbor is a beach that is used by the village’s fishermen.

Jewish life: There is no Jewish life in Ixtapa or Zihujuatanejo.

Additional notes: Don’t bring a laptop with you to Ixtapa. The risk of theft is very high and there are at least 3 Internet cafes where you can use the Internet for relatively cheap prices. Additionally, it helps to speak Spanish or to travel with someone who does for both Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo.

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Tags: beach, Ixtapa, jewish travel, kosher travel, LaBriute meals, Mexico, R&R, relaxation, rest and relaxation, Zihujuatanejo