Ancien Maestro

Great pictures.. I heard it took alot of investment to restore the beaches after Hurricane Wilma hit..

The beach is a resource.. sounds like its not a natural restorative..

If you've ever been to Varadero, Cuba.. imo the nicest beach in the world there.^

ByrdluvsAWACO

I heard it costs near 100 million USD.

Ancien Maestro

For just the beach?

I'm thinking that figure is accurate for all the damage cost.. If the same damage was caused on US mainland, it would be in the billions.. Mexico is actually quite affordable labor and materials..

ByrdluvsAWACO

Doing a beach restoration is more than just dumping sand around. They had to hire a Dutch company that specializes in dredging sand, then they had to reinforce the sand with natural stones and some concrete. The quantity of sand involved measured around 5.1 million cubic meters or 1.3 billion gallons.

Ancien Maestro

Wow..

I guess the price isn't too bad if you work it out to a per gallon of sand basis..

7.7 cents per gallon..

ByrdluvsAWACO

I think the hotels chipped in to pay some of it. Also I think the federal govt created some sort of tourism tax, but I'm not sure.

Ancien Maestro

It had to be done, otherwise how can Cancun attract tourists..

I always thought the sand in Cancun is natural..

Cuba's sand is natural, and ultra luxurious.. nicest in the world I think..

ByrdluvsAWACO

Well it is natural, as it comes from the sea floor. Cancun wasn't naturally contiguous before development came. They had to bring in lots of sand and gravel to create the continuous strip for the main road, hotels, shops, and beach.

Ancien Maestro

So Cancun oasis isn't natural..

They'll probably have to remediate continuously in the future I assume?..

Sweet Willie

I'm a cheap, err frugal guy, so I searched out some ways to save us some $ on our Cancun stay. 1 block to the right (north I believe) from the InterContinental Cancun is a strip mall with a grocery store (for cheap booze & water).

This strip mall also has some food stalls that are well worth visiting:

a pork tacqueria, all different cuts of pork offered, for only 15 pesos a taco, they have two types of salsa to choose from & onions & cilatro if you wish

a seafood stall serving fresh made ceviche & fish or shrimp tacos, 23 pesos a taco, 4 different types of sauces (tamarindo, spicy red mayo, spicy tartar, reg mayo). Ceviche is made fresh.

a sandwich place called ty-coz which serves DELICIOUS fresh & some hot sandwiches (most in the 55-80 peso range).

You will have a very tasty & cheap lunch or dinner!! These places are always open for lunch but sometimes the seafood stall would shut down by 6 or 7pm. Grocery store had some late hours.

stevens397

Have a chance to trade here in October. Wife said she heard bad things about Cancun - mayber she's just scared of Mexico due to all the headlines of lawlessness.

So am I to understand that all is well there and it's a good and safe vacation?

Ancien Maestro

The two incidents in Mazatlan is adding to the uncertainty.. latest involving a 37 year old Calgarian female..

Currently, we rather vacation in Hawaii..

Jeeves

The latest State Department advisory for Mexico has no warnings for Cancun.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...w/tw_5665.html

bzbdewd

That is like saying I heard of violence in Detroit so I'm not going to Florida. I don't know what 'bad things' she's heard about Cancun. It isn't even on the State Department's list anymore.

We're going down for our 3rd trip to Isla Mujeres (off the coast of Cancun) and staying for 3 1/2 months. There is no place on the island that I wouldn't feel safe 24hrs a day. I would not say the same of most cities in the US....