Participants will be responsible for arranging airplane reservations to Cancun. If you want to co-ordinate travel from the airport to Rancho with other workshop members, you may be able to find people to share rides. As we get closer to the dates of the workshops, we will email a list of other participants to you.

Arrival in Cancun: You will arrive at Cancun International Airport, and you will be guided to the immigration lines first. At immigration they will examine your passport, stamp it, and return it to you. You will then move on to the baggage area to get your luggage. On the plane you will be given a customs declaration form (short — one page) for goods you are bringing into the country. If you are bringing gifts their value must be under $300.00 to be duty-free.

Once you have your luggage, you will go through customs. You will be asked to push a button at a “stop light” and give them the customs declaration form. If the light is green, you will pass on through and no luggage check will be made. If the light is red, you will be asked to open your bags. There is no problem with bringing in clothes and personal items; the luggage check is a formality. When you leave customs, you will walk out and be greeted by guides meeting groups, guides from specific hotels, and many people wanting to help (sell you something.). If prior arrangements have been made for someone to meet you this is where they will be. Car rental booths are in this area as well as taxis.

After you pass through customs and are exiting the arrival area at the Cancun airport, you may be offered little bags with publicity magazines, Cancun Tips. These come in handy if you are planning to travel around as they have maps of Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, etc.

Getting to destination from Airport: There are several options: a) Car Rental. This is usually cheaper – quite inexpensive, if arranged online and you have confirmation upon arrival. Daily rental fees can be expensive in Mexico. b) At the window marked “Ground Transportation” inside the terminal you can pay for an airport taxi. Travel time to Rancho Sakol is approximately 30-35 minutes and will cost $40-$45. c) You can also take a more complicated but less expensive route. As you exit the international airport, ask for the A-D-O bus and where to find it. Someone will tell you. Buy a ticket for Puerto Morelos and get on the Playa Express — (not the northbound bus marked “Centro.”) – which takes the highway south to Playa del Carmen. Buy a ticket to Puerto Morelos for about $8, and the bus will let you out at the P Morelos stop. From there, cross the highway by walking through the underpass, and then take a taxi to Rancho Sakol for about $3. This is more adventurous and less expensive, and it will take about 1-1/2 hours instead of the 25 minutes by taxi. Taxis are strictly controlled in the Cancun area, so taxis that bring you from the airport are not allowed to solicit return fares from Puerto Morelos.

You may be offered free tours or discount rental cars at several booths in the airport which appear to be tourist information booths, but these can be marketing fronts for time-share sales at beach resorts. Accepting this offer will entail a 4 hour sales pitch to sit through.

Airport Bus Schedule — “Riveria Autobuses”: Direct: AIRPORT / PUERTO MORELOS

Airport to Puerto Morelos departure times:

9:15 / 10:45 / 11:45 / 12:45 / 13:45/ 14:45 / 15:45 / 16:45 / 17:45 / 19:00 / 20:30

When you arrive at Puerto Morelos Bus Office on highway, go through underpass, and catch a taxi to Rancho, around 35 pesos/$3.

Driving Instructions from Cancun Airport

Leave airport, Sur, Mex 307, divided highway, 4 lanes

Direction: South (Sur), Chetumal, Playa del Carmen, Xcaret

Approximately 20 minutes, pass the Retorno Cancun, then see sign to right for Puerto Morelos. Highway divides, stay to center lanes, to your left.

Approach stoplights in left lane — turn left at stoplights.

About 2 km, approaching town, turn right at first street.

Almost immediately, turn right onto unpaved road.

(If you miss this turn, pass over speed bump, turn right at stop sign, then turn right again at next street by church. The unpaved road will be in front of you.)

About 2 km, see signs for Rancho Sakol along the way.

Turn left into Rancho at sign.

Park car in space provided in front of office.

Finding Rancho Sakol (formerly called Rancho Libertad):
Travel south (right) from the airport follow signs to “Chetumal” on Highway #307, (there is only one). Puerto Morelos, a small fishing village, is the first town you will come to. You will come to a gas station and a traffic light on the main highway. Turn Left off the main highway and go down the road about 1.2 miles to the town. Turn Right on the second street (you are at the town square). Follow this street until it curves Left at the small navy post. Immediately turn right. The parking lot for the ferry will be on your left. Then continue on this road for about 1/2 mile. The road will curve left, then right, then right. Rancho Sakol will then be on your left, behind the pines.

Lodging:

Our accommodations are in a beautiful and relaxing beachfront villa. Rooms include private baths with hot water, suspended beds, private porch hammocks as well as a shaded hammocks area by the beach. Pictures can be viewed on the website: www.ranchosakol.com

Rooms are double occupancy, and include daily self-service breakfast buffet (with fresh fruits, yogurt, cereal, granola, sweet breads, juice, coffee, and tea), use of kitchen facilities, all program expenses (including transportation and admission fees), and use of bicycles and snorkel gear. Local transport, other meals, and personal expenses are extra.

If you desire a private room it can be arranged at an extra cost. We require a $500 deposit per person at the time of registration and full payment by December 31st.

The use of bikes and snorkel equipment are provided by Rancho Sakol and are included in your reservation. If you have your own snorkeling mask you may want to bring it. There is a gift shop on-site as well as massage and various forms of energy work. Scuba diving instruction is also available. Helpful English-speaking staff are available to give travel tips about the local area.

Rancho has different massage therapists each year. They offer a variety of techniques from deep tissue, Swedish, Ayurvedic, relaxing, shiatsu, reflexology, Reiki, & various forms of energy work.. They have a massage signup sheet with various times listed. You just write your name down and show up at that time. Several massage therapists are on hand, so you can usually schedule a time easily. There is no need to book ahead.

Puerto Morelos is within easy walking distance for restaurants and shops, and most anything you would want, or need is easy to find. Cancun and Playa del Carmen are 30 minutes away. If you plan to come early and/or stay late you may contact Rancho directly through their website about reserving extra nights, or you may stay at one of the other hotels, or AirBnB’s in Puerto Morelos.

Food and Water:

Rancho has a full kitchen that they allow guests to use. There’s also a guest refrigerator and pantry area to store food or snacks. After breakfast hours they appreciate guests to do their own dishes after using the kitchen. None of the rooms have kitchenettes as the large common kitchen is used by all.

There are 5-gallon bottles of purified water in each of the rooms and the kitchen. This water, as well as the bottles purchased in town, is safe to drink. Rancho also has ice trays filled with purified water. The sink and shower water is not purified. We recommend using purified bottled water to brush your teeth. The city water is potable water though not recommended for drinking, as some digestive systems are more sensitive than others. If you forget and brush your teeth with the tap water, you likely won’t notice a thing. Few people get sick from the water in Mexico anymore.

Puerto Morelos has at least half a dozen really good restaurants. The rule of thumb for food safety is this: If the food is cooked at the time of order and not before you have the best chance of a terrific meal. Do not order a “plate of the day” – no one knows how long the food has been in the pot.

Money:

In Mexico credit cards are useful in many places – but not all. They will work at many large hotels or for big purchases like car rentals etc., but they are often not useful for day to day items. When you do use a credit card, you will likely get a slightly better exchange rate than you would locally in a small town. Most places want payment in either pesos or dollars. We suggest bringing along extra cash – hardly anyone takes Travelers Checks anymore. There are many money exchange booths (the sign will read “Cambio”) which will change dollars into pesos and vice-versa when you are leaving.

There are two places in Puerto Morelos (P–M) to exchange money. You may want to exchange some money at the airport, but you will get a better rate of exchange in P–M. Within town, the rates vary slightly. For example, a hotel might give you 17 pesos per dollar where a “Cambio” would give 17.5. There is also an ATM machine in Puerto Morelos… you must have your PIN # to get money, and you will receive pesos.

Personal Items:

 Sunscreen, sunglasses, beach towels, hat, cool clothes, light jacket and pants, usual toiletries, and assortment of clothes. We recommend a pair of light walking shoes (running type shoes are fine) and some form of sandals like Tevas.