Puerto Morelos Is a Mexican Caribbean Beach Town With Whole Fried Fish, Fiery Aguachile and Three Hotels Worth Booking

In Puerto Morelos, you can snorkel in the morning, order the catch by the kilo for lunch and walk back to your hotel along the beach.

At Pelícanos in Puerto Morelos, the whole fried fish is priced by the kilo. Ask what’s available, choose a fish for the table and get a plate of chopped habanero on the side. The restaurant is right on the water, just around the corner from the town square. From lunch, it’s a short walk to the pier and the old lighthouse that’s been leaning toward the sea since a hurricane in 1967.

Puerto Morelos is between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, and you can still spend a day here almost entirely on foot. The square, the beach and several of the seafood places you came for are within a few blocks of each other. There’s a protected reef offshore, and some of the best places to book range from a suite hotel at the edge of town to a full-service all-inclusive down the coast.

But start with lunch. In Puerto Morelos, it’s the meal you’ll want to leave the most time for.

Where to Order the Fish and the Aguachile

Pelícanos is where to go for the whole fried fish. The menu also has pescado tikin xic, the regional fish preparation, and fish à la veracruzana, with tomatoes, onions, garlic and olives. If two of you are ordering, get the whole fish and a fish ceviche to start. The ceviche gets to the table first, and by the time you’ve picked through the crisp edges of the fried fish, you’ll understand the case for another afternoon here.

For aguachile, walk a few blocks to El Pesquero, a casual seafood restaurant under a big palapa on Avenida Rafael E. Melgar. You can get whole fried fish here, too, along with seafood cocktails and ceviches. At Península, the shrimp aguachile comes with serrano chile, cilantro, red onion and cucumber. It’s cold, sharp and hot enough that you’ll be glad for the cucumber. Order it alongside something off the grill and pass both plates around.

The distinction between the two lunches is worth an extra day in town. One is a whole fish you pull apart at the table, with habanero added a little at a time. The other is a cold plate you keep going back to even after the serrano has caught up with you.

The Reef Is Right Off Town

The reef is part of a national park, and guided snorkeling trips leave from the waterfront. Go in the morning if conditions are good, then come back to town for lunch. If you’d rather spend the morning on the sand, Ojo de Agua is within walking distance of the square, and the offshore reef helps shelter the water along this part of the coast.

Leave a little time for the waterfront itself. The old lighthouse tilted during Hurricane Beulah and still stands beside the pier. It’s the landmark that tells you you’ve reached the center of Puerto Morelos, whether you’re coming back from the reef or walking into town for dinner.

Three Resorts in and Around Puerto Morelos

The Fives Oceanfront is the pick if you want to walk into town for meals. It’s on the beach at the northern end of the village, with one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, a beach-level infinity pool and an adults-only rooftop pool. The all-inclusive plan is optional, which gives you room to make El Pesquero or Pelícanos part of your regular rotation. It’s also the easiest of these three for a morning when you want to swim, walk to the pier and decide what to do from there.

Grand Residences Riviera Cancun, just south of town, is the one to book when you want more room and a quieter stretch of beach. The suites have the space to settle in for several days, and there’s an oceanfront infinity pool and a spa. Plan on a ride into town for lunch. You can spend the morning by the pool and still be at a table overlooking the water by early afternoon.

Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa, north of the village, is the family all-inclusive choice. It has several pools, a kids’ club and enough dining on property to make an easy day of it with children. Put one lunch in town on the calendar anyway. The square, the pier and Pelícanos are close enough together that you can see all three in one outing and still get back in time for an afternoon swim.

Give Puerto Morelos at least two full days. Take the boat out to the reef on one, order the whole fish when you get back and save the aguachile for the next afternoon. By then, you’ll know exactly how to get from the beach to your lunch table.