Leaky Palapa Supper Club – Closed for the season as of May 8, 2016
When I first started coming to Xcalak, going to eat at the Leaky Palapa was always the highlight (Unless you happen to catch a permit ;). Who would expect a fine dining establishment in this remote part of the world? But here it was. I have eaten in some of the best restaurants in some of the biggest cities, places like Tokyo, Bangkok, Beijing, Sydney, London, Chicago, New York, LA, and I would put the Leaky Palapa in my global top 10. It is that good. Alas,
Restaurant Review – Gringo Dave – Closed as of Mar 6, 2016
Located right at the entrance to town, Gringo Dave’s sign says International and Wild Seafood. That sounds kind of weird but it is surprisingly delicious. Gringo Dave’s is run by a Japanese man, Go Nakamura, He takes local ingredients, and mixes it with Japanese style cooking and comes up with some very good results. You can always find fresh fish, either fried with panko or grilled. He does traditional Japanese comfort food with a Mexican twist. His karage (Japanese fried chicken) is delicious, and his seafood curry
10 Things to bring for fly fishing in Xcalak, Mexico
You are finally making that salt water fly fishing "Trip of a lifetime" to Xcalak, Mexico. You have your flights and your hotel accommodations set. The last thing you want to do is forget something important while you are packing. (Although, click here to see how you can make that trip of a lifetime, every year.) In any event, here is the list of 10 things you should bring on your fly fishing trip to Xcalak. Rods If you were to bring only one rod, I would bring an 8 wt.
What is Wellness?
Wellness is often confused with health, for good reason. The dictionary considers the words “well” and “healthy” synonymous. My 1976 American Heritage Dictionary doesn't even include an entry or sub entry for this word that is bandied about so freely these days. Are we all talking about the same thing when we talk about wellness? The medical world utilizes a number of metrics such as body mass, blood work and the general absence of chronic or infectious diseases to determine wellness. And yet, we can be healthy and
2015 at Acocote Eco Inn
Since we purchased Sandwood Villas and renamed it, Acocote Eco Inn, we have been very busy upgrading and renovating this Xcalak hotel to make it a cozy sanctuary on the beach for our guests. Here is a list in no particular order of the major projects we have completed in the last 6 months. Upgrades and renovations to Acocote Eco Inn 1. New 30,000 liter cistern (Thanks Greg!) 2. New 3,000 Watts of solar capacity 3. Signs in front of Inn and direction signs to get here. (Thanks Bryce and
Top 10 things to bring to Acocote Eco Inn
A question that often comes up when people are coming down to Xcalak for the first time is “what should I bring?” I’ll try to answer that question here. ID Passport (of course) but also bring your driver’s license. You can use your US driver’s license as ID for driving a car. Bring photocopies of both your passport picture page and your driver's license. A quick note on driving here in Mexico. The roads from Cancun down to Xcalak are for the most part well maintained (there is the
The only fish every fisherman knows exactly how many they have caught
As a trout fisherman, I have long since lost count of how many trout I have caught. Any more, a lot of times, I don't even remember how many I catch in a day much less ever. A friend of the Inn, Dustin Carlson of Fishwest, made the observation that the only fish he knows exactly how many he has caught is permit. I think you could ask any fisherman how many permit they have caught and they can tell you exactly. For the record I have
Getting Here – Through Xcalak
Update: Sept 22, 2023 - New signs up. UPDATE: July 15, 2019 - Put up new signs again. Replaced some posts etc. that were falling apart. UPDATE: June 14, 2017 - Just put in new signs. And added a couple. One right at the bridge says "Ahead 8KM" and there is one on the beach road that says ahead 700M. Seems like people feel like they have gone too far when they are soo close. Anyway, updated the pictures in the post. UPDATE: October 18, 2016 - There is now
Top 10 non-fishing things to do at Acocote Eco Inn
So if you know me, the first thing I would want to do on a trip to Xcalak, Mexico would be to go out fly fishing for permit. Now I know that not everyone that comes down here wants to do that, or has a spouse or family that isn’t in to fishing. So we get asked a lot so what else is there to do there besides fly fish? Here are the top ten things to do here, if you aren’t fly fishing. 1. You could have
Spooky Garbage During the Days of the Dead, by Leisa Mukai
It's a spooky time of year. Up north, Halloween just passed. Yesterday and today are the Days of the Dead here in Mexico. This season of the dead is spooky but not for the traditional reasons, which was well illustrated at the Halloween party at Playa Sonrisa, another Inn just a kilometer south of us. There was a strong beach garbage theme to costumes this year. I went as an Associate of Xcalak Payless Shoe Source, dressed in my full body rash guard, snorkel set and fins