South of Barcelo, near Tulum, a two lane road turns off to the sea, then swings south down a narrow peninsula for 50 miles to the small fishing village of Punta Allen. Most of the road lies within the Sian Kian biosphere ecological park, which encompasses some 100,000+ acres of tidal estuaries and mangrove swamps. The Bay of Ascension is renowned for its vast lobster [ langosta ] grounds , as well as flyfishing. Since our first trip to Quitana Roo, I had harbored the thought of renting a jeep for the day to take the rough ride south to Punta Allen. With no more historic sites to explore, we decided to do just that.

We scheduled a Wrangler for Thursday, but due to a Mexican snafu with the rental company, it was delayed til Friday. With the rental secured, we piled into the jeep and struck out south to Tulum. Driving on Mexican highways is akin to driving in India-its petal to the metal and mostly defensive driving. You had best be ready to pull over to the right verge at any time to avoid oncoming traffic, as well as overtaking traffic.

Turning off at Tulum put us off the main road and tons of traffic and onto a narrow asphalt road with much less traffic. Pretty quick that turned into a dirt track that was rough and dusty and carved out of a thick jungle of palms of every variety. For the first hour it seemed to be endless jungle, and we only passed a handful of vehicles. Than we suddenly began to get glimpses of both the huge lagoon to our west and the sea to our east.

We passed over an inlet from the sea on a rickety wooden bridge with a brand new concrete bridge under construction next to it. The water was blue and clear and tempting, but knowing it was inhabited by salt water crocodiles cooled our ardor for a swim.

Two hours later after a seemingly endless bumpy ride down the peninsula, we pulled out of the thick jungle into the lil village of Punta Allen. Down thru the winding dirt streets, we found a lil restaurant right on the beach and piled out for some refreshment of cold cervezas and grilled shrimp. A cooling breeze blew in off the sea and we just kicked back to enjoy the slow village tempo. After lunch, I walked out on the long pier to try a few casts for a fish, but had no luck.

By 2 PM we headed down the backtrack, the only way out, and stopped on a secluded beach in a large bay on the seaside to take a swim. The beach was pure white sand and the water was clear blue and delightful to swim in.

After an hour we loaded up for the drive out and back to Barcelo. It had been a long day of driving, but definitely worth it.