the
east coast can be a real slog, or it can be a great experience... my advise would be to get to isla mujeres, the northern most landfall in the
yucatan, and relax there for a while. it's a good anchorage and a safe place to hang out...on first glance, it appears to be tourist-city (and it is), but at about 8-9 p.m. all the touristas are gone and you can enjoy hanging out w/ the locals. they're friendly and nice people and if you look around a bit, you'll find really cool places to eat for little $$$. we traveled only by day heading south (trawler at 7 kts) and would run close to the reef in 50-75 ft of
water. by doing this you'll pick up a counter-current and not be going into the
yucatan channel which can easily run a couple of kts against you. 1st stop is the anchorage at hut point (thru the reef and across from cozamel---get freya roucher's guidebook). next stop is puerto aventuras which is a pretty
cheap marina (unlike what some
guidebooks say). then off to the 2 big bahias (espiritu santos and....hmmmm, it's been awhile--can't remember the name). they are both wide entrances w/ lots of places to explore , good holding and places to hide behind. then go
offshore to the only atoll in
mexico, banco chinchoro---a cool spot. then an easy run to xcalak to clear out and
head into
belize.
we've done this a couple of times and if you pick your windows and don't get in a rush, you'll have a ball-----enjoy