Progreso Yucatan, Winter Travel During COVID-19 Pandemic

Travel Decision Dilemma, Asia Or Back To Mexico

Our Winter Travel 2020/21 itinerary was to return to Asia. But the reality of winter travel amid the Covid-19 Pandemic changed everything. Having been to Thailand twice but never to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, we were looking forward to returning to Asia. We really enjoy everything about the experiences we’ve had in Asia, culture, people, and the best of all the food.

Flight + Hotel Deals: Save on Mexico, the Caribbean & more!

With COVID -19 Pandemic and all the doom and gloom talk, we found ourselves doing some soul searching. After weighing the pros and cons of returning to Asia, we thought it best not to go. Asia might not be that easy to get back home from if the need arises. Visiting several different countries during the pandemic could prove to be a logistical nightmare as well.

After careful consideration, if all hell should break loose, we wanted to be closer to home. After a re-think, we decided on returning to Mexico. We thought closer to Canada would be a better choice. After all, Mexico offers everything that we want in a winter getaway. No Winter!

Our Decision to Return To Progreso

Spending 2019/20 winter in Canada, then with the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to decide. Staying another winter or travel. God knows we wanted to travel but was this smart with everything going on. Governments are telling us to stay home.

Well, with all the uncertainties, we felt this was a good time to return to Progreso. We had been to Progreso, Yucatan in Spring 2019 for six weeks and loved it. Progreso, we thought at the time would be a nice place to come back to when we got older. In Progreso, you could sit back, relax, and enjoy your days. Why not relax and enjoy a low key lifestyle? Even low key Progreso is a fabulous place to be rather than a cold Canadian winter.

Progreso Trip Booked & Others Question Our Decision

After contacting our hostess in Progreso, finding out that the apartment we stayed at in 2019 was still available, and getting an excellent rental rate. We proceeded to book the beachfront apartment from mid-November through to the beginning of May 2021.

Air travel was next on our list. This was easy as the Yucatan, Quinto Roo (Cancun), started to open up to tourism. Air travel was easy enough to book. Since booking, though, we have had several itinerary changes as the airlines continued to consolidate their routes.

Telling our family about our upcoming plans was a different story altogether. Our families did not think winter travel during the COVID-19 Pandemic was a good idea. There were too many variables that could affect our stay and possibly our health. We thought that if any issues came up that we could deal with the situation. Mexico is not far from Canada, and we could make it home if all hell broke loose.

We concluded that we are not what anybody would call social butterflies at the best of times. We do not go out to bars, and dining out is something that we do not do a lot of. Our health is good, and we are young 61 & 58 years old. We would be careful; I guess time will tell if we made the right decision. We are comfortable with our decision to winter travel during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Medical, Covid-19 Health Insurance

We always get medical insurance as you never know if or when something might happen. This year added a twist as Covid-19 insurance was hard to find, and most did not offer insurance with Covid-19 coverage. We did a lot of looking and waiting to see if any of the government’s travel restrictions would be lifted.

After lots of searching on the internet, we came across heymondo, which offers medical insurance that included coverage for Covid-19. We had not heard of heymondo before, so after looking at the reviews and we were satisfied. So after getting a quote at a very reasonable price ($1050 Cad), we purchased. Ready to go.

En-Route to Mexico and Progreso, Via Air & Bus

Leaving home, we catch our first flight to Calgary. All Covid-19 Pandemic protocols in place at the airport. Face coverings and temperature checks are the norms to travel. We are excited but cautious as nothing about this winter travel during the Covid-19 Pandemic is a certainty. High body temperature or other passengers not willing to play by the rules could derail our end destination. All goes well, and we make it into Calgary on schedule. Our layover in Calgary is two days, not ideal, but nothing during this pandemic is straightforward.

Time passes very slowly, waiting to travel onward. Our connection to Toronto finally arrives, Monday at one in the morning. Nothing like the pleasure of air travel. We repeat the check-in and boarding process, face masks, and temperature checks all around. I’ll admit that the process did go smoothly and that all people involved played by the rules. Nobody sent to the corner for a time out. On a side note, this flight was completely booked. Our layover in Toronto was only two hours long; things were looking up.

Our excitement was beginning to grow at this point. Once we were on the next flight to Cancun, and we would be home free. Winter in Progreso and 5 1/2 months before we had to return to Canada. Maybe Covid-19 and this pandemic will be a long memory by then.

The last boarding call comes over the speaker system. Again we repeat the boarding process, face masks, and temperature checks all around. This flight is only half full. We assume some vacationers, willing to quarantine for 14 days after returning to Canada and others returning home to Mexico.

Cancun and Beyond

Arriving in Cancun, we are overwhelmed with relief and excitement that we have made it this far. Airports are I find a pain in the ass as nothing seems to be straight forward. We wanted to pick up our Mexican sim card here for Cindy’s cell phone but didn’t see anything or missed it. Next was going through the maze of hawkers trying to sell you a ride to Cancun. Too many options, and you know you didn’t get a good deal (600 pesos), but it is time to get off this rollercoaster. Any ride at this point will do. We did get a taxi driver that knew English and pleasant to talk to. The ride to town cost us more than our hotel in Cancun and two-thirds the bus’s cost to Merida (4hr ride) that we took the next day.

Ado Bus Tickets

We were in Cancun for only one night and then off to Merida, where we would catch another bus to Progreso. We had booked a room at the Parador, using Booking.com. Comfortable enough as we were only looking for a place close to the ADO Bus station and a good night’s sleep after a long day of travel. After settling in, we went out looking for the ADO bus station, which we found was only 1 block from our hotel. We purchased our tickets to Merida at the cost of 437 pesos apiece. Again with the concern of Covid-19, they had temperature checks at the entrance to the ADO station. Everyone is wearing masks, and they sanitize when needed.

Telcel Sim Card

After the ADO station, our next quest was to find a Telcel dealer. We would get a Mexican sim card for our cell phone for the next 5 plus months. This, too, wasn’t difficult as we only needed to walk a few blocks to find one. Telcel offers many different plans; it was important for us to have to call back to Canada. Some family members do not use today’s many ways to communicate; it’s the phone, landline.

We stopped for El Pastor Tacos & Chorizo Tacos for dinner on our way back to the hotel.

ADO We Go

After a nice Mexican breakfast at the hotel, we caught our ADO bus at 9:00 am, and it’s off to Merida. The buses in Mexico are very comfortable as well safe, at least the ADO is. Definitely recommend this mode of transportation as they go everywhere, timely and reliable. After reaching Merida, we grabbed a taxi to Autobus Progreso to catch our last ride to our final destination, Progreso.

Progreso, Home for the Winter

Progreso’s bus is not ADO, less comfortable; still, the Covid-19 protocols were used, masks, and temperature checks. It is worth repeating that all persons were wearing masks and appear to take the spread of Covid-19 seriously. The ride to Progreso only takes an hour, so before you know it, you’re in downtown Progreso.

Reaching Progresso, we headed over to the Mercado, where we enjoyed a nice lunch of fried fish with tortillas. Nice to be home for the winter. After being picked up by our host, we arrived at our apartment. Being greeted by a home-cooked meal in the fridge along with a couple of apple cider drinks. We proceeded to unpack and settle into our new home for the winter months.

Thoughts On Covid-19

• Progreso is a town that has taken Covid-19 very seriously; Masks are worn by everyone, temperature checks at store entrances. Beaches and Malecon closed when needed, evening curfew

Our Positives

• The community is safe and friendly.
• Covid-19 protocol taken seriously

Our Negatives

• The whole Covid-19, and how the Canadian government is handling travel and there restrictions

Would have, Could have, Should have

• We are happy with our decision to travel to Progreso and have no regrets

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

• Travel Packing Essentials to help organize and make this task less stressful
• Travel Safety Essentials to make your life on the road a little safer, giving you peace of mind
• Living Essentials to make life a little more comfortable, be this resting, working, or playing.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

• Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
• Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
• Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.