But if your spirit animal is a salamander; if you love the throb of the city and a social scene that involves sophisticated bars, galleries, and live theater; nibbling aperitivos at terrace restaurants in Spanish-style plazas while silky warm evening breezes caress your skin; or diving into edgy little cantinas for a shot of mescal, then Mérida is your sultry playground.
Ask around the port for Quique Mex—the highly knowledgeable guide with Ziz-Ha Ecotourismo—for a tour, boat trip, or dive excursion.
Avoid wearing expensive jewelry in public, as doing so can make you a target of thieves and pickpockets.
Where though, for a glass of something to take the edge off? I was sitting at an outside table at the Starbucks in Costa Azul on the Costera near Sanborns.
Pretty much anyplace along the Costera main road along the bay are equal in terms of safety.
Merida is believed, by many historians, to be the oldest continually occupied city in the Americas.