This is a second instalment in a series I am offering on breakfast on the Mayan Riviera. Most hotels on the Riviera are all inclusive and it is often difficult to find resorts that are open to non-staying guests. We love good food, perfect settings and excellent service, right along with simplicity and authenticity and have developed quite a repertoire of breakfast places to go to wherever we travel. I have decided to share my collection of Mayan Riviera breakfast experiences with you. Enjoy.

Maroma Beach - the Maroma Orient Express

Rated one of the most beautiful beaches in the world by Condé Nast (a few recent experiences with their "Best in the World" recommendations made me think of them as Condé "Nasty"), this time they are not far off the mark. The beautiful Maroma beach is located half way between Playa del Carmen and Cancun. Watch for signs or the large blue peacock painted on a wall at the turnoff from the highway. Maroma beach fronts a few resorts (almost all are called "Maroma" this or that) but without a doubt the destination here is the Maroma Orient Express hotel.

The Maroma Orient Express is a 65 room hotel with a spa set right off the gorgeous white sand beach. Reservations for breakfast are required but unless you are traveling between Christmas and and New Year when the hotel is fully booked, you shouldn't have any problem getting in for breakfast (or lunch). Breakfast is served at El Restaurante on the beach and it is a gorgeous, transforming, setting. Tables with white linen clothe and white umbrellas are arranged on the open stone patio at the edge of the white sand that separates you from the beautiful turquoise carribean waters. You feel at one with the sea and sand. Hola amigos, I am home.

The breakfast menu is fabulous, offering anything from birchmuesli with papaya, scrambles eggs with poblanos, tostadas with eggs or chicken, juevos motulenos with beans and ranchero sauce over corn tortillas to, of course, pancakes, waffles and other classic breakfast varieties. The tortillas are made fresh by a Mayan woman, rolling them in plain view just inside the restaurant. The woman walks between the tables, offering the tortillas, still warm, to go with your breakfast. The juice selection is enticing, with watermelon, pineapple, Chaya and the likes offered throughout breakfast. Good coffee is served in large cups, inviting you to linger and watch the scene.

As always at the end of breakfast we walk down to the water's edge and enjoy a long beach walk, feet in the water, checking out new developments along that beautiful stretch of beach. We sometimes stop by for a drink back at the Maroma, before leaving to return to our own Mayan Riviera abode. Breakfast at the Maroma is one of those special experiences etched in your memory that you can draw on for a spiritual lift when needed.