I went to Cancun in the middle of October last year for a two-week break with Thompson.
The flight took us from Manchester to Cancun and was approx 9 hours. The Mexicans like their paperwork and therefore it took us around an hour or more to get out of the airport and begin the ten-minute journey to the "hotel zone" where our hotel the Royal Solaris awaited us.
The hotel is all-inclusive and contained absolutely everything should you wish to stay in the complex for the entirety of the holiday. The staff were talkative, friendly and very helpful, the food was to die for.
Our hotel was situated very close to the airport and just in the middle of the large "spit" of land, which separates the lovely light blue ocean the lagoon.
We were a 20-minute bus trip away from "Downtown Cancun" and buses were very frequent (as often as every few minutes), cheap and they don't hang around either! Alternatively a taxi was always a phone call away and they normally arrived within 5-10 minutes.
We visited one of a number of shopping malls just next to the lagoon on one morning and the shops have something for everyone from t-shirts, food and drink to traditional and unusual gifts/souvenirs. There was plenty of variety when it came to shops.
Mid-way down the "hotel zone" is Aqua World where we planned three activities that were later cancelled due to the weather. One was a day trip to Isla Mujeres on a short boat trip, another was Sea-Sub Explorer which would have taken us slowly through the lagoon before stopping above coral reefs for us to the view the water-life and the third was Sky-Rider where we would of gone up into the air on the back of a speedboat.
If you're into your history then Chichen Itzá was highly recommended to us where we could see the ancient ruins of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula built by the Mayan Civilization.
The hurricane also prevented me from going to see Bull-Fighting in the arena in Cancun too.
There are plenty of places to eat, especially if you're into Seafood and Lobster (lots of Lobster bars) but they also cater for all tastes.
I spent one of the best nights of my life in Cancun at the Coco Bongo nightclub - they know how to party in style, not just with music and drink but also with live dancers on stage and from the ceiling, it was a show and a night to remember.
Other great memories, which stand out a mile, were picking up newly hatched sea turtles (about the size of the palm of a hand) and releasing them into the sea. It was such a great feeling getting so close to and even touching these lovely babies, knowing that one-day they'll hopefully grow so big.
The other was the gorgeous sunsets I enjoyed with my partner over the lagoon.
The holiday was cut short by a week as we took cover from Hurricane Wilma in the University of Cancun. The hotel staff came with us and looked after us for three nights until the floods had subsided, the roads clear enough to pass and the wind died down. Unfortunately upon returning to the hotel it became immediately apparent that we wouldn't be there for long as the hotel had suffered a lot of wind and water damage during the 2-day storm.
After a nights sleep we were bussed to another airport 8 hours away and then flown to the Dominican Republic and off to the Rui hotel. There was a lot of confusion there amongst the hotel reps as to whether we would be seeing out the rest of our holiday there but 6 hours later we were ordered back to the airport and onto the UK.
I know plenty of people who had previously been to Cancun and they had all said to me before I went away it was the best place they had gone to and I have to agree with them.
If anyone could of stopped Mother Nature then I would of given this 4 stars. As much as the hurricane was a horrible experience it has certainly not put me off going again as I felt very safe in the hands of the Mexicans.
Overall this was a gorgeous location, lovely views, plenty to see and do, lots of places to eat out and we were very unfortunate to have caught the tail-end of the hurricane season however the first week was that good that we will be returning to pick up where we left off.
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Advantages: unique, in your face, great entertainment, superb value for money. Disadvantages: bit cheesy - but meant to be
TheWizardsSleeve 05.11.2007 (31.10.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Coco Bongo, Cancun, Mexico
Advantages: Trapeze acts, stage artists, great fun party music, atmosphere, strong drinks Disadvantages: Very busy, likely to get drinks spilled on you
exceptional by (15%):
very helpful by (85%):
