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Full review
Rather unwillingly I have just returned from Mexico, where I had one of the best holidays I've ever had. Feeling the effect of Post Holiday Blues, I thought I'd re-live my holiday by writing about it.
Two of my friends and I booked to go to Mexico only 3 weeks prior to our departure date. We got a fantastic deal through Thomson's and paid £450 per person for 7 nights in a 5 star all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. We flew from Manchester to Cancun on the 23rd of June. I'm not a huge fan of flying, but if I feel it's going to be worth it I can just about put myself through the torture. The flight was just under 10 hours (in Mexico they are 6 hours behind Greenwich meantime). By the time we arrived in Cancun I was a little exhausted and in all honesty I was rather unimpressed with Cancun. The only way I can really describe Cancun is by saying it's very "American". Think huge hotels, big McDonalds and other gigantic fast food outlets - it's very commercial and not very Mexican.
Upon our arrival in Cancun we were transferred by coach to our resort, which was an hour away. When we arrived at the Sandos Caracol Beach Resort, Riviera Maya we entered excitedly like 3 kids on their first visit to a toyshop.
Sandos Caracol Beach Resort & Spa
The five Star all-inclusive resort was refurbished and upgraded at the end of last year due to damage caused by Hurricane Wilma. The resort was built at the edge of the jungle where it meets the Caribbean Sea (I was so glad I took my mosquito repellent, although I still got bitten!!) Upon arrival we were handed a Pina Colada as we checked in and were given our wristbands to receive our free food and drinks. We were then driven to our room on a golf buggy, and thankfully the porter lugged our 3 heavy cases up to the third floor. Our room was air-conditioned and spacious, we had two double beds, walk in wardrobes, a large bathroom (where our flannels had been folded into cute swans) and a free mini bar that was stocked every other day with water, soft drinks and beer. Perfect!
The resort itself is reasonably large, and set up like a small village. The apartments are in 3 storey, thatched blocks (and have 6 apartments per block). There are three a la carte restaurants, at which you had to reserve a table, along with several other buffet restaurants and snack bars. At any hour of the day there is always somewhere to pick up some good food. Some of the buffets were fantastic, and they even served Caviar for breakfast. Every time I visited I found myself coming back with a fourth plate, which probably explains where my post holiday gut came from.
The resort has four pools, two of which have swim up bars (I just about mastered the art of swimming with a cocktail in one hand). Thankfully, you don't find yourself fighting for a decent sunbed as the serious sun bakers tend to be scattered around different parts of the resort as well as the beach. There were regularly wild iguanas roaming around, and photographers would usually approach you with a monkey or a parrot, to have your picture taken with it. The photographs were on display in the gift shop the same day and could be purchased at 110 peso (about a fiver). I had my picture taken with an iguana - but look absolutely terrified of it!
Caracol Beach at the edge of the resort is beautiful. The sand is as soft as flour and the sea is an amazing transparent turquoise. The beach has plenty of free sun beds and thatched parasols, if you fancy a bit of shade. There is a massage tent on the beach, where you can receive treatments at an additional cost. I had a Swedish body massage, which cost 600 pesos (approximately £30). Highly recommended - It was pure heaven! There are free watersports at the beach including windsurfing, kayaking and snorkelling. Unfortunately I never got round to trying any of these out, but they were all provided free.
There was an open Spa at the resort along with a beauty treatment service. The Spa facilities were free to use; Jacuzzi's, Turkish bath and a Steam Room. All the beauty treatments were at an extra cost. There was also a gym which was free to use, however, I never used that - I don't do the gym at the best of times, but definitely not whilst on holiday.
Trips
As with all package holidays Thomson's had a selection of excursions at an additional cost. I only did two of the excursions, but they were well worth the money.
The first trip I did was a Dolphin Encounter. This took place at Dolphin Discovery in Riviera Maya. I paid approximately £40 for the trip and it was an unbelievable experience. We were picked up from our resort at 10am (a reasonable hour) and driven to Dolphin Discovery. The journey took around 30 minutes. Upon arrival we were handed more wristbands and told our experience would begin at 11am. We wandered around the marina to pass some time before our session, and watched the sealions and manatees being fed and got some fab pictures of the dolphins jumping. At 11am we met our guide Kristina, and went to collect our life jackets. Before we entered the water we had our photographs taken holding Parrots. (We didn't get a say in the matter, so that's the only reason I managed to hold a Parrot in my hand without screaming). We were given a quick briefing on how to communicate with the dolphins once we were in the water. By holding our palms crossed and facing upwards under the water, the dolphin would swim into our hands and give us a kiss, also by reaching out our arms under the water, the dolphins would come and give us a hug. Such loving creatures! I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive getting into the water, as I'm usually not comfortable sharing water with fish bigger than I am. However, once we entered we all lined up on a platform in the water at waist length, we outstretched our arms and the dolphins swam up and allowed us to stroke them. Shortly after that, I couldn't get enough of them and got some great pictures of me kissing them. We were in the water for about an hour, and the guide we had was really good and answered loads of questions from our group. After the session had ended, we went to watch the DVD of our dolphin encounter, which was rather embarrassing watching myself falling into the water at the start!!
Captain Hook
The Captain Hook adventure was the second trip I booked, this cost me approximately £40 and the trip took place in the evening. We were driven to Cancun around 6pm, and upon arrival we boarded a huge Pirate Ship. There were two Pirate Ships altogether, and we were told later in the evening the ships would meet in the middle of the sea, and the pirates would fight each other. The Pirates on our ship put on a brilliant performance, we had our own personal "pirate" waiter who made sure nobody was without a drink in their hand. We sailed out of Cancun as the sun was setting, whilst the Pirates began to start their show. They began swinging from the ropes, dancing and at one point one of the Pirates had an argument with "Captain Hook" - This resulted in him being hung from a rope at the top of the ship. (We realised then not to mess with the Captain). The crew were fantastic and got us all involved in playing games, we had to run around the ship and try and rub noses with as many people as possible which proved to be quite amusing. Later in the evening we were treated to lobster and steak, after tucking into a feast we then spotted the other Pirate ship in the distance. This was war!! Soon enough the Ships met in the sea and all our pirates jumped onto the other ship to attack. They carried out rather scary looking sword fights - which were very effective as we watched sparks fly. After the performance had finished a firework display took place from the ships. We watched the beautiful array of colours burst into the dark skies as we sailed back to Cancun.
Playa Del Carmen
Our resort what pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town was Playa Del Carmen and free buses into Playa Del Carmen were provided regularly from our resort. The bus journey was about 30 minutes and unlike Cancun, Playa Del Carmen had a truly Mexican feel to it.
Fifth Avenue was the main street in Playa Del Carmen. The street was filled with traditional souvenir shops, Mexican restaurants and bars, ladies were selling fresh fruit and drinks along the street and some Mexican blokes were wandering through the streets playing guitars. We visited Playa Del Carmen on the day that Mexico played their last match in the World Cup. The locals had their faces painted with the Mexican flag and there was a really happy atmosphere to the place (although Mexico lost the game). Its reported that Robbie Williams stayed in Playa Del Carmen last month.
The beach at Playa Del Carmen was beautiful, and after seeing it from a distance I was mystified as to why nobody was on it. We wandered on to the beautiful, empty beach and it was literally like walking into an oven at gas mark 5. As soon as I made myself vulnerable to the unbearable heat I could feel my skin turning crispy immediately. We lasted long enough in the heat to take a few pictures and dip our toes into the boiling Caribbean Sea, before we had to run for shade.
The Mexicans
I have visited quite a number of countries and without a doubt The Mexicans are the friendliest, most obliging, humorous race I have ever encountered. The staff on our resort, were more than helpful in assuring that all their guests had a fabulous holiday. Outside of the resort, the locals were just as friendly and they were always found to be laughing and extremely good-natured.
I had an amazing holiday in Mexico and would definitely go back again one day. I am glad we decided just to go for a week though, as I think I would have tired of being in the same resort for a fortnight. The trip in total cost me a lot less than last years holiday when I went to Cyprus. I was always under the impression that a Caribbean holiday was only for rich people, but gladly I have been proved wrong
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