SUMMARY:
We left the kids at home for a couples getaway in Mexico! Stayed at an all inclusive resort, which meant no cooking or cleaning (took a few days to get used to). We played volleyball, did lots of snorkeling, rappelled into a Mayan Cenote, toured Ek Balam, shopped in the rain at Playa Del Carmen, and Lindsay's favorite-swam with the dolphins! Lots of Food. Lots of Sun. Lots of Laughs!
We left the kids at home for a couples getaway in Mexico! Stayed at an all inclusive resort, which meant no cooking or cleaning (took a few days to get used to). We played volleyball, did lots of snorkeling, rappelled into a Mayan Cenote, toured Ek Balam, shopped in the rain at Playa Del Carmen, and Lindsay's favorite-swam with the dolphins! Lots of Food. Lots of Sun. Lots of Laughs!
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If I remember right, I was at work when my wife called me to tell me about a crazy good deal for an all inclusive trip to Mexico. We're always on the look out for good travel deals, so we knew that this one was too good to pass up. After a bunch of phone calls to family and friends, we had our tickets booked, baby sitters lined up, and were dreaming about the beach! I think we ended up paying $800-something per person for 7 days, which was a steal!
To make it even better, our friends, Ben & Liz and Cory & Brianna, were coming too! This was the first time that we'd gone on a trip with friends. We couldn't have asked for better travel buddies! We could all hang out and relax at the beach or pool, but when the guys got restless, we would go play volleyball or other activities around the resort. I've heard mixed reviews when travelling with friends, but I thought this was a great group!
We left in September and stayed at the Catalonia Yucatan Beach Resort & Spa. It was located in a gated community, right next to an outdoor aquarium and marina! We could walk or ride bikes to check out the dolphins for free! You could also pay and swim with them as well, which the girls ended up doing one of the days. There were also stores all around the marina as well. It was a nice little perk for this resort.
We didn't have too many things set in stone. No schedule, no itinerary, just took things as they came. Each morning we got up when we wanted to, and usually ended up running into each other at breakfast, or just after. I think this worked well to be able to have flexibility for alone time and not feel like everybody had to always be together.
There were 7 restaurants: 2 buffet, 4 a la carte (Mexican, Italian, Steakhouse, Japanese), and a creperie. All of them were great and provided a good variety through out the week. My favorite though was the Japanese! They cooked on a big grill right in front of you and put on a show as they cooked, tossed food into your mouth if you wanted, and had like 7 different courses, which l could hardly finish because of the amount of food!
We did go on one excursion outside of the resort one day. We booked this through Alltournative, which visited the ruins of Ek Balam, allowed us to rappel and swim in a beautiful cenote, and also drove through some local villages and provided us with a homemade authentic meal. The particular company is great because they work closely with Mayan communities to promote cultural awareness, provide jobs, and also are eco-friendly.
We went outside the resort two other times as well. Once to wander around Playa Del Carmen and the other to visit Akumal Beach. Both times we took the Collectivo (public transit). It's very cheap and as long as you don't mind piling into a 15 passenger van with the locals, it's a great way for short trips up and down the coast. Basically you just go to the highway and wait for a white and green van and wave it down. It rained the whole time in Playa, but it was warm so we didn't mind, plus we were ducking in and out of all the shops anyways, so we were sheltered about half the time. Lindsay and I had already been there once on our honeymoon, so were weren't too disappointed that we couldn't see everything we wanted because of the rain. Shopping isn't that much of a draw for us anyways.
At Akumal, we brought our snorkel gear and were on the lookout for turtles. Even though the water was a bit rough and murky that day, we were lucky enough to swim with a few! They were minding their business, eating the sea grass, so we were able to get pretty close and check them out (not touching them though of course!). While we were there, we decided to walk to a place called Yal-Ku. It's a spring of fresh water from an underground cenote that meets up with the ocean, bringing together salt and fresh water and many different types of fish. The walk nearly killed us, as we were very tired from the week and didn't know exactly where or how far it was. It ended up being 2.5 km down a tiny local road, which probably took about an hour (but felt waaay longer!). In the water, there was a current from the cenote, so it made the snorkeling a bit more difficult to stay in one place to look at the fish. The water was a lot cooler than the ocean, which was very refreshing. I probably wouldn't go back, but it was definitely worth it for the adventure!
Back at the resort, there were enough activities to keep us entertained like tennis, basketball, snorkeling, swimming in the pool, and (my favorite) beach volleyball. One of the nights, they had a market that came and visited so you don't really need to leave the resort to get souvenirs and trinkets if you're into that sort of stuff. We only checked out the entertainment one night, which happened to be Karaoke. Lindsay really wanted to do it, so she convinced the other girls to join her. Somehow the husbands ended up going on stage too and embarrassed ourselves! The girls sang "Don't Stop Believing" and we sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The crowd must of took pity on us, because we got more cheers than the girls when it came to voting.
As far as all-inclusive's go, I thought the variety of food and location were the top two things that set this place apart. The beach was probably the biggest downside, as it was quite small and rocky and quite a bit of seaweed that washed up on shore. The rocks and coral, however, provided for great snorkeling, so I didn't mind. It'd totally recommend visiting the place again if a good deal came up. It's worth it for under $1000 for sure!
To make it even better, our friends, Ben & Liz and Cory & Brianna, were coming too! This was the first time that we'd gone on a trip with friends. We couldn't have asked for better travel buddies! We could all hang out and relax at the beach or pool, but when the guys got restless, we would go play volleyball or other activities around the resort. I've heard mixed reviews when travelling with friends, but I thought this was a great group!
We left in September and stayed at the Catalonia Yucatan Beach Resort & Spa. It was located in a gated community, right next to an outdoor aquarium and marina! We could walk or ride bikes to check out the dolphins for free! You could also pay and swim with them as well, which the girls ended up doing one of the days. There were also stores all around the marina as well. It was a nice little perk for this resort.
We didn't have too many things set in stone. No schedule, no itinerary, just took things as they came. Each morning we got up when we wanted to, and usually ended up running into each other at breakfast, or just after. I think this worked well to be able to have flexibility for alone time and not feel like everybody had to always be together.
There were 7 restaurants: 2 buffet, 4 a la carte (Mexican, Italian, Steakhouse, Japanese), and a creperie. All of them were great and provided a good variety through out the week. My favorite though was the Japanese! They cooked on a big grill right in front of you and put on a show as they cooked, tossed food into your mouth if you wanted, and had like 7 different courses, which l could hardly finish because of the amount of food!
We did go on one excursion outside of the resort one day. We booked this through Alltournative, which visited the ruins of Ek Balam, allowed us to rappel and swim in a beautiful cenote, and also drove through some local villages and provided us with a homemade authentic meal. The particular company is great because they work closely with Mayan communities to promote cultural awareness, provide jobs, and also are eco-friendly.
We went outside the resort two other times as well. Once to wander around Playa Del Carmen and the other to visit Akumal Beach. Both times we took the Collectivo (public transit). It's very cheap and as long as you don't mind piling into a 15 passenger van with the locals, it's a great way for short trips up and down the coast. Basically you just go to the highway and wait for a white and green van and wave it down. It rained the whole time in Playa, but it was warm so we didn't mind, plus we were ducking in and out of all the shops anyways, so we were sheltered about half the time. Lindsay and I had already been there once on our honeymoon, so were weren't too disappointed that we couldn't see everything we wanted because of the rain. Shopping isn't that much of a draw for us anyways.
At Akumal, we brought our snorkel gear and were on the lookout for turtles. Even though the water was a bit rough and murky that day, we were lucky enough to swim with a few! They were minding their business, eating the sea grass, so we were able to get pretty close and check them out (not touching them though of course!). While we were there, we decided to walk to a place called Yal-Ku. It's a spring of fresh water from an underground cenote that meets up with the ocean, bringing together salt and fresh water and many different types of fish. The walk nearly killed us, as we were very tired from the week and didn't know exactly where or how far it was. It ended up being 2.5 km down a tiny local road, which probably took about an hour (but felt waaay longer!). In the water, there was a current from the cenote, so it made the snorkeling a bit more difficult to stay in one place to look at the fish. The water was a lot cooler than the ocean, which was very refreshing. I probably wouldn't go back, but it was definitely worth it for the adventure!
Back at the resort, there were enough activities to keep us entertained like tennis, basketball, snorkeling, swimming in the pool, and (my favorite) beach volleyball. One of the nights, they had a market that came and visited so you don't really need to leave the resort to get souvenirs and trinkets if you're into that sort of stuff. We only checked out the entertainment one night, which happened to be Karaoke. Lindsay really wanted to do it, so she convinced the other girls to join her. Somehow the husbands ended up going on stage too and embarrassed ourselves! The girls sang "Don't Stop Believing" and we sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The crowd must of took pity on us, because we got more cheers than the girls when it came to voting.
As far as all-inclusive's go, I thought the variety of food and location were the top two things that set this place apart. The beach was probably the biggest downside, as it was quite small and rocky and quite a bit of seaweed that washed up on shore. The rocks and coral, however, provided for great snorkeling, so I didn't mind. It'd totally recommend visiting the place again if a good deal came up. It's worth it for under $1000 for sure!