OK in April we are going to Mexico (Riveria Maya specifically) for our honeymoon and I was wondering if anyone else has been down there before? We are staying at a Palace resort, all inclusive, it looks like a lot of fun on paper/website, but I would love to hear some experiences from anyone who has been down there or somewhere similar before. I would like to see/do some stuff other than in the resort complex while I am there if at all possible (and if I can afford it LOL).

I personally have never been any further south than Atlanta and no further north than Pittsburg, and never in an airplane so this international travel thing is new to me.... so far I have learned:

Mexican addresses are confusing as hell

Google Maps dosent work in the Cancun area (maybe not in Mexico period?)

I hear rumors you can rent a jeep and drive down the beach to find a more private spot?

1/3/2007 1:09:30 AM

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 1:10 AM. Reason : just south of Cancun IIRC]

1/3/2007 1:09:52 AM

optprime, do u hate me or something? u never talk to me in threads that often- i even embeded a song for you one time cause you requested it

1/3/2007 1:11:30 AM

Go to the Mayan ruins, they really are worthwhile. Plus since most are inland you get to see more of what Mexico is really like.

Dunno about renting a car--I've heard people recommend against it.

In anycase, I'm flying to Mexico City in a two weeks to climb Pico de Orizaba, Izta, and Nevada de Toluca. It will be fun trying to navigate the bus system without knowing a damn bit of spanish and dragging around a 70 lb backpacks.

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 1:29 AM. Reason : x]

1/3/2007 1:28:47 AM

thanks for the tip, also to bbehe

Quote :

"Get out of it as often as you can. Basically there are three tourist like places in that area Cancun, Riviera Maya, and Costa Maya. The Mexican government is trying to make Cancun and Riviera Maya two of the bigger tourist hot spots while Costa Maya is reserved mostly for cruise ships. You should go see the Mayan ruins. The beaches along Costa Maya are better than Riviera Maya in my opinion. Also, everything is a lot cheaper in Costa Maya. Costa maya also has really cheap snorkeling, scuba, para sailing , etc"

1/3/2007 1:40:05 AM

whoops double post

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 1:42 AM. Reason : reading]

1/3/2007 1:40:57 AM

BUGSPRAY, I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU ARE, SOUTH OF THE BORDER, IT'S A NECESSITY

1/3/2007 1:50:31 AM

I stayed at the Cancun Palace in Cancun about 5-6 years ago.
It was nice. You can go to any of the other "Palace" resorts as well and still get your all-inclusive package. I believe there is "Sun Palace", "Moon Palace", and a few others....

Definitely make sure you get out and go do some sightseeing; Aztec ruins, etc...

I got kind of bored hanging around the resort all day...But I'm the type of person who would rather get out and see stuff than just hang out on a beach in the hot sun.

1/3/2007 5:31:00 AM

we went to playa del carmen for my brother's wedding...stayed at the iberostar resort. they went somewhere else/nearby for their honeymoon.

definitely go to the ruins. i'm sure the resort will have pamphlets on activities you can do...we had talked about renting atvs at one point; a few people did and had a blast--i got tied up doing sisterly things pre-wedding so i didn't get a chance to do as much.

the beaches are gorgeous there--this is where we stayed




you could see cozumel across the ocean where we were...definitely go to cozumel for a day. last i went they had just been hit by a terrible hurricane, but it was still beautiful. the shopping there is a lot of fun.

1/3/2007 8:42:51 AM

i'm going to Riviera Maya on Jan 31st with my office. we're staying for 5 days at the Aventura Spa Palace resort. i'll let you know how it goes.

it looks amazing

i'm sure you've already seen this if you've looked up anything about the area at all, but here is a review by someone on their honeymoon about ASP http://www.epinions.com/content_163589099140 it's like 11 pages long if you print it out.

1/3/2007 11:27:27 AM

^ thats exactly where we are going, thanks for posting that

1/3/2007 11:55:33 AM

Quote :

"I stayed at the Cancun Palace in Cancun about 5-6 years ago. It was nice. You can go to any of the other "Palace" resorts as well and still get your all-inclusive package. I believe there is "Sun Palace", "Moon Palace", and a few others.... "

i think thats the palace we stayed at too a few years ago. we got a free trip to another palace (one thats not included in the all-inclusive package), but we had to sit through them trying to sell us a timeshare....it really sucked. we just wanted to hang out and they wouldnt take no for answer.

other then that, we had a good time. i drank way too much cause all the drinks were free. food was alright, but nothing spectacular. my favorite thing was going to Chichen Itza (old mayan ruins)...we took a bus out there (i think you had to pay extra though). not only were the ruins great, but just seeing "real mexico" was interesting. cancun is more american then mexican.

1/3/2007 12:02:55 PM

DON'T DRINK THE WATER

1/3/2007 12:04:03 PM

Definitely don't drink the water and take pepto bismol before every meal. My husband and I spent our honeymoon last July at the Oasis hotel in Cancun--all inclusive as well. It was awesome--we had an absolute blast. We went swimming with the dolphins, went to a water park, etc. All inclusive is definitely the way to go. Also be sure to check with the hotel to get what the bus rates are--the bus drivers will rob you. We spent double or more what we should have on bus trips until we found out the actual fare.

1/3/2007 12:10:57 PM

THERE'S BLOOD IN THE WATER


(also, don't forget that ice has water, like my dumbass did while pounding down drinks - i didn't get sick or anything at least) >.<

1/3/2007 12:46:04 PM

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g150768-Mexico-Vacations.html

everything you need and lots of people to ask

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150768-i6-Mexico.html

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 12:50 PM. Reason : forum link]

1/3/2007 12:49:58 PM

Quote :

"Definitely don't drink the water and take pepto bismol before every meal."

This wasn't the case at the Aventura Spa Palace or Secrets. I drank the water at the resort restaurants and ate more food then I could ever imagine and we didn't get sick once. They provide all the bottled water you could want for when you go off property.

Make sure you check out the ruins in Tulum. Cool stuff. You can get a package deal where you ride zip lines, snorkle in cenotes, and explore the ruins. Definately worth the money.

Also don't get a car. About the only place worth going too off property is Playa del Carmen. The resort will have free shuttle service but if you don't want to wait you can arrange a taxi for $10 US each way.

1/3/2007 1:49:17 PM

a good friend of mine is getting married at the moon palace with the honeymoon to follow on 01/06/07

1/3/2007 1:49:53 PM

although this may seem like common sense to most, theres always that guy

If you plan on avoiding water, avoid the FUCKING ICE.

Seriously, on a cruise I went on, this couple was adamant about always bringing bottle water, but they got frozen drinks from this shack in downtown cozumel and got sick.

1/3/2007 2:54:23 PM

My wife and I went to Aventura Spa for our honeymoon in July and it was awesome. The drive to the resort from the airport takes about an hour, but I guess you get to do some sightseeing along the way. When you first get there you will be assigned a concierge who will be able to schedule you for tours to the Mayan ruins along with other things. We went to a place called XCaret (an eco-park built on a archealogical site). They have very small Mayan ruins, some were real and some were recreated. If you go there you can arrange to swim with dolphins, swim in an underground river, and do some other cool stuff. If you do go, I recommend going for the whole day and staying for the 2 hour show at the end which pretty much tells a history and Mexico and all of its regions. We booked our trip through Chaza Travel at the resort and it was around $70 per person (transportation is included to and from XCaret). If you enjoy water and snorkeling then go check out Xel-ha. Xel-ha is known for its snorkeling and is very family oriented.
I enjoyed staying on the resort and want to go back very soon. I wouldn't worry too much about drinking the water on the resort since they use filtered water and most of what they serve is bottled. Make sure you do take some pepto just to be safe though. The breakfast there is very good so make sure you get up for breakfast every now and then. Also when you go to dinner, make sure you ask about the Mayan coffee. It's a very cool show where they make a coffee, but it's stilll cool since there is fire involved in the process. Also, don't go the resort expecting a beach. Aventura is built on a very rocky part of the coast, and they have lagoons, but no beaches. Cancun Palace and Moon Palace have the best beaches if I remember correctly. And just to be polite I would tip while you are at the resort. The resort may say that they don't require it, but everyone there works pretty hard to make you happy and it's the polite thing to do. Just tip a couple dollars here and there, doesn't have to be anything major.
If you get the chance go to Playa Del Carmen, and see their mall (5th Ave. if I remember correcty). You can take a free shuttle to and from the resort, but it only runs a certain times a day. We took a taxi and I highly recommend it. When you take a taxi, they may pull over on the side of the road, but don't worry you're not being kidnapped. The taxi's there have to pull over and check in periodically. And the resort should take your name when you leave and when you come back, just to make sure that no one gets kidnapped. The whole reason to go the Playa Del Carmen is to bargain and do a lot of shopping. You can get most souvenirs there for half the price of what the resort is offering. You can get good food at Playa Del Carmen also, so go around lunch and have something there.

I'm sure I left something out, but just let me know if you want to know anything else. We had an awesome time and I highly recommend going.

1/3/2007 8:37:27 PM

NICE, I LIKE

this should be awesome

1/4/2007 2:05:38 AM

DO:
1. Go on a Coba/Pac Chan excursion (Coba are Mayan Ruins and Pac Chan is a "modern" Mayan village).
2. Go to Chitzen Itza (this will be an ALL day excursion...it's Mayan ruins and the biggest ones around...but if you don't want to go all day, just do the smaller ones).
3. Go to Tulum (my favorite Mayan ruins - on a cliff by the shore)
4. If you are not SCUBA certified, take the 2 hour resort course and get a taste of an open water shallow dive.
5. If you don't want to SCUBA, go on a snorkeling excursion.
6. Take the ferry to Cozumel for shopping - AMAZING SILVER!
7. Swim in a cenote (underground river - AMAZING water) - you can do this at Pac Chan and several other places.
8. Go on a Jungle Canopy Tour (with ziplines - so much fun!)
9. Make reservations at hotel eating places early (for the ones you need reservations for).
10. Swim with dolphins if you can...it's amazing.

DO NOT:
1. Drink the water...or ice.
2. Bring Imodium - ESPECIALLY if it's your first time in the area. They'll see it at the resort, but it'll be $$$.
3. Buy pictures from resort or hotel photographers.
4. Pet the iguanas.
5. Go to Xelha (it's too $$ and not like real snorkeling).
6. Go to Xcaret - it's like a zoo that will make you cry.
7. Go horseback riding on the beach...I didn't like this...the horses were in poor shape and CRAZY! Of course, mine was named Lucifer - legs were SOOO sore - not good for a honeymoon!).
8. Get so drunk at night that you can't get up the next day.
9. Buy jewelry from the hotel jewelry shop...go to Cozumel as stated above.

Okay, that'll get you started.

1/4/2007 11:17:29 AM

Quote :

"When you take a taxi, they may pull over on the side of the road, but don't worry you're not being kidnapped. The taxi's there have to pull over and check in periodically."

HAHA...I had forgotten about that. The first time it happened my wife about flipped out thinking we were going to be robbed.

1/4/2007 12:21:05 PM

Fuck your wife.

1/4/2007 2:06:52 PM

All inclusive trips suck.

1/4/2007 2:08:14 PM

I dont' know if anyone else has said it but go to Xcaret. Its on the expensive side and very turistie but its alot of fun. Very cool underground freshwater snorkling and swimming with the dolphins. But the dolphin thing fills up in advance so book that early. ALso don't waste your money scuba diving while your there. The coral has been so damaged over the years its not worth going to see.

http://www.xcaret.com/

1/4/2007 3:39:20 PM

Yeah, others have said stay away from Xcaret.

1/8/2007 10:52:18 PM

I know its been said, but avoid the water and the ice, no matter what. My aunt and uncle went to an 'all inclusive resort' and everything should have been fine, but earlier that year was when the area had been hit so badly by hurricanes, and to make a long story short my aunt contracted a virus that attacked her heart, spent almost 2 weeks in the hospital and flatlined about 4 times.

just to give you a bit of info for 'that guy' that gets sick. it happens.. and it can be fatal, not just an upset stomach.

ps- she never drank the water, but did use the ice.

other then that, they LOVED their trip, good luck with your honeymoon and congratulations!

1/9/2007 9:02:17 AM

So even filtered resort water isnt safe? WTF?

1/10/2007 6:08:25 PM

i lived in San Miguel de Allende, MX (in a family's house, not a hotel or resort) for a summer, drank the water, ate the ice, ate the street vendor food and had NO problems whatsoever. i do not usually have an iron stomach.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 6:25 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2007 6:25:15 PM

Why risk it though, stick to the bottled stuff as much as possible.

1/10/2007 9:17:56 PM

When my wife and I went in July we just stuck to the bottled water to be on the safe side. You'll have a pretty much unlimited amount of bottled water from the resort anyway so it's not too hard. And in the restaurants if you ask for water they will come out and pour bottled water in your cup so you can see it's bottled. At least they did for us anyway. We did go off the resort and eat at a restaurant at Playa Del Carmen where all we had was ice and we got a minor upset stomach the day we left but it wasn't anything too bad. Just don't forget the pepto.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 10:48 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2007 10:47:46 PM

DUDE

Who wants to go to such a place and drink water all day? Im not asking is it safe to drink from the mexican garden hoses... My gf is worried about drinks with ice.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 11:00 PM. Reason : k]

1/10/2007 10:57:58 PM

i just got back from aventura spa palace on sunday night.

we had a great time. there are a few things i want to tell you though:

1. the beds are FIRM...and by firm i mean HARD. we slept through the night, but woke up w/ sore shoulders/necks. i saw a woman checking in w/ a camp mat and thought that was ridiculous...she knew better.

2. all of the water for drinking and the ice at the hotel is made with filtered/purified water. we drank drinks w/ ice all day long for 5 days and did NOT get sick. you can brush your teeth and shower in the water fine (although this is not purfied for drinking, it is clean). i swallowed some while i brushed my teeth and took pills and did NOT get sick.

3. take lots and lots and lots of sunscreen. i slathered it on the first morning and was roasted by lunch. use a much higher SPF than you normally do and reapply often. i had to use spf 50 and spf 70 to keep from getting more sun.

4. we booked a zipline tour through TravelRM/Alltournative (not affiliated w/ the hotel) and it was totally worth it. you HAVE to check out the "cenotes" while you're there.

5a. all of the food is free (except in the gift shops), so don't expect too much out of it. it was mediocre at best, but hell it was free. we ate at El Greco for breakfast and it was pretty good. skip lunch there. Mundaca (the steak place), Mo Mo No Hana, and El Tratattorio (sp?) were good for dinner. definitely stop by the Sweet & Coffee store on the south end for dessert...it's only open in the morning til 12, then from 4-11pm.
5b. out of our group of 24 people, 2 got sick. we're not sure if it's because of the horrific sunburns, the amount of alcohol, or the food they ate, but they were both had nausea/vomiting & diarrhea for about 24 hours. we were told to steer clear of the seafood there, but most of our group ate some and had no problems.

6. if you want room service breakfast, fill out the order form thing to hang on your door and order it for at least 30 mins earlier than you really want it. on our day to go to the zipline tour, we had to be in the lobby at 710am. we ordered the room service breakfast for 630am and it came at 7am as we walked out the door. btw, the chocolate cake thru room service sucks.

7. take $20 in ones for each of you for tips. they say tipping isn't required but $1 will get you much further than none.

8. if you don't bring any medicine w/ you, the gift shops have plenty of OTC and prescrip meds (no prescrip required though). we noticed all of the prices for things like sunscreen, pepto, immodium, cough meds, etc are the same as if you went to a store here...no cheaper and no more expensive.

9. drink the drinks from the bar w/ the ice in them. don't be a pussy. like i said, the water is purified and we didn't get sick. i also ate beef carpaccio (if you don't know, carpaccio = thinly sliced & raw) and did not get sick.

10. a couple in our group went to xel-ha (pronounced shel ha) and said it was a huge disappointment. they don't recommend going on that tour.

11. another couple went to tulum and said it was neat, but hot as fuck (there was no breeze there despite being beachside).

12. it's windy as hell there, esp at night. it's still VERY hot and humid though, so don't worry about being cold.

13. they're not very strict on the dress codes for the restaurants and none of them are formal.

14. definitely check out the underwater music in the indoor pool.

15. the north end pool is the quiet end...the south is the rowdy end (with a lot of drunks, live music, etc).

16. go kayaking in the lagoons and bring your goggles to check out the fish. it's cool.

if i think of anything else i'll post it, or just ask if you have a question.


here is the zipline tour we did: http://www.alltournative.com/day-expeditions/mayan-zip-line.php
it's only half a day...all of their other tours are full day ones. the company is very eco & mayan friendly and you will learn something about the mayans while you have fun. we did 3 ziplines through the trees, and swam in 3 cenotes ("ceh no tez"). it's really incredible. the 3rd one we had the option of jumping off a platform 20' above the water. i jumped 4 times. the water is 20-25' deep in that particular cenote. our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. they served us a traditional mayan lunch w/ empanadas, soup, fruit, rice, corn tortillas, and coffee. it was by far the best meal i had while i was down there, and although i did have a small amount of nausea later that day, i never got sick. it was easily fixed w/ pepto.

[Edited on February 5, 2007 at 10:30 PM. Reason : ]

2/5/2007 10:21:08 PM

I was traveling around rural Mexico climbing in January. Street food = teh Best!
The best enchiladas I've ever had were in Amecameca, MX.

In anycase, I drinked the water but my stomach is made out of fucking titanium or something. Everyone else got Montezuma's revenge without drinking the water but somehow I missed it.




[Edited on February 6, 2007 at 2:27 AM. Reason : x]

2/6/2007 2:26:25 AM

If you decide to pay the guys on the beach to go parasailing, make sure you listen to the directions before you are up in the air...

My dad did not listen well to the directions and at the end you are supposed to pull a certain cord so that it will lower you down. He was getting ready to pull the wrong cord and the man in the boat was screaming at him and waving his arms. They ended up taking my dad around TWICE, before he figured out how to lower himself. He said he was just waiting for them to lower him into the water

He had to pay for going around twice as well, doh!

2/6/2007 5:45:25 AM

have they got wireless internet there

3/4/2007 9:40:19 AM

I want to go back to Mexico! I miss the little tacos and the hot sauce! They were so yummy!

3/5/2007 12:21:54 AM

Quote :

"Google Maps dosent work in the Cancun area (maybe not in Mexico period?)"

I've been using Google Earth to look up addresses in Europe. Maybe it would be useful for Mexico, too?

3/5/2007 5:02:08 AM

Could be, havent tried it yet.

3/5/2007 5:11:52 AM

OK flight leaves tomorrow morning

4/14/2007 7:24:33 AM

oh look im wolfwebbin! hola from mexico!

4/16/2007 11:08:02 AM

how is the trip?

4/16/2007 11:08:56 AM

pretty good, got here and slept for like 14hrs

4/16/2007 9:45:32 PM

shit, you ain't supposed to sleep on your honeymoon

4/16/2007 9:50:13 PM

it is important to sleep at some point though, and it had been more than 24 hrs for us


or rather, for her. i got a few hrs here and there.

4/16/2007 10:23:23 PM

Quote :

"shit, you ain't supposed to sleep get on TWW on your honeymoon "

4/16/2007 10:48:07 PM

dur dur dur tww tww tww honeymoon bla bla. theres always downtime

anways you can rent a jeep in cozumel for like 60 bucks i think. did that ona cruise and it was probably my most fun part, driving in mexico. wooooooooo. although my companion got stung by some crazy bee and even if you drive all around youre not gonna put more than like 60 pesosssssssssssss in gas in before you take it back. i dont know about finding super secret spots but i thought there was some cool stuff on the east side of the island right where the main E-W road intersects over there. everything in the middle was like hurricane ravaged when i went though.

4/16/2007 10:56:40 PM

we are going to ride some bobs tomorrow. underwater scooters FTW

4/17/2007 6:05:51 PM

49th

4/17/2007 6:20:16 PM