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| You're going to love it! We went to the Mayan a few years ago - we stayed at the Venta Club Playa Maroma. We did Tulum, and we did Xel-Ha (I swam with the dolphins there!). We had a great week, so I'm sure you will too!
----------------------- September 1, 2007.
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Loving Planning!
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| HI Melissa, have a great time, we have stayed in the Playa del Carmen area a few times and its better for shopping then Cancun. Lots of places to barter, if you are in to that (I'm not!) and lots of store with set prices. You may feel like some of the staff are following you in the store, but they work on commission and want to ring in anything you buy. Souveniers like tshirts and things are cheap. And there are lots of neat places to have a beer or sit back and watch the people. You can catch the ferry to Cozumel right in Playa Del Carmen, at the end of 5th avenue. (right down the street from Carlos and Charlie's) We went to one of the beach discos in Playa Del Carmen and it was free entry and free drinks for women. Lots of kids on spring break dirty dancing, but it was ok. There is a great Mambo club there too where they have live music during the week but I can't remember the name! We enjoyed Tulum, its a bit of a walk in to the site from the road, so take water! You can also swim there if you are so inclined. And if you want to avoid hustle and bustle, I wouldn't bother with going into Cancun at all! Its more urban, not tropical and relaxing like the Mayan Riv. Great snorkling off of Cozumel I hear, and maybe even right at your resort. We stayed at the Kentenah which will be down near where you are staying one year and we saw lots of great fish on the reef right at our resort. One tip though, I would bring water shoes, I got a bad cut when snorkling, its all sharp reef. Have fun, that area of mexico is great! With the outings you have planned, you may want some beach bum time! Enjoy! kath
AUGUST 18TH, 2007 Can't believe its over....
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Thanks for all the advice!! I have linked DH to this thread as well. 
I'm very excited to go, especially since it's currently day #2 of -30C temperatures here and I'm not at all happy about it. One of my jobs is a dog daycare and yesterday the pipes were frozen, and last night they started bursting; in total 5 pipes burst, the latest one about an hour before I got there today. They are fixed, but now 2 of the 4 furnaces aren't working, so I literally had to wear my fleece jacket inside in order to try to keep warm. I am *not* looking forward to 8 hours there tomorrow.
We do not have water shoes (they are IMPOSSIBLE to find this time of year), but we will wear our sandals when we're not wearing our fins so hopefully we should be ok. Or maybe we can buy some for relatively cheap down there... I'm sure we can.
Water we definetly will be bringing no matter where we go, and all of our snorkel gear. We also have an awesome new camera (Olympus 790) that is water/sand/snow/drop/freeze proof and takes underwater pictures, so I am *very* excited to get to use it in more than the snow and cold we've had here.
Thanks for all the advice and help and support and watch for pictures here shortly after the 10th.
Melissa
Disclaimer: I am not here looking for your approval, admiration or appreciation. I'm often considered abrasive, rude or inconsiderate. And I'm 100% ok with that. If you don't like me, feel free to ignore me. My life will go on.
 Married my true love September 29, 2007
We had an awesome party & so glad to be Mr. & Mrs.!!!!
Making long URL's smaller daily: http://tinyurl.com
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Pictures are coming soon... some teaser pictures in the other thread inquiring as to whether we were back or not.
I'm going to basically describe our trip here in words. It's going to get long...
So our flight left Calgary at 6:00am Sunday February 3rd. Nasty nasty to be up so early, and then they had the gall to tell us we had to be through security before 4:45, when they don't even OPEN it until 4:30. If we'd known that, we wouldn't have bothered to arrive at 3:00. Oh well... got on the plane, got there safely (flight was 5hrs 3min) and got off in Cancun safely. We were very tired and feeling less than thrilled about trying to barter for a taxi so we just got on the bus the tour company offered for free--which took over an hour to get to our hotel, but was ok since we got to see some other resorts and arrived after check-in time had started. Everyone at the hotel (except the bartenders) are trying to sell you something--we learned that really quick. The consierge was helpful with maps and info about the hotel, but tried to sell us a time share (they apparently do in all of these resorts), but we escaped and headed to our room. Spent the first evening fairly relaxed; had dinner at the buffet and a couple drinks and went to bed relatively early.
Monday we spent lounging around at the hotel, after getting up and going to a "welcome" meeting with the tour company's representative. He told us about some tours and excursions which sounded good, so we booked a couple later in the day. Spent some time chilling in the pool and talked to some new people and didn't really do too much.
Tuesday we were supposed to go on one of our tours, but it was full when we booked it so they put us in one for Thursday instead. So we hung out in the pool, had a siesta, made some new friends and enjoyed being relaxed.
Wednesday we went on a full day excursion to Coba. It was awesome. First we went to the ruins at Coba--the only ruins in the Mayan Riviera that you can still climb the temples-including the tallest one. Chichen Itza was closed 2 years ago when it was declared a "Wonder of the World", and Tulum followed shortly after. I doubt it'll be much longer before Coba is also closed. The temple we climbed was 120 steps, 42 meters (136 ft), and the view is amazing.
After we left there, we went back in our van to a "modern" Mayan village (the tour company has been working with them for 9 years and they have been able to pay for a paved road to their village, and electrical wires to be brought in--the power hasn't yet been connected but it's there), and for a walk through the jungle. After we walked for awhile we got to where we harnessed up and went across a zip line over a lagoon (which had a crocodile in it!). Then we walked some more (still with our harnesses on) and got to a cenote (pronounced see-no-tay; technically a sink-hole, but they're really places where the old coral that makes up the mainland of Mexico has been eroded by rain & underground rivers). First, we received a Mayan blessing (they used the most amazing smelling smoke), which was to protect us from harm and bring us good luck, and then we rapelled through a hole about the size of a dinner table down about 35 feet into the cenote. The water in the cenote is crystal clear and about 30 feet deep; they supplied us with inner tubes to float around on. There were a couple of catfish swimming around down there, too, and some bats. It was totally cool. Then we climbed out on a rope/wood ladder (not as easy as it sounds, especially since the wood was wet & hard to hold onto!), and walked back through the jungle to the village. We then got in a canoe and paddled around the lagoon (we would have rather this canoe ride actually took us somewhere, but oh well) for awhile. Then we had lunch that the mayans had prepared for us. It was the best food I've had in a very long time, possibly ever. They cook in clay pots, on wood fires.... it was amazing.
After we relaxed for a few minutes after lunch, we went back in the van, stopped at the tour operator's base for a shot of tequila & then headed back to the hotel. All in all a fantastic day.
Well worth the money that we had to pay for this one! There are 2 different options for this tour; the other one does not include the zip line, rapelling or canoes, but instead immerses you in the "modern" Mayan culture at the village. This is the link: http://tinyurl.com/2587s9
We had dinner that evening in the Argentinian restaurant at the resort which was really good. There was a little (and I mean TINY) cat wandering from table to table--she seemed to just be looking for pets & cuddles rather than food. Very nice atmosphere and we really enjoyed the food. We had flaming crepes for dessert, which was really cool to watch them make. We have a video, but it's not very good.
Thursday we went on our Snorkelling Adventure tour which we'd originally planned for Tuesday... and were actually quite disappointed. The van to take us there was half an hour late, and the guy drove like he had a rocking chair in his ankle (on/off/on/off the gas the whole way). When we got to the National Park (we had to pay an additional $2 each to be there; and we were surrounded by garbage all over the roads and in the lagoons, didn't make a lot of sense to me), they pretty much pushed us out of the van, handed us a "boxed breakfast" (that we didn't know we were getting so we had eaten before we left), then told us to get our gear, leave our bags & breakfast and get on the boat. We had our own snorkel gear (thank god) so took it out of our pack and headed to the boat. The boat guy drove the boat (motor boat) with the control between his legs (they are not the kind of boats that have a steering wheel, just the "arm" on the motor that controls throttle & direction manually), and off we went down the shore to the snorkel location. It was a yellow flag day (we didn't know that until we got back to the hotel, so it could have actually been red flag--the flag colour is for wind speed: green is ok, yellow is "use caution", red is "danger"--boats are not supposed to go out on red flag days unless they're meant for rough seas), so the ocean was pretty wavy. When we got to the snorkel site, the "guide" instructed us on how to use the snorkel equipment and that we were to follow him and his orange buoy in the water. Don't touch the coral, stay in a group, and that's pretty much it. So off we go. Dude didn't go very slow and many people (us included) had equipment problems. Our gear was new & very good, but we'd never used it, so we had to do some adjusting. DH choked a couple times and came up sputtering... and lots of others were having some trouble. Guide didn't stop, just kept going, so when you got your stuff figured out, you just had to give 'er to catch up. It was tough to take any pictures because the current/waves would push you around and it was difficult to stop for fear of being left in the water! Apparently at our first stop (deep water) most of the group saw some sort of ray (sting ray?) but neither DH or I saw it. At the second stop (shallow water), there were quite a few more fish (once we got to the interesting part, we spent a long time going past just some sea grass & sand), including a barracuda (which I didn't see but DH did), and some brightly coloured fish that I don't know what they were. Because the waves were strong and we were floating, but the current at the bottom that the corals/grasses were moving with were different, I felt quite queasy during this part of the snorkelling, and didn't take many pictures. I was afraid to stop for 2 reasons: the water was less than 3 feet deep in places and if you stopped, you were pretty much standing or being pushed by the waves into the coral, and if you stopped anywhere it was deeper, I was afraid of being left behind. So I tried to keep going without getting sick, but it was a struggle. I didn't enjoy this part of the snorkel much because of my stomach upset. Anyhow... so we get back to the boat and he drives us back to the beach where they tell us we'll have lots of time to have a shower (fresh water), have a beer, eat our breakfast (which has a meat sandwich that has now been sitting outside, in the shade though, for over an hour), change your clothes, etc, and they will announce when our transportation is ready to take us back to our hotels. DH went to get our bag, and I went to the bathroom--had to wait in line--and then I went to find him. As he left to go to the bathroom and I started trying to peel my shirt off my back, they announced that the vans were here and ready to go and we needed to get on them right away. Nice...NOT! So we packed up, got on the van, within 5 minutes we left and were back on the road with the same on/off/on/off the gas driver. No shower, no beer, not even a bottle of water. Just rush rush rush. I still felt queasy, so it was a pretty miserable ride back to the hotel, covered in salt, still in our swim suits, and me feeling like I might barf.
Lots of people have really enjoyed this tour, but I wouldn't do it again. Link anyhow: http://tinyurl.com/2fmtsr
We told the travel agent about it as soon as we got back and he was surprised but said he'd look into it. Asked if we wanted any money back but we didn't think it was worth the hassle so said no. We went back to our room, showered, had a nap, and then spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.
There was a Canadian couple (from BC) that got married at 4:00 at the waterfall on the resort property, so we watched that a little bit, then headed back to the pool. The couple & their wedding party & some (most?) of their guests came down to the pool after and we took some pictures of them. I don't think she's a member here, but I really don't want to comment on this any further in case someone she knows is. I will only say that we laughed at their expense. A lot.
Dinner at the buffet that night, and we ate with our new friends (from Texas) unfortunately near the "private" room at the back where the wedding guests were. Food was good, but it was very weird to be so close to a wedding that we weren't invited to and didn't even know the bride & groom's name. DH had been drinking all afternoon and was getting emotional from the cheap alcohol, so I cut him off and we went back to our room shortly after and watched some TV then went to bed.
Friday we had planned to do very little and that's all we did.  Spent time in the pool, had a few drinks, I took some pictures, and we just relaxed. Around 3:00 we took a taxi into Playa Del Carmen and walked around for quite awhile. We didn't find too much that we were interested in buying, as all the shops had the same things pretty much. We thought it was funny that almost all the shop keepers saw us holding hands and hollered out "special deals for honeymooners", and when we kept walking, and they saw the Canadian flag patch on DH's backpack, they then hollered "special deals for Canadians!". One guy didn't help himself and said to us "how long you been together, 10 days?". We obviously weren't going to go in his shop after that comment! We bought 3 bottles of tequila, a litre of vanilla, some trinkets/souvenirs and that's all. Grabbed a taxi and went back to the resort for dinner in the Mexican restaurant. (The Texas couple we met had a very bad experience with the food at Senor Frogs in PDC and she ended up having food poisoning, so we made sure not to eat or drink anything while in PDC. We even brought our own water from the resort!)
Dinner was great! DH managed to order spicy soup & a spicy entree, so he was slurping down the water & wine faster than just about anything else (they don't do cold milk in mexico apparently, so that wasn't a choice). The only thing I thought was odd about this dinner was that the water was warmer than the red wine. It was totally room temperature, and the red wine had been chilled. DH had Mayan Coffee as part of his dessert (I don't drink coffee), and the display the server put on to make it was awesome. The video we took of that is better, but if I post a link to it, you have to ignore DH's drunken commentary. He's not normally a light-weight, but the heat & the cheap booze combined with the spicy food...
We walked around the resort after dinner, and enjoyed some very nice time together.
Saturday was a morning we were anticipating with mixed feelings. On one hand, we had an awesome tour booked, but it was our last full day in Mexico and we were amazed it had flown by! But up we got, and away we went for our Zip Line tour. Selvatica Zip Line Excursion was totally amazing. The van driver takes us down this crazy one lane road through the jungle and we have no idea what we're in for. We get harnessed up, they put on our helmets & hand us gloves with these thick chunks of leather sewn on the palms and then we walk a ways through the jungle. There, they check our equipment, and do a zip-line demonstration. Then we climb this very narrow spiral staircase to the top of the first zip line. It was totally amazing. You're flying through the jungle on these zip lines, and your glove is the brake! I wish it'd been easier to take pictures, but there's just no way to do it; one hand is the brake, the other is holding on to your straps to keep them from separating (it's not necessary, but the safety line isn't a pulley and if you let go of the straps, the caribiner will smack into your brake hand). And on the platforms, there's just no time to pull it out, take pictures and put it away. It's too much fun to go on the zip lines!! 11 lines in total, and some of them were really really fast--the last one was the longest and was so much fun. I wanted to go again!! The only thing that we missed out on was when the guides have to change their platforms (about half way through), some people got to go upside down because a guide would go with them (to do their braking), and we were too far down the line to get to do that (no guides left). But that's ok; we'll go again sometime.
After the zip lines, we take off our harnesses and get a bike and go for a bike ride through the jungle (which was so cool!), to a cenote. This one is like a perfect cylinder, with the surface of the water about 15' below the ground. There is a zip line into it, or a set of stairs. Unfortunately (for us and him), the guide that goes first to demonstrate/test the zip line had it break on him. The whole thing that you hang on to just snapped right off, and he fell into the water and landed on his back. It took him awhile to recover, and then there was no zip line. However, we were allowed to jump off the side into the water, which was more than 40 feet deep at that point (it was shallower on the other side), so DH did that about 5 times. I've had a bad experience with hitting the water from that kind of height (tubing behing a boat), so I was too afraid to jump off, but I took some pictures and videos of DH doing it.
After we swam around in the water for about half an hour, we got back on the bikes and rode back to the place, where we had a light lunch (which was really good), and then we got back in the van and went back to the resort. I bought the picture of me on the zip line (DH hadn't seen the camera so wasn't smiling), since we hadn't taken any pictures. I'll have to scan that one in to post it.
Link for the tour: http://tinyurl.com/2yyl5t
We had dinner that night in the Argentinian restaurant again and then played some games with our Texan friends and went to bed.
Sunday morning... our last few hours in Mexico. We had breakfast then packed up and went to wait for the bus that would take us to the airport. It was supposed to be there at 11:50. Around 12:30, one of the other couples waiting for the bus (there were 9 of us total), went to ask where it was, and the tour agent was shocked we were still there. Apparently the bus had forgotten about us. He phoned someone to book us a van and assured us it would be there soon. We alternated waiting with the stuff and each of us went into the buffet to grab a sandwich and a last drink. The van came just after 1:00 and the driver jam-packed our luggage into it, got us all loaded and off we went. Got to the airport at about 1:50. Checked in and were told we were boarding at 2:00 (I think they meant we needed to be through security by 2:00 as our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 3:30)--as we left the check in counter, it was 1:58. We practically ran through the airport, found security, got through it, searched for our gate and then sat & waited. We boarded at 3:25, and all was fine. We sat next to another couple from our hotel (the check in counter had told them their seats were together, but the aisle was between them!!), and waited some more. Finally we pulled out of the terminal and the plane starts taxiing to the runway. We stop. The pilot comes on the intercom and tells us that we're 6th in line to take off and it'll be another 10 minutes or so. Then he pauses and says "and by the way, it's currently -20 in Calgary." I nearly cried! That was pretty mean... waiting until we can't possibly get off the plane to tell us that!!!!!
Anyhow, the flight was good, no turbulence, and the skies were relatively clear over most of the US so after we watched the first movie (we would have watched the 2nd but it had subtitles and we couldn't see the screen well enough to read them), we read & looked out the window. We were able to see our community as we flew into Calgary (DH is convinced he could pick out the street light that's right in front of our house), and then we landed uneventfully. The cold was a bit of a shock getting off the plane, but not as bad as I'd expected. And then it warmed up overnight, so it was pretty nice out on Monday & the rest of the week has been very good weather here.
So, all in all, a fantastic trip. Lots of good memories, lots of really good times with DH. Some really good conversations about things we've never talked about before (and as a bonus, almost everything we discussed we have the same opinion on!), and no fights at all... well, we don't fight anyways, so didn't expect that.
I'd highly recommend the resort, with the exception of the beds; they were *very* hard (but not so hard as to be painful). We didn't get sick from the food or the water (don't drink the tap water but everything else is fine), though I did have one evening where an overdose of heat + food too late in the evening + a little too much wine made me throw up, but I don't blame that on the food or anything. There were no lingering effects. DH got drunk a couple times, but no lingering effects of that, either.
Staff was great, the resort was great, the atmosphere was great. The beach was only ok, but the sandy part above the wall was really nice & relaxing. It's just not the kind of resort you want to go to if you want to play in the ocean, I guess. We did go in the swimming area, but there's some very large rocks and because of the wind (only one green-flag day) you couldn't see them in the water so we got scared and got out.
I'll post pictures as soon as I have a link to them.
Thanks for reading!!!
Melissa
Edited a couple times to add links & correct some errors in spelling
Disclaimer: I am not here looking for your approval, admiration or appreciation. I'm often considered abrasive, rude or inconsiderate. And I'm 100% ok with that. If you don't like me, feel free to ignore me. My life will go on.
Married my true love September 29, 2007
We had an awesome party & so glad to be Mr. & Mrs.!!!!
Making long URL's smaller daily: http://tinyurl.com
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