Cancun Vacation

Quote: The beach is beautiful. The sand never gets hot! X-Caret is well worth the money. They have great underground rivers, dolphin programs, lagoons/snorkling, beach areas, and the food's pretty good too. Shopping in Cancun is great. The restaurants and night clubs are fun and festive for both families and couples/singles. The people are just the greatest. They are very family oriented, and extremely helpful and friendly.

Quick Tips:

Stay away from the hawks at the airport that claim to be RCI. There is no RCI representative in Cancun. The closest rep is in Mexico city. They will try to bleed you dry for tips, tours, and transportation to your hotel. Just ignore them and keep walking or they will try to stop you, carry your bags, etc. all for some of your cash. Try to arrange your hotel/airport transportation ahead of time because cab rides are at least one way! Stay in the hotel zone; it has everything you need. Downtown Cancun doesn't have much to offer unless you're looking for some authentic mexican food or straw markets.

Best Way To Get Around:

Buses are only 6 pesos (about .60US) one way. They are easy to catch/use and will take you anywhere you want to go. Taxis can be very expensive, get your prices up front before the ride! Rental cars are comparable to the US, but many don't have air conditioning, stereos, manual shift, etc. so ask about the options you are getting. Driving is safe and easy to navigate to most places.

Quote: The rooms are nice, but the bathrooms need renovation - which they are in the process of doing. Our only complaint was that they don't give you enough towels. We had four adults and one toddler, and we were given two large towels, two hand towels, and two washclothes per day. It wasn't a problem getting extra towels, but we had to make the same request every single day. Many of the housekeeping staff do not speak english very well, so communication can be more difficult than expected, but they are more than willing to try to help. Beach towels are available out by the pool/beach - no limit.

Our room had two queen beds (in one room) and one murphy bed (in the living room). There was a TV in the bedroom and one in the living room (with remotes). Both the bedroom and living room had telephones. Only the bedroom had a clock (alarm clock). The bathroom had a regular shower/tub with very good water pressure, one sink and a hairdryer provided. They provided shampoo, conditioner, two bars of soap, and lotion daily. The kitchen/dining area had a dining table with four chairs, complete place settings at each chair, a refrigerator with freezer complete with ice trays, a stove top with four burners, a microwave, a sink complete with sponge/dishsoap, a dishwasher complete with detergent, and lots of cabinet space. We had a balcony, with two chairs and a small table, which faced partially the ocean and partially the tennis courts.

The grounds are beautiful and very well kept. The beach is just beautiful. I think they have one of the most prime pieces of property on their side of Cancun. The waves are very mild here and the water is meshed off from anything dangerous. It's perfect and very safe for everyone, including small children or nonswimmers. The sand never gets hot!

There is one adult pool with daily activities like water vollyball or basketball, one kiddie pool, and one pool on the other side of the resort for privacy and no noise. There are three playgrounds for the various children's ages. There are tennis courts, water sports, an outdoor restaurant for lunch and dinner, an indoor restaurant for breakfast, of course food and drink service by the pool and beach, nightly bus service to different night clubs with VIP service included, freshwater showers out by the beach, several chairs and umbrella tables everywhere, and beautiful birds in cages everywhere inside and out. I think overall that this resort had the best service we have ever had on vacation.

Quote: Best Things Nearby:
The beach and ocean! Downtown hotel zone isn't more than a two or three minute bus ride away. The same can be said for downtown Cancun.

Best Things About the Resort:
The buffets have great variety and the food tastes very good. The service is just wonderful here! The grounds were extremely clean. Every day you can join the hotel bus to take you to a different night club and be treated VIP style.

Resort Experience:
The rooms are nice, but the bathrooms need renovation - which they are in the process of doing. Our only complaint was that they don't give you enough towels. We had four adults and one toddler, and we were given two large towels, two hand towels, and two washclothes per day. It wasn't a problem getting extra towels, but we had to make the same request every single day. Many of the housekeeping staff do not speak english very well, so communication can be more difficult than expected, but they are more than willing to try to help. Beach towels are available out by the pool/beach - no limit.

Our room had two queen beds (in one room) and one murphy bed (in the living room). There was a TV in the bedroom and one in the living room (with remotes). Both the bedroom and living room had telephones. Only the bedroom had a clock (alarm clock). The bathroom had a regular shower/tub with very good water pressure, one sink and a hairdryer provided. They provided shampoo, conditioner, two bars of soap, and lotion daily. The kitchen/dining area had a dining table with four chairs, complete place settings at each chair, a refrigerator with freezer complete with ice trays, a stove top with four burners, a microwave, a sink complete with sponge/dishsoap, a dishwasher complete with detergent, and lots of cabinet space. We had a balcony, with two chairs and a small table, which faced partially the ocean and partially the tennis courts.

The grounds are beautiful and very well kept. The beach is just beautiful. I think they have one of the most prime pieces of property on their side of Cancun. The waves are very mild here and the water is meshed off from anything dangerous. It's perfect and very safe for everyone, including small children or nonswimmers. The sand never gets hot!

There is one adult pool with daily activities like water vollyball or basketball, one kiddie pool, and one pool on the other side of the resort for privacy and no noise. There are three playgrounds for the various children's ages. There are tennis courts, water sports, an outdoor restaurant for lunch and dinner, an indoor restaurant for breakfast, of course food and drink service by the pool and beach, nightly bus service to different night clubs with VIP service included, freshwater showers out by the beach, several chairs and umbrella tables everywhere, and beautiful birds in cages everywhere inside and out. I think overall that this resort had the best service we have ever had on vacation.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Quote: This rainforest cafe is no different than we have in the states. The food was very good, but the service was outstanding. This building is probably a little older or less maintained, so it's not quite as "wowing" as, say, the brand new one in Chicago, but if you have kids it's a great place to hit for lunch or dinner. They do the typical thunder and lightening storm, and the animals chirp and move around. It's a fun place to dine casual. You get a good meal, great service, and a little entertainment for your money.

Quote: This place was fun, but extremely loud. It's really for the young singles and couples croud. Not too much of a family place. The waiters do dances every now and again and there is karaoke on stage. There are lots of party-er type contests.

The food was okay, but our service here was not nearly as good as other places we went to.

If you want some fun nightlife for dinner and don't mind loud music, this is the place for you.

Quote: GREAT PLACE to go and have fun. There's TV screens everywhere playing Jimmy Buffett music and scenes from concerts and road trips. I'm not a huge Buffett fan and I had a blast. The inside is very fun and festive. The waiters make ballon animals and hats for the kids and adults alike. They also get up on stage and do dances - sometimes pulling guests up there with them. For Cheeseburger in Paradise, they dress up like the parts of the cheeseburger (lettuce, bun, burger, etc.) and dance around. It's a ball. The food was excellent, the service was even better.

Everyone, kids and adults, were thoroughly entertained. We had our picture taken with the big mexican hats and mexican blankets in front of a huge margarita with some kind of green mix spilling into it all night. We would definitely go back. Of course, the margaritas are great too! At later hours they have the usual optional $25 US cover charge for all you can drink all night. So after hours it's great for the singles or couples scene.

Quote: This was one of the most fun places we went to eat. There's a fire burning in the middle of a water fountain -- I mean directly in the falling water! The waiters carry the drinks on their heads -- no matter how big or how many there are. We saw a waiter carry eight drinks on his head! The customer gets to take them off one at a time by standing on a chair! Each time a glass comes off, the waiter adjusts for the balance a little and then the next one comes off and so on. It was good fun. They play some music to get your attention and everybody watches the show at each table.

The food was excellent. We ordered five meals with not one complaint. We had steaks, lobster, etc. Everything was hot and prepared correctly. The service was outstanding. They made balloon animals and hats for the kids. They have a DJ and/or live music depending on what time it is. The live band was all Mexican singing American songs. It was just a riot. Every so often the waiters get up on stage and do a dance.

Very entertaining for all ages! We went twice in one week. We would definitely go back again next time we visit Cancun.

Quote: DON’T USE THESE GUYS. We traveled with our 2-year-old son. We had set up for babysitting with my mother for one day so we could dive. We tried twice to make reservations with their representative, Brian, at our hotel. Both times he told us to just show up at the dock at 9:15am.

We showed up with all our gear and were told that there was no room on the boat and that we should have made reservations! We waited around for cancellations, and of course, no luck. We even talked to the guy who was too lazy to take our reservations. He told us that it wasn't a good day to dive anyway because it was windy! What a crock - too windy, yeah right; at 60 feet under, you can really feel the wind. He had all kinds of excuses why we shouldn't dive that day anyway. We were rather upset, but no one at SCUBA Cancun really cared, no apology, no trying to set us up for anything else. Basically, we're full, so you can go ahead and leave and we don't care about your plans. They were extremely unprofessional and rude.

This rep from our hotel should have been a sign, as he was extremely unprofessional, telling us about all the illegal lobster hunting he does on SCUBA, all the parties he goes to so he's always a "wreck" diver because he's always wrecked in the mornings, and about all the women he picks up and takes home at these parties! The reason he didn't take our reservations was because he was too busy on the beach talking to his future prey!

We went back to our hotel, and thank goodness for the staff there. They called SCUBA Cancun and basically made them take us. We rushed back over there with all our gear and the boat was waiting for us -- with all the divers who heard the entire exchange just an hour before. We were nervous about going back because we thought that we would be treated badly, but the owner, Thomas, came out to greet us and took care of getting us signed in and on the boat. In all fairness, Thomas was a good guy, but that was after Brian and the girl at the front had left a bad taste in our mouths. The Mexican divemasters and boat staff were great guys, helping every diver in and out of the water.

Boats are typical SCUBA boats - nothing special. There's freshwater, but no snacks. When asked how many divers per boat - their answer is eight divers per divemaster - cattle boats. Times are lax, air consumption is watched, depths are on the shallow side. Everyone stays with the divemaster, not much to see. Prices seem to be different depending on who quotes you. Our dives were $40USD pp for 2 tank am.

Quote: This was by far our favorite excursion. We rented a car and drove ourselves. The drive is only about an hour from the hotel zone and signs have the route clearly marked. You can't get lost. It's a safe drive. There are bits and pieces of ruins throughout the park. The beaches and lagoons are spectacular. There is snorkeling, SCUBA diving, a lazy underground river, beaches, hiking, animals to see, huge turtles, pony rides, horseback riding, horse shows, dolphin shows, interactive programs, great food, and a fantastic night show. The park is very spread out so be prepared for a full day.

Be sure to bring biodegradable sunscreen because they don't allow anything else, but have no fear, they sell it here. They sell a little of everything in their gift shops. They rent lockers, snorkel gear, and towels. The lockers are on the small side though. There are freshwater showers everywhere to rinse off. There are also chairs and hammocks everywhere to relax throughout the day. No bug bites to worry about! We would definitely do it again.

Quote: You will need to bring biodegradable sunscreen here because that's all they allow, but just in case you don't have any they sell it at the front. There's really no good beaches here, even though they tell you there is. The kiddie lagoon and park is very nice. It's a little saltwater pond with a sandy area around it. There's playgrounds, hammocks, and lawnchairs all around. If you have a little one this is the only place you will be spending your time. There's really not much else for kids.

This place is extremely spread out. Plan on walking long distances. We didn't see much because we didn't want to walk the entire day. You can see caves, snorkel, hike trails, swim with dolphins, and tube in the lagoon (they say it's a lazy river, but that's not true - it's just on a different side of the snorkel lagoon).

If you really like snorkeling this isn't the place for you. It's a bare, sand bottom lagoon. There are some large fish here though. The lagoon is meshed off from large predators, so the fish inside tolerate snorkelers in exchange for their safety. Snorkelers are eveywhere! Snorkeling off of a shore or a boat is much better.

We weren't that impressed with Xel-Ha, we felt that XCaret was much better and much more worth the money. They do rent towels, lockers, and snorkel equipment. It was nice, but after visiting XCaret we probably would not return to Xel-Ha. Xel-Ha does have some beautiful scenery and there are fresh water showers everywhere to rinse off.