Wow! If we thought the first trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico was great, the second time was even better! The only thing that would've made it complete, was if the entire family was with us!
Gregg and I left to Play del Carmen on Thursday, Aug. 13 and came home on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Thanks to Tami who had to wake up very early to be to our house by 5:15 AM to get us to the airport! We left SLC and had a layover in Phoenix and then went on our way to Cancun. This was our 3rd anniversary present to each other. We thought it would be nice to go back to where it all started! Our resort was probably about 15 miles closer to Cancun than the Grand Oasis resort we all stayed at three years ago. We were about a 5 minute cab ride away from the 5th avenue shopping area of Playa del Carmen and the ferry to Cozumel. This time we stayed at a resort called The Reef Playacar. It was amazing! We loved it. It was all-inclusive. My only complaint would be the nightly entertainment.....dumb....
The beaches now have these gigantic bags full of sand placed in strategic areas along the shoreline. The almost look like beached whales. They are supposed to protect the beach from erosion and hurricanes? Hmmm.... They had some sort of oceanic plant growing on them, which made for some cool snorkeling around them. I am standing on one of the sandbags looking back at our resort. (That man was doing his morning yoga routine....it was quite comical!)
This would be one of the pools. It had a poolside bar with as many drinks as you could imagine. This poor bartender, Angel, was constantly making daquiris and pina coladas and Fanta and Coke Lites for all the little kiddos. I think Gregg and I were the only people that EVER gave him tips. We were definitely the minority there..... There were alot of Europeans......A.....LOT! We met probably four other Americans the entire time we were there. The staff spoke Spanish, English and French. Gregg spoke a lot of Spanglish.
Here is one of our many nights out. We had to make reservations for the "fancier" restaurants, which required a dress code. So, we ate at the Mexican restaurant this night and the Italian restaurant the next night. I ate (or at least tried) whatever they served.....Gregg stared at it and was confused. I assured him the All-u-Can-Eat buffet would be open when we were done..... He found a large plate of fries did the trick at the snack bar at about midnight!
Here is our room. Gregg is standing on the balcony. We tipped the front desk guy and got the room closest to the ocean and pools. It was awesome!
The resort seemed to have been plopped down right in the middle of the existing jungle. They had beautiful hard wood paths and waterfalls throughout the grounds. It was very tropical (& very humid)!
We went on an excursion called 'Mayan Adventures'. A van came and picked us up and took us to a place like Xel-Ha. It was were the ocean met with a fresh water inlet. I don't have any pics of that area. It was a snorkeling tour and it was beautiful too. This pic is of a cenote. It was a sink hole full of fresh, cool, crystal clear water. The snorkeling was neat because the water was so clear and there was a cave at the back you could swim in. The fish weren't as exotic though. Then they took us to a cave with very cold water and it was very deep. We snorkeled to the back of the cave and they took pics of each group and we swam back to the entrance. Very interesting.....I have a feeling they would've had to drag Dallon from this cave. He would've found it quite fascinating!
This is Gregg jumping from the little platform. Dallon.....don't say it.....I know what you are thinking......"Weak!"
All good things must come to an end. This is a picture of Cancun. The point of land at the middle, right of the picture is what they call the "Hotel Zone" of Cancun. We stayed south of that area. What an awesome experience! I love you Gregg! Happy 3rd Anniversary!!!!
