We booked an all-inclusive resort stay in Rivièra Maya (on the Yucatan peninsula, a little south of Cancun) the second week of February.
I’ve never been to Mexico, so as the title says, any thoughts, recommendations, things to watch out for or avoid, all advice is welcome. I’d like to visit Chichen Itza and cenotes, but otherwise we haven’t planned too far ahead.
As for what to avoid, I’ve heard for years the cautions about not only not drinking the water, but avoiding ice cubes and salads or fruit, or anything raw that may have been washed in the water. I think I’ve heard that this is not so much an issue at the resorts, though.
Other than that, I’m a blank slate as to what to do (or not to do) so far. I did see this ‘similar to’ thread, but it’s only a couple posts and dates back to 2001.
Don’t accept mixed drinks or unopened beers from friendly strangers.
Get travel insurance for unforeseen medical issues or travel delays. Better safe than sorry. Also, most insurance will not cover you for dangerous activities such as paragliding or cliff diving, not sure about scuba diving or snorkeling. So ask up front.
The only friendly strangers I’ll be accepting mixed drinks and cervezas from will be the bartenders at the resort. If that’s not ok, I will be in trouble
Thanks, we did already get travel insurance. My cliff diving and paragliding days are pretty much over (not that they ever started) but some snorkeling or light scuba diving is not out of the question.
Inside a quality all-inclusive resort this won’t be a problem. You should be able to consume anything and everything. Outside of the resort you should be much more cautious.
For activities, there are tours to Chichen Itza and the various cenotes, ATVs and ziplines, sailing/snorkling trips, adventure parks (Xplor, Xel-Ha), tequila tastings, and I’m sure lots of others. What interests you?
If you go to Chichen Itza stay with your tour group. I wandered off to see the hole where the ancients tossed the severed ball game heads, got lost, had a terrifying adventure trying to find my way back to the bus.
I thought there were only two paths back to the restaurant/bus location from where I wandered off on my own.
Turned out there were five and, of course, I had to attempt all five before I made it back.
Bus was ready to leave in 15 minutes so I was just in time.
My cousins were anxiously awaiting my arrival.
Pretty much all of the above, though realistically, it’s six days but only 4 of them are full non-travel days, and we’ll probably have a couple days where we don’t even feel like leaving the resort. It supposedly is on some acreage with its own cenote and jungle trails, and it hosts tequila tastings, so for some of that, we won’t even have to leave the resort! I would definitely like to see Chichen Itza, or maybe some closer Mayan ruins if that’s too far. I think the Tulum ruins may be closer.
Wow, quite a story, and good tip! Did you manage to find the severed head hole? Very creepy. I’m surprised that’s not part of the tour.
Chichen Itza is a two hour drive from the coast, so it’s a full day trip to see it. But absolutely worth it. You get the sense that the place was truly a major city. If you can’t manage to get to C.I., Tulum is worth visiting, but it’s not the same experience.
Yal-ku lagoon at Akumal is a great snorkeling spot. Protected from the surf, with lots of rock ledges where the fish like to hang out.
Aktun Chen is a wonderful underground tour of interconnected cenotes.
Can I ask which resort? We were in that vicinity this past May and didn’t realize it was seaweed season. The resort did all it could but it was a losing battle. So the beach was FUBAR.
But the rest of the resort was fantastic and you should be fine in February. All inclusive is the only way to go! As long as you stay in the resort you’re fine. Just be aware of your surroundings if you go on an excursion. Enjoy!
I understand the draw for the resorts, but on our first time there, we rented a car at the Cancun airport, stayed in a small hotel in Puerto Morelos, ate in the local restaurants, and toured on our own. Second visit, we rented a condo in Akumal, and again did our own thing. We stayed within the main tourist areas, and never felt unsafe.
The tip we got on water consumption is, yes, be careful. But 3-4 pepto bismol tablets a day work wonders as a preventative.
That happened to us also as we there during seaweed season as well. The seaweed was very aromatic.
Disappointing but the resort was great.
We were at the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda. The pools were awesome.
The Chichen Itza tour also included a stop at Valladolid, a charming colonial town on the return trip to our resort.
When we went internet was not very good - even the paid version @ the resort was spotty. Perhaps it has improved since I was there.
