We got up early to return the car and to get a good sunny/shady spot by the pool. It was very cloudy and breezy for most of the day. We ordered drinks which during happy hour were two for one. That was a pleasant surprise. A little baby wandered by and almost drank my piña colada while we were in the pool.

Later in the afternoon we got massages at the hotel spa. This was my first massage and although during the massage it was just ok, the next morning the crick in my neck that had bothered me for the whole trip was gone.

After the massages we got ready for the big Mexican fiesta at the hotel. We had a really nice table by the water for the fiesta. The food at the buffet was excellent. The show was slightly cheesy but still entertaining. One of the male dancers looked like Balky from the TV show Perfect Strangers. We turned in early for our snorkeling trip to Cozumel the next day. The day before, we had booked a snorkeling tour on a catamaran.

We got up early to go to Xel-Ha, a “natural amusement park”. We rented a car to drive there and then to Tulum, the nearest Mayan ruins. We had to wait at both the car rental place and to actually get the car. We got a bright yellow car called a Nissan Platina. The road to Xel-Ha was a one lane highway where passing is an art form. All along the highway there were construction and pickup trucks with their hazards on driving halfway in the lane and halfway on the shoulder. You would have to pass these while other cars were coming by in the opposite direction. Needless to say, you need to stay on your toes to drive there.

Once inside Xel-Ha we waited 20 minutes to get our snorkel equipment. We put our stuff in a locker and bought biodegradable suntan lotion which was the only suntan lotion allowed in the park. We snorkeled in the big lagoon and saw some blue and yellow fish. This was the first time I had successfully snorkeled, and I wasn’t impressed at all. I did, however, see a really big fish that scared the shit out of me. Of course it seemed big at the time, but looking back it probably wasn’t.

We paid for the all-inclusive package which included food and the snorkel equipment. It was hot out, so we got some ice cream, but it tasted like cardboard. We stopped at the “Mayan Cave” to do some snorkeling. Inside the cave, the water was very cold and there were very little fish. It was basically just an opportunity for the photographers to take your picture and try to charge you $10 for it afterwards.

At the top of the river, we got a double tube so we could float down the river. We sent our stuff in another tube so we could get it at the end of the river. We floated in the river and passed mangroves. It was calm and relaxing, probably the best part of the park. We stopped at a rope bridge but I fell half way across it. It looks much easier on TV!

After we were done floating down the river, we had a crappy lunch and drove to Tulum. It was a long, hot walk from the parking area to the entrance of the ruins. Tulum is a series of impressive seaside cliff ruins with a beautiful view of bright blue waters. Some of the buildings/ruins were surprisingly intact.

It started raining on the way home and there was lots of traffic. We had a light dinner at the hotel restaurant and listened to a South American band.

Tuesday was a relax-by-the-pool day. We ate at the breakfast buffet, and then went straight to the pool. It was cloudy with occasional sprinkles, but not too rainy for us to be outside. At the swim-up bar we had a drink called the coco loco. The bartender takes a large coconut and cuts it open, dumps out some coconut milk, and adds a bunch of different alcohols. He also used different fruits to make eyes, ears, and a mouth. It’s quite the spectacle.

That night we took a collectivo to town and went shopping again. I bought a cowboy hat which I rarely wear (but it seemed like a good idea at the time) and a beautiful hand-woven blanket. I tried to haggle with the seller but when his wife came out with their baby Theresa felt bad. That is the oldest trick in the book. We had dinner at Esparrigus, which was recommended to us by someone we met at the resort (guacamole made at the table, mayan chicken and pork pibil). We talked to a nice couple from Montreal, who bought us a banana flambé dessert. The dessert had started our conversation earlier, and it was so good that they said we had to try it.

Midway through dinner, the lights in the entire city flickered and went out. The waiters brought out more candles so we could see our food, and even so we could barely see anything. Since it was dark some of the shops started to close up, and in the distance we could hear a mariachi band playing. It was almost a surreal experience. After dinner we walked around for 10 minutes or so before the lights went back on and everyone cheered.

Monday morning we went to the breakfast buffet. It was mucho grande and had omelet and waffle stations, as well as lots of mexican food. The food was very good, and we ate in a giant palapa covered building.

After breakfast we took a Mayab bus (a big bus company) to the center of Cancun, then a local bus to Playa Tortugas. Playa Tortugas is next to all of the giant resorts on the Cancun strip, but is a public beach. The beach was nice but kind of small and cramped, and there was a large building blocking a quarter of our view. We rented a chair/umbrella and relaxed. I had a 10 dollar Hurricane drink from Fat Tuesdays which was right next to the beach. A $10 drink! I don’t think they even put bourbon in it or nothing. The drink came with a cool plastic “glass” with markings along the side. They went from “nobody knows me here” to “I look sexy.”

On the local bus back to the center of Cancun, there were 2 musicians playing mexican music. It was a very cool experience. We walked around for 10 minutes in the blazing heat looking for the big market that the books talked about. Finally we asked someone and she said we would have to take a bus to get there. The map was deceiving. So we decided to abort and take the bus back home.

We had dinner that night at the hotel, in the Tumtum restaurant (crab cakes, new delhi chicken, seafood casserole, sesame tuna, flan). The food was very good but the service was too fast.

We got to the pool around 9:30 and got a semi-shady spot. We relaxed for a while, and then swam up to the swim-up bar for an 11am happy hour. They had these drinks called picassos, which consisted of 4 layers of different frozen drinks. Delicious! We spent the rest of the day lying around the pool.

After getting ready for dinner, we took a collectivo to town, and went shopping. We bought some vanilla, which apparently Playa del Carmen is known for. Dinner was at Media Luna (sangria, tomato soup with chipotle, grilled seafood tostadas, shrimp with squash/onion/curry, fish with spicy mango sauce). The restaurant was recommended online and in our book but was just ok, except for the soup which was very good.

After dinner we strolled 5th Avenue all the way to the end of the main drag and back. We had drinks at a bar with swings for chairs, which was fun. The waiter there looked like a Mexican Joey from Friends.

When we got back to the hotel we went to the pool which was lit up and looked really pretty at night. It was a little cold in the ocean breeze, but we lay in the hammocks on the beach before going back to the room.

We had to wake up at an ungodly hour (3:15am) to get ready to leave for the airport. We had a 2 hour flight to Atlanta, then another 2 hours to Cancun. The area outside the Cancun airport was packed with people trying to get to their transfers, and it was confusing but eventually we found our transfer too. The ride to the hotel took 25 minutes.

When we got to the hotel we were told the room would only be ready at 5pm, so we walked around the huge grounds of the hotel and had a quick Mexican lunch (2 beers, 2 piña coladas, nachos, and guacamole). The grounds are pretty impressive. There are 3 interconnected pools with views of the ocean. The beach sand was somewhat hard and not as nice as the pool areas (we were told they were building up coral to hold the sand better). The newer buildings had cool looking circular columns for the elevators, and were painted in bright colors.

We ended up checking in at 3:30, and went up to the room, which was about a 5-7 minute walk from the main lobby. The room was simply amazing. The bathroom had a big walk-in shower, double sinks, and a private “toilet room” built in. There was also a whirlpool tub. And the whole room was decked in marble/stone. The main part of the room had nice simple furniture and was painted in green. All in all a very “cool tropical” feel. The only thing lacking was a view, but at least we had a patio to sit outside.

We napped our first of many naps and got ready for dinner. We took a shuttle to the lobby, then a shuttle to the main entrance. We crossed over the busy highway that leads to Playa and Cancun and waited in the dark for a bus. Before a bus could come, a collectivo van came along which we took to town. The collectivos are the locals’ buses. They came by a lot more frequently than buses and were cheaper too.

We walked around Playa del Carmen, which reminded us of Ibiza. There was one long street (5th Avenue or Avenida 5) where most of the restaurants and shops were located. We had dinner at Limones, which was recommended on google groups and our tour book (lime soup, mexican steak, fish chiki tiki, beer, piña, and 2 margaritas). The food was very good and the restaurant had a nice atmosphere. As we were walking down 5th Avenue, the vendors kept trying to lure us into their stores. We heard them call “honeymooners come here” a few times. Maybe because we’re young? Who knows, but it was a fun time. We shared a taxi van back to the hotel with another family. We had a hard time finding the room since everything looks the same. It took us about 5 days to be able to get to the room without an issue.

As a wedding present from Theresa’s Aunt Margie, she gave us a one week trip to an RCI timeshare resort. After months of trying to figure out where to go, we decided on Playa del Carmen, a small city in Mexico to the south of Cancun. Playa is in an area called the Mayan Riviera due to its ancient Mayan roots and its proximity to water, and hence, beaches.

The resort we went to is called Mayan Palace. It is not an all-inclusive resort, which is why we picked it. We like to be able to eat at the local places when we travel and that doesn’t make sense when you’re paying $100 a day for all-inclusive meals. Following is a day-by-day journal of our trip.