This is arguably the best holiday I’ve ever had, and there are so many things that are just plain GOOD about it, I’ll be in danger of going on too long.
Still, it is what it is.
We had two weeks in January 2010.

The area of Mexico known as the Riviera Maya, or even Mayan Riviera, is on the Yucatan peninsula, which is the bit that sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast edge of Mexico. The area is inhabited by Mayans, and Mayan is widely spoken, although Spanish is the main language.

Spanish were the first arrivals from Europe in the early 1500’s but it wasn’t until 1540 that the land was conquested. The Mayan people have a long history, and there are many ruins and monuments dating back thousands of years to explore.

The Mayan warriors fiercly fought against the Spanish.

The flight into Cancun is not for the faint hearted, it’s 11 hours from Gatwick, but strangely only 9 hours return leg. The RM coast starts here, and stretches right down to Belize, so the transfer can easily be one & a half hours.

Most of the hotels along this coast are 5* self contained resorts, and the one we stayed at was just that.
It was called Grand Palladium Resort & Spa, its part of the Fiesta group and they have other venues in the Caribbean. They even have a DIY website called Palladium Addicts set up by the Caribbean equivalent of Darren & Moocher!

To try and explain this resort would take many pages, but self contained really does mean that.
There is a private beach over a mile long,



there are 24 bars, crocodile and flamingo parks, a salt water pool for snorkelling, several pools



and Jacuzzis, free watersports,

Watersports or hammock?

fantastic food including 8 a la carte restaurants that have a nationality theme, like Asian American Brazilian Italian Ribs shack Steak house I forget the rest. Champagne with your breakfast, the beach bars are 24 hour, snacks are 24/7,

Beach and snack bar 24/7

night time shows, cigar bars (Cuban), at night there is a market set up, there’s also a couple of shopping ‘malls’ on site! All drinks are ‘top shelf’,

Ahhh!! Freshly made Mojitos!!

and there’s mini bars in the rooms re-stocked daily with beer coke water etc.

There are four ‘hotels’ within the complex, each with own reception,

Reception & lobby

Courtyard just off the lobby

but you are free to go anywhere at anytime. The hotel has an ecological program, and each of the hotels has ‘villas’ of rooms set in the Jungle (yes really it’s a jungle!) that are connected via wooden walkways above the tundra.
The jungles are full of wild boar, monkeys, exotic birds, tapir, and racoons.

Yes that racoon is reaching under the chair arm to take a chip out of my hand.

There are Iguanas running wild all over the resort, they don’t bother you none.

Yes, thats a 30 x 30 cm tile!!

There’s also an adults only spa with massages and steam rooms etc.



So, that’s just the resort! What about venturing out? Just outside the gates the local bus stops, it’s a mini bus and they are called Colectivo’s. They go to the end of the road in either direction, and it’s a fixed fee of 30 pesos (about £1.50) for one stop or end of the line. The towns at either end are Tulum or Playa Del Carmen, both about 15-20 miles away.

One stop down the road toward Tulum is the town of Akumal, which hosts amongst other things a lagoon which is snorkelling heaven.





There’s also a turtle discovery area where you can watch the youngsters making their way out to sea, or even interact (no touching) with the full grown turtles which are about 4 feet wide.

Tulum has it’s own ruins





and a drop dead gorgeous beach,



there’s several bars on the way out which sell 5 bottles of Corona in ice buckets for US$10 which barely touch the sides in 90 degree heat!



Coba is home to one of the more famous ruins, it’s the pyramid of Nohoch Mul, which you can still climb.



Pretty high at the top and no health & safety nonsense!

It’s a bit far by bus so we hired a car for the day, it took about 75 mins to get to.
It was 96 degrees at 11.50am on the day we went... in January!

Playa Del Carmen is a larger town, has it’s own beach, and a big touristy shopping street called 5th Avenue. There’s even a Wal mart. It’s also home to simply the best night club in the world, called Coco Bongo’s…

http://www.cocobongo.com.mx/home.php?Lenguaje=en

which is a mix of nightclub show dancing circus party lol

There’s just too many other things to mention, Xcaret theme park, underground rivers you can kayak in, Cenotes, it just goes on and on. It cost us £1250 each but that also included premium seats, it was obviously all inclusive as well, that really does mean T bone steaks every night if you fancy it.

Lovely report Mark, takes me back to my holiday in Playa Car fantastic beaches

Very interesting report Mark on a part of the world unknown to me.I thought £2,500 for the pair of you sounded like a bargain.

I have to say what a good write up. We went to the same area Nov 2008 although a different hotel.

All i can say is fantastic place and people we will go back in a couple of years.

Yet again Mark, another fantastic report, coupled with the photo's that say a thousand words, Brilliant.

I've added two short video's on to youtube now as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLzjABR95Iw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WwUGQT60NU

Just to add a piece to Mark’s excellent review. In 2001 we went to Playa Del Carmen just 20 miles up the road from the area Mark was staying. Our resort complex was called Playa Car which was made up of a group of 4 and 5 star hotels which backed on to the white sandy beaches. The group complex had a golf course and a shopping centre across the road.

The hotel we stayed in ran a holiday club system (a bit like time share), it has since changed hands and been revamped, I felt it needed it at that time. Also getting a chair bed on the beach was a problem and involved Mrs Delboy having to get up early.
The food was good but the was entertainment poor

Whilst we were there we took a taxi trip to Xcaret, a sort of wild life theme park. Once we had paid the admission, we found food and drinks inside were very expensive, so if you go take your own even bottles of water. Once inside the theme of the old Mayan way of life was portrayed in many events.

There was a replica Mayan Village, traditional type of pole dancing, horse riding events, plus much public participation like swimming with dolphins (expensive and they just swam between your legs and a bit more), you could go in the sea with a special helmet on where air was pumped in, you could also snorkel down a river and through a cave. There were animals, crocodiles, parrots, turtles and lots more
The last event for us was a Mayan Football match that took place about 5pm, everyone interested enter a stadium which had banked sides. The object of the game was to head or use their hips to get the ball through a hoop on either side of the slope.

We were told the rules of this traditional Mayan Game, in ancient times they didn’t fluff around like our England team because the captain of the losing team had his head cut off, which did put a bit of an edge to the game. Both teams dress in traditional costumes and gave us a great spectacle

In the evening there is a lit parade into a vast cave but we did not see that.

There was a trip to Chich’en Itza the famous Mayan monument where the Mayan sacrificed humans to their Rain God. I regret not going to see it but several people at the hotel had been and informed us that it was 2/3 hrs coach trip and the coach was not air conditioned.

At that time one was allowed to walk up the steps of this monument but it has now been stopped. A lot of people climbed to the top and then panicked and could not get down as the steps were very steep, also the steps were beginning to wear. Apparently twice a year in spring and autumn when the sun is in a certain position it creates a shadow of a snake slithering down the stairs. I bet there are masses of tourists going on those days.

We did go on a horse ride and did check that we were insured and insisted on hard hats (as quoted on the policy). We were the only two that wore them amongst thirty other holiday riders and some came off but a good ride.

An excellent addition Del, many thanks.
Just to bring the Xcaret up to date... the admission package now (can) include a lunch time meal and a tea time snack which makes the meals not quite so much of a drain on your wallet.
I particularly enjoyed the butterfly garden section in here. I also caught a pelican! that was being greedy and had it's snout in the fish scraps bucket.



The other reason that the monuments have been closed to climbers is that a few (american) tourists fell to their deaths, as you can see from my earlier pic there's no health & safety regs like we would have here.

Great reviews with fabulous photo's again boys. Had to smile at the bit Delboy put, Mrs. Delboy had to get up early to get a couple of sunbeds on the beach.

Nice one Mark looks great.

Me and Mrs H went to Acapulco on our honeymoon 20 years ago and we loved Mexico. It was ridiculously cheap when we were there (apart from our hotel) and the portions of food had us groaning at the seams.

It was our first (and only) time at a "Delux" standard hotel and to be honest we felt like hicks from the sticks for a few days until we got to know used to the place. When we checked in I was asked how I would be settling the bill when we left and I told him in cash he looked at me as if to say nobody uses cash these days. All the guests seemed to be very well to do Americans who put everything on their room bill while we tended to pay cash for drinks but put meals on our room bill. Because we were paying cash we were regularly tipping the waiters which seemed to be very much appreciated and it is still something I do to this day.

We loved Acapulco it was very relaxed and friendly and felt very safe even though there was obviously lots of poverty to bee seen once you headed out of the town centre.

Our only problem was with the heat and humidity, as it was June/July it was bang in the middle of the hottest and wettest part of the year. If we went back it would be in the cooler drier months.

That was fantastic ,I really enjoyed this review and it makes me think of how much Im missing out on by going to the same place over and over again ,Ive subscribed to your youtube account and will take a look at all your vids when I get 5 minutes. I love the thought of being near a jungle as I would love to explore ,I just love wildlife. When you think how much we spent this year for Magaland mmmmmmmmm . Well done guys and keep up the good work.

Not long returned from this beautiful location. Fab Hotel but so relaxed and spoilt that we didn't see the Mayan ruins.



Swimming with 'the Whales'



We did have a few uninvited guests but they were friendly and well behaved.



On a clear night the skies were amazing. One night while sipping key Royales by the beach we saw a shooting star. How romantic. The illuminated cruise ships on the horizon were also lovely to watch as they sailed by.



As well as a Jacuzzi, each casita had an outdoor and an indoor shower.









We often had the pool and the lovely Darvin to ourselves. Most of the staff were incredibly friendly even when dealing with more difficult guests.





The Pelicanos pool bar was outside our Casita section. I think there were about 12 Casitas around each pool so they were usually quite quiet.







The iguana who lived under our front step. We mostly only saw his tail.

Great pics roamer !

I've always wanted to go to a place where you sit in the pool at the bar !

Fabulous photo's Roamer, thanks for putting them on. If you have any other Holiday photo's, by all means put them on as well.

Thanks for providing the pictures Roamer, did you have a good time there?

Fantastic roamer, they are awesome and Im really jealous, how did you find the food etc, was it all inclusive and how
about mossies any problems there. Many thanks there will be no stopping you now mate

Had a fab time thanks Delboy I just did a lengthy review which disappeared Grrr. Will condense it a bit. Food was amazing. 7 Al a carte restaurants,
You could chose to be served at breakfast, lunch and tea. Amazing fruit and choc fountain displays at breakfast with omlettes, pancakes and waffles cooked to order. You could have lunch at the restaurants or have a sandwhich brought to you while relaxing on the beach/pool. Amazing dishes such as lobster lasagne, steak mignon and salmon etc.
We were spoilt terribly. The barman at the pool we used learned our names and wrote them on our cocktails with chocolate syrup. There was a great martini bar where we worked our way down the list on the one rainy day we had. The sandwhich man also visited you while chilling with water, fruit lollies, books, and sun cream. The casitas were lovely each having its own jacuzzi.
Over all top marks.
Ah now I know why my first post disappeared you get a chance to modify. Only had 2 mossie bites the rainy day, it was all inclusive but expensive. Not the sort a holiday we can afford often but after a health scare last year we thought go for it, you never know whats round the corner.

Sounds fab !

oh sounds fantastic and looks lovely thanks for the info

Mick, I wish I had loads of pics to post lol. We are not very well travelled and are notoriously bad at remembering to take photos. Got a few shots of the peak district but don't think that qualifies as a resort lovely as it is. However I will try to take a few when we visit Cala san Vincente in the summer.

Hopefully a better moonlight on sea picture. Still getting used to posting. The sea was full of sandbags to prevent erosion . Many people were put off but they allowed for snorkeling and swimming in a sea which was sometimes choppy. The water was warm and you could imagine the sand bags were magnificent whales. The pools (13 in all) were a lttle chilly until you got used to it.


We had a different towel animal in our room each day. Also the beds were turned down each night with aromatherapy of your choice and a pillow menu. Also a chocolate on your pillow each evening. The minibar was always full of snacks and drinks. A few different beers such as Sol.
We had a couple of issues. One day my hubby went to the pool bar and came back with two beers. He only asked for one. He is easily confused. Sigh, life was tough. Well it wouldn't be a holiday if we couldn't find something to moan about lol. Guest were mainly from the USA,UK or Canada.



Always plenty of room by the pool or beach if you were in the casita section, with beds to use on the beach. The villas part of the resort was more lively for those wanting entertainment.

It looks really nice, like a proper movie set

Brill pics roamer, many happy memories for me. I've re-read it but I can't see what resort/hotel you was at?
Until you've tried the Caribbean version of all inc you just can't properly explain it, can you?

We stayed at the El Dorado Casitas Mark. A section of the El dorado Royale. A few people who were frequent visitors to this area said the Secrets Maroma had the edge purely because of the beach. No complaints from us however well except for being forced to drink too much beer

I do wish we had done more of the tourist stuff, especially after seeing your amazing pictures. It was certainly a holiday to remember though and we came home with several pounds of excess baggage (not in our cases)

Can't life be so cruel at times Roamer? Ha ha ha ha