During the last week of February 2006, my family and I had the pleasure of visiting the Riviera Maya area of Mexico on a Pleasant Holidays tour. We stayed at the RIU Palace Mexico hotel, which is located in Playacar, about two miles south of Playa del Carmen and an hour from the Cancun airport.
The Hotel RIU Palace Mexico is all-inclusive, and children are welcome. The architecture and design are beautiful, the restaurants were good, the pools were designed like works of art, and the beach was gorgeous. The rooms had very hard and cheap beds (we later found that this was a point made by almost all American tourists we met, regardless of their hotel).
Early in our trip, we went to the Xcaret eco-park. Xcaret is a tourist-friendly park that's part zoo, part cultural-heritage experience, and part theme park. We enjoyed seeing Mayan dancers and performers, having lunch at one of the on-site restaurants, and watching the unusual (to us) animals such as a puma, a tapir, iguanas, and monkeys. We were still getting used to the very warm air temperature, so we floated on the underground rivers twice! Doing so is an activity that's included with park admission - we rented a locker for our things, then donned lifejackets and walked to the river. The experience was a lot of fun - being in the cool water and shade was a nice break from the heat. We wanted to stay for the evening show, but our daughter was getting tired, so we got a taxi back to the hotel ($5 US) at about 5:30 PM.
After Xcaret, we contented ourselves for a couple of days with the pool, the bright sunshine, and the beach. In other words, we relaxed, got tans, and had fun. The pool at the RIU Palace Mexico is actually two pools. One is about four and a half feet deep and in addition to swimming it is used for introductory (free) scuba and snorkel lessons. The other pool ranges from about three feet to five feet deep, and it has a swim-up bar. My daughter LOVED this pool and there were a few other kids who played there, but overall the pools were never crowded and there was always a mix of adult groups and parent/child groups. There is also a kiddie pool, only about two feet deep and perfect for smaller children.
The hotel restaurants were quite good. The buffet restaurant is called Don Julian and there is a different set of hot and cold foods there every night. Table service is extremely attentive and the wait staff all spoke more than enough English. There are other specialty restaurants - each of those must be reserved in the morning of the day you wish to dine. I found this system a little annoying but overall it was not a problem. The drinking water is purified/bottled, and the ice at the hotel is also made from purified water. They claim to wash their vegetables and fruits with purified water, and we did not have any trouble with the food, ice, or water at the hotel.
One word of caution. On our first day at the hotel, we had had a long day and were hungry after travelling and then spending a little time on the beach. We got changed and headed to dinner around 5:45 PM. Unfortunately the Don Julian restaurant (like all of the other restaurants) does not open until 6:30 PM. My daughter was cranky and all we really wanted to do was get her a light meal and get her to bed, but there was literally nowhere on the premises to get ANY food between 6 and 6:30 PM. There is no room service, and there was no place to get even a small snack. Why RIU has this setup is a complete mystery to me, especially at an all-inclusive property.
Once we got used to the schedule, this was no longer a problem.
On Thursday afternoon we went shopping in Playa del Carmen's "Fifth Avenue" mall area and much of the rest of the adjoining commercial district. It was a mix of shops ranging from small tourist traps (blankets, drinks, and trinkets) to upscale jewelry and clothing shops, as well as many restaurants and small hotels. We found some jewelry and souvenirs here. Haggling for prices is apparently expected in any store where the merchandise is not tagged, as we got most of the more expensive items for 2/3 or even 1/2 of the originally-quoted price.
On Saturday, we headed to another eco-park called Xel-Ha. We arranged it as part of a package deal, using Hotelbeds - the company that is Pleasant Holidays' partner for Cancun, Riviera Maya, and Cozumel. The Hotelbeds representative (her name was Yazmin) was extremely helpful and friendly, helping us to book this trip as well as a Sunday trip to Chichen Itza (more on that in a moment). Yazmin even suggested that my daughter would enjoy swimming with dolphins at Xel-ha, so we booked that as well.
Xel-Ha was incredible. Both my wife and daughter swam with the dolphins there (while I took pictures and video) and we did another river float/swim. There were many more fish available to view during the river float for those who rented or brought their own snorkel equipment - something I strongly recommend. The fish and the setting were very cool, and my daughter has not stopped talking about the dolphins - she got to pet one, and it kissed her on the cheek and chin. She was THRILLED.
I loved Tulum - I have been hoping to see Mayan ruins since I first studied Mayans and other Mesoamerican cultures in college. So for me it was amazing. My wife was overwhelmed with the heat and my daughter was getting punchy (though she never actually got cranky or upset ONCE on the entire trip, amazing). So we took it easy. I walked with my daughter down to the beach and we had a quick swim while looking up at the temple ruins - that was something I'll never forget.
On Sunday, I visited Chichen Itza, alone. It gave my daughter and wife time to recover from the previous day, plus they NEVER would have wanted to do 7 hours on the bus (It's just over three hours each way, non-stop) and another three walking around the ruins. For me, it was heaven. We stopped at the Ik-Kil cenote, where I just HAD to dive in despite not having my suit (I had on light shorts though). It was incredibly beautiful to me and I can see why the Mayans consider the cenotes sacred. And the ruins themselves were so impressive - to see the observatory, ossuary, and of course the ballcourt, Kulkulcan pyramid, and temple of the warriors first hand was the fulfillment of a dream. To now have the mental context of standing in the middle of all of it and walking around is very gratifying.
The only disappointment there was that the main pyramid (Kulkulcan/El Castillo) was closed to both inside visits and walking up the steps, thanks to Wilma as well as an elderly woman who fell to her death a few months ago (according to our guide). Apparently they're reopening it in April or May. I will have to go back and climb to the top! :)
For a resident of the snowy, cloudy northeast, Mexico in February is an incredible treat of sun, surf, history, and culture.
Jim – Cazenovia, NY
