Trip Report Sandos Playacar Mar 2008

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by jaxonsmyboy

I will be there in one week with my boyfriend and our 5 year old son. We usually stay in a condo, but thought an ai would be fun for our son. Where is the best room? This is a short trip, but want the best room at sandos playacar, if possible. Thought maybe you would have a suggestion.

I'd try to get something poolside at either the main resort, or a hacienda - each of which have their own pool, or in the Sandos Riviera, which have whirlpool suites for all of you to enjoy. These are farthest fro the beach but are the newest and have their own pools and restaurants.

If you booked with a Travel agent, I'd contact them immediately with your request, and have them email Sandos with that info (print it & bring it with). Then I'd find the Sandos.com official website, sign up for the Sandos Club card (free) and print it, bring it with you and hand it to the check-in clerk along with your confirmation when you get to the desk.

Hope this helps & hope you are able to take some great pics and post them for us all to enjoy with your trip report! Thanks!

[130taKen120]

C’mon all you lurkers – pony up! Let’s hear what you think!

Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective.

We had been looking forward to this day almost since the inception of our plan to come to Playa del Carmen. We found a website that featured a web cam perched on the outside of the Lol Ha restaurant right on Akumal beach, and I must have checked it, well, let’s just say a lot. Every time I did, I saw the variegated blue-shaded Caribbean waters, fishing boats, snorkelers, scuba divers and vacationers traversing the sands of Akumal Bay, and I wanted to get there and perch in front of the web cam too.

So off we went. Thanks to Mapchick Maps, we knew to go to the ADO station at 5th & Juarez to catch the 10:10 to Akumal – cost: $3.50 per person, one way.

I suspect that many people who come to AI’s never leave them unless it is to travel through a gated community or on their return trip to the airport. Nothing against this at all, since for many travelers, I think this provides a level of comfort and convenience (as well as cost) that warrants that type of vacation. We found out that by leaving he confines of the Sandos Playacar and PDC, we were able to see more of the area and get to know the people, land and culture better than if we would have stayed put.

There’s a bit of adventure attached to this as well, and this factored into the decision not to use a tour company and lit off by ourselves. Just keep in mind that one person’s adventure is another’s apprehension, so my advice is to make sure you know your schedules, costs and activities ahead of time.

This day was so much fun – the Web cam and eating at the Lol Ha, snorkeling, laying on the beach, the traveling to and from and just being able to spend this day in paradise with my beautiful bride was a magnificent blessing! Hope you enjoy the travel and beach vids too! Here’s the first – Enjoy!

[Frombe]

Well we are now at that point where all we can think about it Playa. Can't even concentrate at work and I know it's only going to get worse the closer we get.
The weather here in Colorado hasn't been very "Spring Like" so it is going to REALLY make Playa a DREAM for us. It is so dry here that I can't wait to feel the humid air on my skin.
Can't wait to go snorkeling and diving.
I have really enjoyed all the reports and tips and have found them to be very helpful. If there is any other advice you could give first timers please share.

[thefeds]

I've been meaning to ask this question about the Sandos... Do they serve Sushi or Sashimi anywhere in the buffets or the Ala Cartes? Seeing as that they are right on such a pristine coast, I've got my fingers crossed, and my hashi too!

[jslowrider]

you know I am pretty sure I read somewhere on this forum that they just opened a oriental restaurant of some kind.....I will look and see if I can find it again

[purpleprincesTX]

How were the beds at the Sandos Playacar?
Which type of suite were you in?
Did the adult pool really stay adult (we will be travelling with couples with out our kids)
Your trip report, the pics, the information, the details, the video....WOW...thanks for taking the time to really do the trip report right....WOW! and thanks.

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Frombe

Well we are now at that point where all we can think about it Playa. Can't even concentrate at work and I know it's only going to get worse the closer we get.
The weather here in Colorado hasn't been very "Spring Like" so it is going to REALLY make Playa a DREAM for us. It is so dry here that I can't wait to feel the humid air on my skin.
Can't wait to go snorkeling and diving.
I have really enjoyed all the reports and tips and have found them to be very helpful. If there is any other advice you could give first timers please share.

Yep, you're pretty much hooked at this point. No fighting it - I couldn't either. Just remember that it's your job that allows you to take the trip, rather than vice-versa!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by thefeds

I've been meaning to ask this question about the Sandos... Do they serve Sushi or Sashimi anywhere in the buffets or the Ala Cartes? Seeing as that they are right on such a pristine coast, I've got my fingers crossed, and my hashi too!

I know I saw oysters and shrimp at the buffet and possibly sushi at the Mediterranean restaraunt but am not sure. Mama is allergic to seafood so it's kinda off the radar when it comes to ordering. Maybe email the Sandos and ask them if there is Sushi or Sashimi on any menus... Good Luck!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by jslowrider

you know I am pretty sure I read somewhere on this forum that they just opened a oriental restaurant of some kind.....I will look and see if I can find it again

Perhaps at the Riviera but there wasn't one at the main part of the resort. Mediterranean, Italian and Mexican plus the buffet...

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by purpleprincesTX

How were the beds at the Sandos Playacar?
Which type of suite were you in?
Did the adult pool really stay adult (we will be travelling with couples with out our kids)
Your trip report, the pics, the information, the details, the video....WOW...thanks for taking the time to really do the trip report right....WOW! and thanks.

Hi purpleprincessTX: Here's what else I know in answer to your Q's"

Which type of suite were you in?

Standard but it was within spittin' distance of salt water

Did the adult pool really stay adult (we will be travelling with couples with out our kids)

Mostly but not always. the advantage of the adult pool is it was between the snack bar & beach, so not a long walk to either. Sandos does have alot of kids (or did when we were there over Spring Break....)

Your trip report, the pics, the information, the details, the video....WOW...thanks for taking the time to really do the trip report right....WOW! and thanks.

Thanks PPTX, if it weren't for others TR'ing before me we'd have been more clueless than we were Now we all expect a great one fro your crew too! Fire away if you have more Q's!

[130taKen120]

PPTX:P.S. get the maps I spoke about and get your crew off the resort to see some places outside Playa - they were the best mems we had!

[130taKen120]

3-25-08

Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective.

Once we exited the ADO bus on 307, we walked the .5 km to Akumal. We initially stopped in to the convenience store/gift shop near the famous Lucy’s taco stand. Lingered there for a bit- you can buy souvenirs, refreshments, clothing and snacks, etc… there. We were impressed at the amount of product they had.

We’d moseyed on down past a hotel and along a road that led to the back of the Lol Ha (take a right at the “Y” past the store – once again, get the Mapchick maps…).

Originally we passed the Lol Ha and frankly, I was on a mission to find their Web cam. I’d only been looking at it daily (ok, maybe even more than once a day ☺) for months. Once we found it, we grabbed a pic of me standing just beneath it and later a pic of a heart with our initials carved within it in the sand. The pic at the beginning of the video with the … um… generous looking gentleman is the one with the heart. Met a Denver couple there who had just returned from the local Internet station and emailed their daughter, who promised to go online and get a screenshot of the couple when they stepped in front of the Lol Ha Web cam – pretty cool. Maybe we’ll line this up next time!

We were a bit hungry at this point so we went back to the Lol Ha snack bar and had the guacamole and pico with chips plus a whistle-wetter. As we sat there and found out that Lol Ha customers could use the restrooms gratis (others had to pay .25), we worked on our snacks and took turns visiting the restroom to change into our suits. The video was taken during the times when we took turns changing. It’s amazing and way out of our ordinary world to show up at a restaurant and look across your table to see one of the most gorgeous bays in the world in the middle of March in a swimsuit, working on guac, pico, chips and a refreshment, the wind blowing through your hair and the woman you love beaming back at you within your view….

Months of anticipation went completely un-disappointed by a few hours of reality. If you ever get here, relish every minute.

[130taKen120]

Videos – 3-25-08

Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective.

After about an hour of snorkeling we laid out for nearly an hour on the beach in front of the Akumal Dive Center (less expensive than the Akumal Dive Shop and friendlier). We were chilled after that amount of time in the water so the sun felt great. It was getting near time to leave so we decided to meander south along the packed, flat, and gorgeous beach.

As we headed just south of the Dive Center we noticed a rope fence separating the seemingly public beach from the Akumal Beach Resort property. Earlier in the day, we spoke with a couple from Denver who had their daughter doing screen captures back in the states while they stood in front of the Lol Ha Webcam with their particular message scraped in the sand (visit their site at http://www.locogringo.com/Upload/netcam.jpg to see this phenomenon happen numerous times a day in front of your eyes…). In any case, their opinion was that the ABR was a nice place to stay but Akumal lacked the same type of nightlife that Playa del Carmen has. On the plus side, Akumal Bay was one of he most beautiful seascapes I’ve seen in my life, outpacing Cozumel, Newport Beach, Coco Beach and the Honolulu and Ala Moana beaches in Hawaii. There is nothing – that I’ve seen – like the color and beauty of the beaches in the Caribbean.

This being said, I’d easily stay here for a part of a trip to the Mexican Riviera. So often had we seen people traversing up and down this beach that I still long to take a sunrise walk along this expanse, not having to worry about going to and from Akumal, our whole day ahead of us with absolutely no vital decisions whatsoever facing us.

At one point we spied a father and son playing American football on an etched out field – I think the son won the field goal contest – and later we saw our first Mayan pyramid – made of sand ☺

This place has a completely different and more relaxed atmosphere than Playa, and the scenery, service, mood and attitude of the people of Akumal match it perfectly. Once again, if Akumal is not yet on your trip itinerary, it most certainly should be.

Our Akumal Beach Walk:

[purpleprincesTX]

and how were the beds at the Sandos Playacar?

[lippy]

did you stay here and also if you did do you know how we make dinner reservations before we get there