Trip Report Sandos Playacar Mar 2008

[missixty]

Originally Posted by ellesmere

Thank you, thank you, thank you
Great report. Was already looking forward to the 23rd June when we depart for Sandos but now I can't wait. - I'm going to drive my family demented!!!!

We are also going to the Sandos on the 23rd. Flying from Manchester with Thomas Cook. Are you the same? Perhaps we will see you!

[missixty]

Another question - what other food did they have on the room service menu for late night snacks?

[130taKen120]

Late night is limited to croissants, but the normal menu has a greater variety. numerous people took advantage of this during our stay, and I guess if we'd have had a full blown oceanfront balcony, aybe we would've too

[130taKen120]

Three late nights in a row plus pre-vacation work, readying our jobs for us being gone, preparing ourselves by researching the trip, making all appropriate contacts in Mexico, tending to the details of life absent from the States for 10 days like holding the mail and newspaper, pre-paying bills, tanning to be able to partially withstand the tropical Sun, generally getting extremely pumped for the trip and the late nights living on adrenaline for the first two days in PDC had all taken their toll. As a result, we slept in until 9:45 a.m. The day before we’d asked the Concierge at the Sa ndos about churches for Easter and ties, She called the Catholic Church between Calle 15 & 12. Easter services were at 8, 10, 12, 2 and again at 6 and 8 p.m. We got ready and taxied to the church at 12 and experienced a wonderful service, entirely in Spanish but meaningful nonetheless. After all, how many people can worship internationally on Easer, the greatest Holy Day in Christianity! We did recognize the Lord’s Prayer and Apostles Creed due to their cadence, and we noticed many Anglo families there worshiping despite their lack of Spanish. Many thanks and praise for the gifts He has given us, our children and for our honeymoon trip! This was a great highlight of our time in PDC!

In church



Outside





We stopped at the World Famous Tequila Barrel for refreshment and to get out of the increasingly baking sun. I know the TB is world famous, and if you are not sure, their sign should convince you:

From the outside:



Convincing signage:



The service was great and so were the refreshments. Our own “barrel” was comfortable and so was the view to the street:





That little doorway was actually the entrance to the Hotel Copa Cobana – we peeked in to see a nice, open courtyard, front desk, some tables and chairs and stairs up to the room(s). Saw some people leaving with their suitcases and briefly lamented the day we’d be in their shoes. We still had a week left! Yay!

After a brief stop at a clothing boutique down the street from the tequila Barrel, we headed back to the Sandos to get our suits on for some BRT (beach relaxation time) <3 <3 <3. We’d had no palapa reserved via unique and familiar scented flip-flops, towels or other personally identifiable packed material, but fairly easily managed to find a palapa and chairs near the front for an afternoon of sun and relaxation.

Can’t get enough of this:



Or this:



A perchy friend:



Ocean fun:



I went jogging south all the way to the impassible rocks south of the Sandos! It’s hard to run, walk, jog or otherwise move in sand no matter what you’re wearing on your feet since the sand is soft and absorbs your footfalls easily. As a result, when I was done my legs were more tired than a usual run of that length. Also along this beach are trillions (gazillions?) of seashells for the picking. Kids and adults alike almost deserted beach and shoes full of sand upon return! Mamasita dreamed about printing with the wrong typeset while I was gone (she’s a former graphic artist/designer who worked for a printing company). Whenever I leave a hotel room, I like to bring a key with me and have the other key with the Mrs. Unfortunately at the Sandos, when you pulled that 2nd key out of the in the room keybox, all the electricity shut off. No doubt this is a cost saving measure, but we’d been returning to our room only to find it baking and humid – so much so that mould began to form in areas on the ceiling. (have you noticed how there is very little wood used in construction compared to the States? Unavailability, mould and termites must be the main reasons). Anyway, I got the brilliant idea (after 2 days, mind you) to go get a 3rd key for the room and just leave it in the juice box all the time. This is Tip # 11 on our top ten tips from the beginning of the report ☺

We went together to get the key and at the lobby, Mama got ice tea – every day they offered fruit drinks, ice tea and champagne to those checking in or any guests who happened to stop by!

This day, like most days when we were there, was a red flag day. You can still swim near shore but the waves, surf and undertow are noticeable. Just be cautious and use good judgment and you’ll be OK. Even on red flag days, the breeze felt good and, as always, it’s cooler by the water than inland any day.

Red Flag Day – flagpole is directly out from the entrance to the beach and the main beach bar:



Was that a sand crab? ☺



We ate supper at the buffet in about 8 minutes flat and headed to the room for a siesta. Then called our friends at the Riu Playacar and arranged the cab-shuttle to town in order to get to the Easter Peep meet at the Beer Bucket. Eddiet56 and Angie the Boss had been pumping everyone up on the Peep meet forum for months and we wanted to go see what these things were all about and meet any other peeps that might be there. What a cool concept: rev up on the Internet for months then meet people in a faraway destination for fun.

On the way we had the cabbie stop at the ATM at the Playacar Plaza shopping center, which is on Xaman Ha across the street from the Riu Yucatan and next to the Riu Tequila. We’d shopped a bit there the day before and found mostly high prices but a few bargains (T-shirts $4.99, etc…) There are restrooms there too for public use. Unfortunately since it was Sunday and Easter to boot, this and every other ATM I tried that day was drained. Advice: Get your ATM’ing done Friday or early Saturday. BTW, the banks will charge $4.00 for a withdrawal and $2.00 just to check your balance, so maybe consider bringing most of your cash with you instead of relying on the ATM’s.

We asked the taxi driver to take us to the Beer Bucket, and I ignorantly chose not to re-confirm the location on the Map Chick map before leaving the hotel. If I’d have done that, I could have just told the driver to take us to the closest intersection to the Bucket, but nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooo. I erroneously assumed that every taxi driver has a built in GPS map system and knows the location of every establishment in the Yucatan. So, ignorant tourista that I am, I asked to be dropped off at the Beer Bucket. My first clue that this wasn’t the thing to do should have been the blank stare I got from the driver as a reply. He dropped us off downtown – somewhere and pointed up the street. Like hand grenades and horseshoes, close counts with taxis too ☺

Wandering this way…



…and that…



So we did what any other lost people would do – began asking shopkeepers where the Beer Bucket was. Funny how the shopkeepers don’t have that built in GPS-map thingie either. It gave us a chance to get some walking exercising in, as we went back and forth along 5th for a while. Finally I asked a Policeman where it was (imagine that – asking a Policeman where a bar is. I think this is grounds for immediate arrest in some U.S. counties). He told us correctly and a couple blocks later, we were there!

Unmistakable signage:



Us:



And Them (forgot the name of the peep in the middle):



Hombres:



And Senoras:



I’d never done this before – exchange posts with people whom I don’t know online and then meet them cold in a foreign country at night in an admittedly less safe place than my hometown, with my wife and two equally sheltered friends along for the adventure. Much to our welcome surprise, we met EddieT56 and the Boss Angie and some other peeps and they were GREAT! We chatted about all kinds of things – our work, homes, kids, school, our home states, football (Go Vikes!) and the conversation was great. EddieT told us about the Doc, the history of this peep meet, some of the other peeps, and a bit about the Bucket itself. PM him for more info – he’s got tons. BTW, beers at the Bucket were 5 for $10.00 US – one of the best buys in Playa!

We met here to mee the Easter Peeps athat Eddie and the Biss Nagie had frearanged dddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddd

(I left the above paragraph in because this is what happens when you are up at 1 a.m. on a work night typing your TR and your body collapses into deep sleep. Woke up at 3:47 and decided sleeping in a chair in the sitting position might be good for my chiropractor, but nor for my spine so I went to bed).

OK, where was I… Sorry about that. The Bucket is a great place to do this and I highly recommend a peep meet. Check other forums for dates and times, and maybe even chime in before your trip to try and get to know some of the people. The ones we met were all very nice and we enjoyed the adventure and experience.

World famous EddieT56 and the Boss Angie – Thanks guys for a great time!:



Have to add this about the restroom at the Bucket – If you are short, like my bride, it’s OK and reasonably clean. If you are taller like me, be prepared to contort as you enter. It also has a somewhat “Clint Eastwood-esque” feel to it (see Fistfull of Dollars).

So far, so good:



All were getting sleepy so as the meet wound down, we taxi’d back home and flipped on the TV. Back to the Future II was on (great concept and movie, by the way) – in Spanish. I now realize that there must be easier ways to try and learn the language, which I promised myself I would do before our next trip down. We drifted off to the scene and sounds of Michael J Fox and his nemesis, “Bif” warring it out over the girl en Espanol!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by missixty

I'm used to MY driving, and that itself is somewhat scary

Absolutely loving the trip report

More more more!!

Oh I notice you mentioned getting another sun bed at 1pm? Does this squash the - no beds free past 7am rumour??

on your driving! Remember, you're on the OTHER side of the road in Mexico!

No problem for us getting a bed - try around lunch time to see if folks have abandoned theirs. More on the way!

[130taKen120]

mandkalexander:

Let's see - the best pic I have of swim up bar is already in there. When are you leaving? Have a good trip!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by playadreaming

Great pictures! Thanks for taking the time to post such a good trip report.

Thanks! You'll hav a blast!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by ellesmere

Thank you, thank you, thank you
Great report. Was already looking forward to the 23rd June when we depart for Sandos but now I can't wait. - I'm going to drive my family demented!!!!

It is somewhat exciting! Can't wait to go back!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Playadicta

Haha, I remember having that lights out problem too. Sometimes the lights would go out even when the card was in the slot. That was aggravating if you happened to be in the bathroom!
Can you tell me what the orangish fruit is on the left in your honeymoon fruit basket? I became addicted to those while I was there but have never seen them before or since. I asked at the hotel and they told me it was a pomegranite, but it's not like the pomegranite I'm familiar with.

on the lights out! The fruit is Passion Fruit - kind of reminded me of large sunflower seeds in gelatin - really pretty good!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Tommygurl

Awesome report! Love it!
Is there a kids club there?

Oh & great avatar!

Hey thanks and thanks for th avatar-compliment!

Yes there is a kids club with babysitting for the younger ones. Lots of teens-preteens were playing pool and there are many activities for kids at the swimming pool & grounds.

[mandkalexander]

Originally Posted by 130taKen120

mandkalexander:

Let's see - the best pic I have of swim up bar is already in there. When are you leaving? Have a good trip!

We leave in less than a week.....so good to finaly be able to say, "LESS THAN A WEEK". I'm really not sure how I missed the swim up bar picture....was it one of the ones in the morning when the pools were being cleaned? I'll go back through and be more observant. We are so excited. Can't wait to experience the trip, enjoy our time alone, and just appreciate the wonders of Mexico. I am living through your TR.....and loving all of the tips (third key, getting fresh towels at teh end of the day for the following day)....just things that may not have occurred to me until a few days into the trip. THANK YOU! BTW: The church in Playa is beautiful.

[TeeZet]

Originally Posted by 130taKen120

...
And Them (forgot the name of the peep in the middle):



...

Looks like that's Steve (forum name "baked").

[130taKen120]

Awoke and put beach towels on chairs at 7:30 a.m. The lateness of the hour meant our chairs were in the 3rd row back from the beach but we planned to go exploring today so that was OK. We then headed to the buffet for breakfast. Now I realize that there are those among us that are interested in food information, both written and visual, and then again there are those of us who are not – ever. Persons in the first category tend to hang on each descriptive forkful, savoring a cerebral cacophony of culinary sensations. Persons in the second category just want to know where to eat – period. Food is food, sustenance for the day ahead, and why waste time and cyberspace rattling on about it? It was for this reason that I have limited the buffet-blather, but like any decent Trip Reporter, it behooves me to address this with those of you out there that may actually be interested in what you may be eating when you come to the Sandos Playacar Hotel and Resort. (can your detect a “slow picture day”?)

Festival Buffet:



Located near the main check in palapa, the buffet serves 3 meals a day, buffet style. When you enter, most times there is a hostess waiting to seat you at a table, but you can politely excuse yourself from this formality and go directly to the buffet line if you like. In fact, we found this to be the quickest way to obtain our meals, as being seated and waiting for the understaffed wait personnel to come over and offer us a beverage often took a long time and on occasion, never happened at all. We quit letting ourselves be seated by the hostess and went directly for the food. Mmmmm….

Plates are to the extreme left as you approach the buffet, and their fruit choices and salads were very good – our favorite was the pineapple and plain lettuce salad with toppings. As you wound past this counter to the heated line, the breakfast foods included a number of warm dishes, my favorites were the Mexican sausage, mixed vegetables, pico, jalapenos, bacon, baked tomatoes and breakfast potatoes. You could then stand about the center cooking island and get eggs any style, an omelet, French toast or pancakes. Another island had bakery goods, freshly blended fruit drinks, and other sweets. A third island had an assortment of what Midwesterners would call “potluck” type salads and fruit mixes. I usually went for eggs over easy or an omelet, while Mamasita had a hankering’ for the French toast along with a variety of sides from the hot and cold buffet areas. We never went there for lunch as we were usually at the beach or off somewhere on an adventure.

Ola-La:



What we did for lunch while at the Sandos was venture into the Snack Bar, which is named Ola La and is the large restaurant near the pools and beach. No matter if you’d been beach-grunging all morning, as long as you wore a shirt and flip-flops, you could come in to the Snack Bar, grab a plastic plate & plastic silverware from the bar and load up your plate to take back to the beach with you. The Snack Bar featured a salad island, pico, guac, chips, many types of fresh fruit, pizza, hamburgers, assorted chicken seafood or beef featured on different days, and tacos or other traditional Mexican foods made to order. It also featured a self-service drink section, with soft drinks and cervezas available for self-pour. We would usually grab a plate of snacks (the pico was always good) and head back to eat on the beach. One day we sat down and ate there and other families chose to do so as well.

Dinner:

When you arrive seek out the Concierge to make reservations at the 3 formal restaurants during your stay. We ate at all 3, they were all good: Ol La (Mediterranean), Broccolino (Italian) and Los Alcatraces (Mexican). On nights we didn’t have reservations, we went to Festival. Depending on the day, they feature a theme each night: Mexican, seafood, Italian, etc… Also, there is another buffet in the rear of Festival that has Italian style food every night, and once we discovered this, we frequented it due to the quality. Go straight in and continue straight towards the glass doors near the rear and once inside, you can grab a plate, get what you want and sit anywhere – back room or front.

My running commentary to my lovely bride was, “I’m not going to post food pics on our trip report!” You can see how well that idiom was followed… In any case, I teased and pledged to post only one “food pic” – this one:



On to the real TR:

We’d been discussing what adventures we might have while in PDC for months, many such ideas coming from this forum. One thing we wanted to accomplish was an ATV ride. Earlier, we’d paid $5.00 for 30 minutes of Internet access time at the Sandos (no free wireless! Yikes!) and looked up some of the tour operator sites we’d seen back home. The pricing was a bit cheaper than what the Sandos tour representative was offering, yet it was still high. My confidence in using public transportation to travel about the Mayan Riviera was bolstered by two things:

1) People who’d done it and written about it on this forum, and

2) Mapchick Maps with their detailed listing of descriptions, times, prices and advice on using it.

We called them from our hotel (I never got the hang of making local calls so I always dialed 0 and had the front desk do it) and booked the 11 a.m. tour. With reservation in hand, we took the bikes up to Playacar Plaza and the ATM to get some cash, then straight back to the Sandos to head out on our first off tourista-zone adventure: ATV Explorer! Ole! ☺

We actually used a taxi to get us to the ATV Explorer site, which is maybe 3-5 lm south of Playacar. This driver charged $10.00 (:-o) but he also knew that we’d be done at 1 p.m. so offered to come back to pick us up. Perfect! 10 minutes later, we were there and paying the fee at the check in palapa:



They recommended a bandana to keep the dust out of your lungs. I had one along in my suitcase, which did me absolutely no good at this point in time. Conveniently enough, ATV Explorer sells them for 50 pesos each, so we buckled under the intense pressure (everyone else had one) and each bought one. BRING YOUR OWN BANDANA:



The had us wait in the waiting area as the previous tour finished:



Then we got to pick our ride – I thought this might be good for my Mamasita:



Then again, there were some better choices:



Soon we were off on the trails. A guide leads the group, and one of the first things they do is stop the line and parade you one at a time past the photographer, bandana removed. At the end of the tour you can purchase the pic for $10.00. We chose not to at this time.

The trails are great fun, pretty safe and there are both fast areas and bumpy, curvy slower runs that are a blast to travel through. The bandanas are necessary to keep the dust off your face and out of your lungs – on a dry day, which 15 minutes into our adventure, our day was not. The skies opened up and it poured, which was both beneficial and detrimental: The benefit was that there was no longer any dust. The detriment was that now we were eating mud spattered up by the tires of the ATV in front of you. There was also slim chance of a bandana refund either.

Our first stop was to Cenote Luna for a short walk into the jungle. As we were walking, the man in front of me (here in white) thought that this might be a good time to share with me that of the 14 known snakes in the Ycatan, 12 were poisonous. All of a sudden, every tree root looked suspicious:



On to the cenote safely and then a refreshing swim:



Already soaked, so why not?:



It was fresh, deep (up to 70’), cool and life jackets, snorkels and masks were available. Cenotes are sink holes filled with fresh rainwater runoff, and this one has a very slowly moving current. Our guide explained cenotes and that Cenote Luna eventually mixed with salt water as it emptied underground into the ocean. The swim was refreshing and there were some very small and cool catfish type fish swimming there.

Some very cool plants in the jungle:



We trail rode for a while then headed for an underground cavern. In this one, there was an opening near the entrance where roots and vines from the jungle above dropped down and grew into the cave. There were also stalactites and stalactites and a pool of rainwater. I think one bat flew overhead too. The guide explained that since most of this area of the Yucatan was limestone, the rainwater runoff had eroded away the rock to form both cenotes and caverns over time. The guides did a good job explaining (in English and Spanish) these stops along the way:



Bats?



Back on the ATV’s:



A short ATV ride finished our adventure. Our cabbie, true to his word, came back exactly at 1 p.m. Some of the other ATV’ers tried to hijack him but he held out for us (tipping on the ride out was perhaps a wise investment) yet he did call his dispatcher to call some other taxis out to fetch people.

Once back at the Sandos, we headed out to the beach to retrieve our completely soaked towels. Due to the rain, many chairs were available, and the coolness may have driven some away as well. We found a nice spot and had some beach time:



Looking south:



Sandbag chasers:



Cooling off:



It was cool and windy today with white churl in the water. Chatted with a family from Chicago about prices, ATV-ing, food, etc… One of the nice things about the Sandos was being able to chat with many people from many different places:



For entertainment, two birds landed near us and began to fight, or mate, not really sure:



Around 4:30 we headed to our room to get ready for dinner, with reservations looming at Los Alcatraces. The service and food here were great. Mrs. Had fajitas and I had a crusted chicken dish – highly recommended!

OK, I’m caving: Desert pic (it was hers!):



Afterwards we hung out at La Bamba and listened to the music from 2 gal singers – quite good! Try a Mayan Riviera or Blue Scott at La Bamba – quite good. We sat on the plaza while enjoying refreshments outside on a beautiful night:

Reiterating - Beautiful:





On the Plaza:



No siesta today with all the activity so as eyes grew heavy sleep grew ever more attractive! Back to the room only to find…

Kleenex Art!:



Buenos noches!

[mandkalexander]

The ATV trip sounds a little slow for you two.....what did you think of it...Does no direct positive comment indicate that it was acceptable, but not great??? That was one of the things we were thinking of doing, so I'm interested. I also am insisting on infusing romance into our trip, so I thought that horsebackriding on the beach, maybe at sunset, might be nice (if we can arrange it)? We, like you, have decided not to pre-determine our excursions, but to wait and evaluate our situation once we arrive in Mexico. I'm looking for suggestions Ken.....as I feel like I am hanging out with both you and your wife and having a great time in Playa, via your TR.
Did you two take the ferry over to Cozumel? I think we might try that. Minimally, we get to see another place, and shop......I think we have ruled out snorkeling....as we've both done it more than once, and just feel that there might be better alternatives for us this time?????
Best to you both. You both have such kind and genuine faces.

[mandkalexander]

Questions~mainly because I'm panicing that I won't get to see and read Ken's entire TR before I leave.
I am looking for good drink recs....now that I'm really feeling like vacation is within my grasp.....I need to get armed with the smaller details! I loved when you showed via the picture, where the bathroom and towel hut was, and mentioned the hint about the Italian portion of the buffet. But now how bout some info about beverages......I'm thinking I'll be a bottled water girl during the day, with a few tropical drinks mixed in.....but what do you reccommend?Also, both my husband and I like red wine.....typically a cab, I've heard that the Chilian wine is pretty good....so we will try that with our dinner. Then night.....anything goes....I'll try almost anything.....margaritas of any flavor.....
Shopping.....did you find any great places? we have to bring home things for the kids obviously, and I'd like to get my mother jewelry (that's her pay for watching the kids), and obviously Mark and I would like to return home with some rememberances of our own. Definitely some art or pottery....suggestions accepted gratefully!