Trip Report Sandos Playacar Mar 2008

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by 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.

Actually, if I implied the ATV trip was a dud that was not my intention - it was great fun! The cenote and cave were nice additions, and gave the feel of going somewhere on an adventure. The rain made the day somewhat muted and you should have seen the looks that the staff gave us as we walked back through the lobby soaking wet

I am not sure about horsebackriding at sunset - am sure there are places to do it, but remember the coast of the Yucatan faces east so sunsets are hard to come by from shore. Additional excursions we considered were sunset catamaran cruise, ziplining in the jungle (see the trip planning tab on this site), going to the Alux cave restaraunt (Google it for pics and menu), or a jeep ride - our friends did that and said it was fun. We ruled out Cozumel as both of us had been there, but I know you can do much the same over there. Only caveat is if you go there and they stop the ferry's, you're stuck there for the night. Don't know how often that happens....

I really spent alot of time on this forum and two other ones - plus those Macpchick maps were truly worth their weight in gold. Do you have them? I would order them NOW and rush the delivery as they offered us so many suggestions on where to go, what to do and how much things cost.

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by 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!

Your room will be stocked with two large water bottles daily, but you can get smaller bottles to go throughout the day at the Festival and Snack Bar. Your room fridge has a variety of sodas in it - Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, some Sprite type pop, orange and Canada Dry, I believe. You also get cans of Dos Equis - as for more if you want more of anything. I left a note, in my own version of broken Spanish, with an empty can of the beverages I wanted on top of the TV and next to the maid's card, with a tip (I think the tip is important and well deserved). This way the staff knew what I wanted in the fridge and filled it daily. As soon as you get in your room, insert that 3rd card and CRANK the fridge so it stays cool for your trip.

Each room also has a safe that you should stash your valuables in each time you go out. Only forgot to lock it once but nothing was ever missing from our room!

The La Bamba bar has a drink book that you can read (in several languages) and order from. Our favorites included Caribbean Reef, Mayan Riviera, Blue Scott, Margaritas, Pina Coladas, and their native tequillas. Ask for the amount of the good stuff you want them to put in and they will do it for you - tipping works well here too. The chilean Chardonnay was great and we took our red bottle home to open on our anniversary

We got some gifts at Wal Mart whose prices were not great but nor bad either. The Playacar Plaza has a shirt store that advertizes #4.99 shirts where we got several for the kids. There is also an ATM there too but if I had to do it over, I would have brought mre cash rather than incur the ATM charges.

On 5th there is a huge store called Playa Plaza or something (pics below) that had tons of gifts from shirts to maracas to jewelry.





Other posters have said the Sandos jewelry store prices (it is on the plaza at the Sandos) are as good as any. We also looked at the shops just north of the ferry pier and their prices seemed reasonable. In you walk along 5th, be prepared to be PEPPERED with "Senor - come here and see my...." or "Are you ready for a tour?" Politely ignore them unless you want to partake or spend your vacation listening to sales pitches. Also, feel free to ask prices but I personally would never accept the first price quoted to me. My canned response was "Wow that's expensive". This usually elicited a lower price or a "2 for 1" offer.

Another neat street we walked along was Juarez, and many streets have smaller shops with their wares displayed. I would have spent more time shopping farther away from 5th, in daylight, to get the good deals.

[Rheta]

Hi. Really enjoying your report and pics. I was at the Easter peep meet hosted by Crazy Eddie and Angie. I guess you were upstairs when we were down. As we were leaving I remember you approaching Eddie telling him to come upstairs. Looking forward to more of your report!

[Frombe]

My wife really wants to get her hair braided when we get there. Is there anywhere that she can have this done? Should she do it before we leave Colorado?
Any suggestions?

[130taKen120]

There are numerous places downtown that will do full or half braids for your wife's hair. Our resort offered 1/2 braid (like you see on my wife's hair) for $35.00 in the salon in the bottom of the north building by the gym. At the Playacar Plaza shopping center, the same 1/2 head braid was offered for $30.00. My wife actually got her 1/2 braid done the day we went to Akumal (which is my next day's trip report) for $20.00. She had it done Tuesday and took it our Sunday, the day before returning to work. The farther away from the Tourista zone you are, the cheaper it is.

Be aware that if your wife does this, you ought to have some strong sunscreen to put onto her scalp between the braided rows - rememeber that your wife's scalp has never seen the sun! My wife learned the hard way and is still paying fr it today!

Please post your TR after you return & share your experiences with the rest of us as well! Thanks!

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Rheta

Hi. Really enjoying your report and pics. I was at the Easter peep meet hosted by Crazy Eddie and Angie. I guess you were upstairs when we were down. As we were leaving I remember you approaching Eddie telling him to come upstairs. Looking forward to more of your report!

Wow Rheta that is wild. Like I said, we were not really sure what to expect that night. I saw Eddie T was bust and wanted to invite him and Angie to meet us without disturbing his current conversation. It seemed like the downstairs was occupied so we went upstairs instead. Next time, you'll know what my wife and I look like so you can introduce yourself! Thanks!

[Frombe]

Originally Posted by 130taKen120

There are numerous places downtown that will do full or half braids for your wife's hair. Our resort offered 1/2 braid (like you see on my wife's hair) for $35.00 in the salon in the bottom of the north building by the gym. At the Playacar Plaza shopping center, the same 1/2 head braid was offered for $30.00. My wife actually got her 1/2 braid done the day we went to Akumal (which is my next day's trip report) for $20.00. She had it done Tuesday and took it our Sunday, the day before returning to work. The farther away from the Tourista zone you are, the cheaper it is.

Be aware that if your wife does this, you ought to have some strong sunscreen to put onto her scalp between the braided rows - rememeber that your wife's scalp has never seen the sun! My wife learned the hard way and is still paying fr it today!

Please post your TR after you return & share your experiences with the rest of us as well! Thanks!

Ken,
Thanks again for the info. My wife is looking to get her whole head done. Will be sure to get her some great sun screen for the scalp.
I look forward to sharing all of our stories and pictures with everyone when we return.

[jone]

Gracias for the great pics + report!
Just awesome reading material!
Thank you!!

[130taKen120]

Thanks and glad you are enjoying it!

[130taKen120]

If Akumal is not on your trip itinerary, it should be, period. If it isn’t, you may be in 1 of 2 categories of tourists:

1) Never heard of it or
2) About to.

Once again, Mapchicks maps was or local tour agent. After Desayuna at the Festival, we taxi’d to the ADO bus station on 5th & Juarez, bought tickets to Akumal for $3.50 apiece and made the bus with maybe 4 minutes to spare. It actually left 3 minutes early by my watch, at 10:17 a.m. Tip: Beach bags are great for the hotel you’re staying at, but to move about, bring a backpack. It can serve as a handy carry-on as well.

During the 45-minute ride south on Highway 307, this small Greyhound-style tour bus stopped at several bus stops to pick up and drop off passengers, much like the collectivos do. We got dropped off on the highway at the footbridge and crossed safely.

Looking south on 307:



No mistaking where we were at;



We walk the .5 km or so from the highway to a gift shop/convenience store near the beach and look about for a bit. Pricey but OK stuff, and here you can get snacks and beverages if you didn’t bring any with you. We look about a bit but decline to purchase anything and head to the Beach instead.

For months leading up to our trip, I had been checking the world famous Lol Ha Beach Cam online almost every day. Mounted on a roof support outside the Lol Ha Restaurant, the camera takes a picture every 10 seconds and posts it to the Internet. I even added it to my iGoogle start page so it would automatically load up a pic each day as I started up Firefox. It’s unreal how much motivation these pictures can provide for a Frozentundra-locked couple eager to make their first trip together to the tropics.

Need your own motivation? Try it yourself!

http://www.locogringo.com/Upload/netcam.jpg

The cam:



Some perspective:



We met a couple from Colorado standing on the beach in the camera’s view shot area. They had just carved a message in the sand and stood there posing for a minute or so. Struck up a conversation with them and they explained that they had just come from the local email station (see Mapchick) and exchanged emails with their daughter who was on the ‘net waiting to do a screen capture of them on the beach cam. This must happen a lot because we saw numerous people doing this while we were there. We had not arranged with anyone back home to do this so we’ll have to settle for this proof instead. If you look in the background between us, you can see the camera mounted up on a post:



That’s our heart in the sand



Next we step up into the Lol Ha Snack Bar, north of the webcam on the beach. We sit at a table facing the ocean – wow what a great view!



Another great view:



The bar area:





We order some pico and chips which was great, and some jalapeno poppers and they were OK but not filled with cream cheese like we’re used to back home. Another in gratuitous food pic:



There are no free public restrooms at Akumal. The restrooms are located behind the Lol Ha snack bar and cost .50 cents to use them, unless you are eating at the snack bar or restaurant. In that case, you get a laminated restroom “ticket” to show the restroom attendant when you go. They were actually pretty nice for the area and I used them to change both before and after our next adventure:

We came here for 2 reasons: to see beautiful place that people raved about and that the webcam was daily taunting me with, and snorkeling with the sea turtles. We went to the dive center north of the Lol Ha and should’ve gone to the one right next to it – Akumal Dive Center – as they were cheaper and much nearer to where we eventually camped out and lit off on our snorkeling adventure. The gear, including tube, goggles and flippers, cost $12.00 per, plus another $5.00 for a locker for our valuables. You could also rent life jackets for an additional $5.00 but we chose not to. The locker was interesting – plastic door that seemed like a mere sneeze could blow open. Also, the key was sticky and hard to remove. Confidence not inspired, we placed our valuables in there and headed to the beach.

We parked our valuable-less beach bag by a palm tree in front of the Akumal Dive Center and headed into the water. Masks fit OK and off we went:



Variety of coral and plants:



Some fish:





Brain coral:



After about a half hour we hadn’t seen any sea turtles and were becoming discouraged. We had already been driven out of one area by a tour boat operator (our fault for wandering in the channel) and had seen few fish and other aquatic life so far. It was windy that day but fortunately, Akumal is located on a bay that keeps most of the waves way out from shore. I’ve read that you need to be careful and not get too far out lest you get caught in the riptide and get swept out to sea. We popped heads above water often to make sure we were not the farthest snorkelers out, and then it occurred to us that maybe we ought to follow some of these snorkel tour groups already in the water. Sometimes intelligence comes at the expense of frustration :-o

Finally, the first of three sea turtles appeared!



We swam in for some closer peeks and pics:



They can be swift and hard to keep up with, but we caught them lazily cruising around the bay:









This was fantastic and a great highlight of the trip!

Mission accomplished and getting colder, we headed back to the beach to find our beach bag undisturbed. We had about 2 hours before we had to head back so we planted ourselves on the sand, which was considerably finer and more compact than the sand at the Sandos.

Nevertheless, the views were spectacular:







The Akumal Dive Shop is in the rear of this pic:



Time for a siesta!





Following our nap, I returned the snorkel gear to the other dive shop and fetched our valuables from the plastic door locker, happy that everything was there.

We walked up past the Akumal Beach Resort just to see what that was like. It looked decent and this is on the list as a potential stop for a couple nights (not much night life in Akumal, I hear). One last view back north along the beach:



Mamasita and I wandered into a small gift stand near the bathrooms behind the Lol Ha and they advertised hair braiding – cost $20.00 for a half braid. This was $10-$15.00 cheaper than in Playa so she got it done with beads to match all swimsuits. Took about a half hour and then we were back up the path towards the highway. About ½ way up the path, we saw the ADO bus waiting for people whop were in front of us and running to catch it. We raised our hands and the driver waited until we caught up. We paid him directly and claimed a seat. As mentioned earlier, this bus run stops at any bus stop where people flag it down. It was about 5 p.m., going home time from work and thus there were lots of people flagging down the busses and collectivos. By about half way back to Playa, our bus was full with people standing in the aisles.

We could’ve been dropped off at the ADO station but for whatever reason, got let off along the highway near the McDonald’s. We walked a block north to Juarez and walked it down to 5th. Here we briefly peeked in some of the shops and vowed to come finish shopping at a time when it was not getting dark. Once at 5th, we investigated a shop called Playa Mart directly across the street from the ADO station. Here we got a few gifts and finally grabbed a taxi to the Sandos.

It was suppertime so we headed to our room to clean up to eat. As we walked back, the Sandos had marketplace night, where select gift and souvenir vendors set up tables along the plaza and fountain area. Their prices were steep and so we just looked at a few things and headed to Festival buffet. Sorry, no food pics tonight…

How about this one instead?:



After supper we decided to head to the theater for a show as we hadn’t seen one yet. The show schedule is posted outside the lobby near the jewelry store. Tonight it was Mexicanos – featuring traditional Mexican dances by brightly costumed dancers. It was good, and as we were tired from the day, we turned in about 10:45 after the show. Another day, and another major trip goal accomplished. Tomorrow we vowed to rest on the beach!wwwwwwwww

[mandkalexander]

This TR just keeps getting better and better. I was in a slight depression yesterday, as my husband sent me a link to the weather channel site, which indicated that it was going to rain, and that there would be thunderstorms and possibly even flight delays for the first 5 days of our trip.....how can it rain for five days straight in a place that averages .01 c of rain in April??? My common sense finally prevailed.....and today (of course) the extended forecast looks better. The rain has to be that quick hard rain, then it's over kind of rain......right? I'm sure we can occupy ourselves regardless....but I did have some serious beach time on my "to do list". Ken, if you can't tell, I'm looking for some reinforcement about somethnig I realize in my intellectual mind, you have no control over either....but go ahead, reassure me anyway I guess with all of my planning, I didn't even factor in any extended weather issues......I think I need to stay away from the weather channel site! (and perhaps get some therapy for my control issues)....I'm more like my mother everyday~
Back to your TR....Love the pics......and the tips!!! Can't wait for more!

[Catalyst]

Great report. Love the underwater pics. We might add a day in Akumal to our trip.

Waiting for more.

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Rheta

Hi. Really enjoying your report and pics. I was at the Easter peep meet hosted by Crazy Eddie and Angie. I guess you were upstairs when we were down. As we were leaving I remember you approaching Eddie telling him to come upstairs. Looking forward to more of your report!

OK How bout some pics that you took from that night - would love to see them!

Thankski

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by Catalyst

Great report. Love the underwater pics. We might add a day in Akumal to our trip.

Waiting for more.

Thanks Catalyst for your comments. I was not aware of the sea turtles at Akumal until we got to PDC. It was extremely easy to get to and do without the hassle of an all day tour, plus the pics reveal the payoff for our efforts! If you go please post your pics and a TR too!

Thanks!

[130taKen120]

This is Movie Day of TR because of a problem I discovered this morning. It is a problem that could be considered every tourists nightmare: Our digital camera broke. Wait, let me rephrase that: Our BRAND NEW digital camera broke. This camera, new at Christmas and whose brand name is “similar” to a type of grizzly bear found in Alaska, had taken great pics so far and now provided a great deal of disappointment. Thus, there are more videos today than stills. I thought that we may be able to visit the local Office Depot and see if we maybe it was just the battery or charger cable, but that would be tomorrow since we had a couple disposables to use on our lounger day at the beach.

We awoke at 5:45 a.m. to venture out to see the sunrise and maybe lose a flip-flop or two by trying to reserve some choice loungers under a prime palapa. The two of us quickly got ready (no glamour shots this morning) and headed to the beach by 5:53 to catch the sunrise. What the heck – it’ll be kinda dark, won’t it?

The sunrise was spectacular:

Sunrise 1


Sunrise 2


Overexposed sunrise viewers ☺


All of the front row chairs to the south of the Royal Elite club area were already covered with towels. There were some available in the hinterlands, but we wanted front row (especially after rising at this hour) so we traveled to the area north of the Elite Club and we put towels on our chairs under the palapa on the front row directly out from the small beach bar.

We were shocked to witness the full effect of the power of beach erosion. It was really windy the day before when we went to Akumal, and we didn’t really spend any time at the Sandos beach. To our dismay, twenty (20) feet of beach was missing compared to the first day when we arrived, and several more huge whales lay exposed on the nearly vacant beach. These were double-decker whales (thank goodness) and to get to the water you had to climb down one story at a time.

Since there weren’t many people around we decided to walk along the beach in front of the Iberostar Tucan and Quetzal, our neighboring resorts to the immediate north. The beach at the Tucan was far more eroded than at the Sandos, and the Quetzal beach was non-existent. I almost booked at the Tucan until I ran across this website and it’s posts……

Quetzal oceanfront rooms:



Then back to the room to snooze until nearly 8, then on our feet and off to Festival for breakfast. Mrs. French Toast and Mr. Eggs sit together and enjoy the cuisine and each other’s company yet again! Quick pass through the room to get suits on, check the temperature on the in-room thermostat (in Celsius, by the way – 22-23 was most comfortable for us with ceiling fan on low) and of to the flip-flop and towel reserved chairs under our new favorite palapa.

I was dressed for workout, and did abs on the sand but decided to run on Xaman Ha towards town instead of on the beach this time. Two reasons for this: 1) it was difficult to run on this sand beach last Saturday and 2) I needed to visit the ATM at the Playacar Plaza.

There are two paths along Xaman Ha – the one on the resort side is supposed to be for pedestrian traffic only, and the one across the street for bikes only. Each pathway is internationally marked with bike and no-bike cement sections in the very sidewalk that people are walking and biking on as soon as you exit ANY resort. You can’t miss them unless you are sight-deprived, in which case you may not want to be on Xaman Ha in the first place.

It was amazing how many pedestrians were on the bike side and how many bikers were on the pedestrian side, which was about ½ as wide as the bike side. Dodging bikes became a game, and the occasional fellow jogger usually gave a knowing nod or hand wave, perhaps to secretly confirm that we were part of some special secret exercise cadre that, by simply being out here on a hot humid morning, would somehow negate the cumulative effects of the Playacar resort areas calorie laden buffets!

In any case I made it to the ATM and jogged past it to the Mayan ruins near town before heading back to the Sandos. This was great as I was able to see the neighborhood and the condos, several of which are for rent, and the architecture is both amazing and colorful.

While jogging, this was a photogenic tree - Even with me in it:



Back to the beach by 10:45 a.m., swimsuit and towel equipped. Time to stretch out on our favorite loungers in the front row under our new favorite palapa.

His:



And hers:



Today was a red flag day with large waves and the water was churned up with sand and looked quite white near the shore. We walked out to the whale and played on it for a bit. Our advice: go on the sea side and let the waves wash you up, then have a blast trying to stay up as the waves tried again to wash you off. See the videos below for the fun people were having on it.

Clouds were moving in – the weather forecast for today showed a chance of rain (channel 49 on your hotel TV) and it looked like it was coming. We went in for a dip and it began to rain on us – not too hard, just a sprinkle. We exited the water and retreated to the palapa, and waited out the 15-minute light shower underneath it. Amazing the mass exodus from the beach at the first hint of rain. This left multiple palapas and loungers open for the picking but we chose to stay.

Soon people filtered back to the beach and the people watching began again. Noticed that the ferries were all out to sea, not moving, and the cruise ship that had sailed up was anchored as well. We eventually found out that the port was closed due to the wind and waves. Bummer for anyone who made a day trip to Cozumel or vice-versa. Later we went out on the whales one more time – great fun!

Here then is the Sandos TR Theater:

A Windy Day at the Beach. Note the sand bags where once beach used to be, and the fun people are having on the “Whale”:



As mentioned earlier, it got so windy that they closed the port, sent the ferries out to sea and anchored the large cruise ship offshore. Look for this about mid-video, as the camera is panning north:



This was the video of the Bird Fight – don’t have any idea why I videotaped it other than it was a diversion that happened to occur when I had the camera out & ready:



By about 5 we decided to head back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at Broccolino, the Italian restaurant at 6. When you make your reservations with the concierge, they give you a receipt – be sure to bring this with to the restaurant on the date and time of your reservations. It’s also noteworthy that guys should be wearing slacks and a decent shirt to these restaurants, as they are classier than the buffet and the staff and other customers deserve to have you recognize this.

The wall paintings were very neat, as was the overall a