May 28, 2005
08-07-2005 8:13 am
May 28, 2005
color=#0000ff> Iberostar Message Board“Wow!” pretty much sums it up. This resort complex is incredible! Even after we had been there several days, we still kept saying, “Wow!”.
The following topics will be covered:
I. Iberostar Paraiso resort complex
II. Maya room
III. Maya grounds, pools, and beach
IV. Dining and entertainment
V. Excursions:
A. Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal
B. Xel-Ha
C. Mayan Palace golf course
D. Xcaret
VI. Overall impressions & Xel-Ha/Xcaret comparison
Photos of our trip are at http://community.webshots.com/album/359135168rnJkCA.
I. Iberostar Paraiso resorts.
“Wow!” pretty much sums it up. This resort complex is incredible! Even after we had been there several days, we still kept saying, “Wow!”.
For background, we are frequent Caribbean travelers. We have been on three Caribbean cruises, and this was our fourth all-inclusive resort vacation. We have stayed at Sandals Ocho Rios, Secrets Excellence Punta Cana, and Couples Swept Away Negril. This was our second trip to the Iberostar Paraiso complex, having previously stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach resort. We chose to return to Iberostar Paraiso because of the quality we experienced on our first visit. Not only were our high expectations met this time, they were actually exceeded!
The Iberostar Paraiso complex is located about 30 minutes south of the Cancun airport, and 20 minutes north of Playa Del Carmen. It consists of four hotels: the Del Mar, the Beach, the Lindo, and the Maya. They are building a fifth resort, the Palace. The Del Mar and Beach are two sides of a single resort; they share all their pools, restaurants, and bars, and have identical room amenities. If you stay at the Del Mar or Beach, you can eat at air-conditioned a la carte restaurants three times per week, and perhaps pick up additional last-minute reservations based on availability. The rest of the time, these guests eat at an open-air buffet.
The Lindo and Maya hotels also share a set of pools, restaurants, and bars. They are more expensive than the Del Mar and Beach, and guests of the Lindo and Maya can make reservations to eat in air-conditioned a la carte restaurants every night if they wish. With some exceptions, Del Mar and Beach guests cannot use the Lindo and Maya facilities. The Lindo and Maya are newer, offer larger rooms, and serve more top shelf liquors. The Maya is even more expensive than the Lindo, with fancier rooms, and theoretically Lindo guests are not allowed to use the Maya’s three courtyard pools, nor book two of its restaurants. These rules were not being enforced during our stay.
Iberostar also owns other hotels in the area: the Tucan & Quetzal (another twin hotel) in Playa del Carmen, and the Iberostar Cozumel on Cozumel island. Iberostar guests can visit the other area properties during the day and enjoy the pools, beach, and lunch buffets, although transportation is not included.
II. Maya room.
We arrived in Cancun after an uneventful nonstop flight from Kansas City (love those Funjet direct charter flights!). On our previous visit to the Cancun airport on a Saturday, we waited in a two-hour line to clear Immigration. This time, we breezed through with virtually no waiting. Despite my husband’s bag being literally the last one off the plane, we were on our bus less than an hour after touchdown. We took the bag of coupons and goodies offered by the ladies with the Mexican tourism council, ignored the timeshare salespeople who try to trick you into thinking they are your tour operators (they weren’t too pesky this time), and quickly located our local Funjet reps in the distinctive turquoise shirts and white pants. Our entire busload was headed for the Iberostar Paraiso complex—too bad because I enjoy seeing other resorts! On the ride, our Funjet/Lomas rep, Miguel, gave us a little briefing on the amenities of the resort. The bus ride took about 35 minutes, and was very comfortable, since the bus was air-conditioned and well upholstered.
From our first glimpse of the Maya, we were blown away. The lobby is housed in an enormous Mayan-style pyramid, which is lit up in changing colors at night. You can’t miss it from the highway. The grounds are elegantly landscaped and perfectly manicured, as we expected from our previous experience with Iberostar. The lobby is huge, air-conditioned, and majestic, with marble and tropical hardwoods everywhere.
I had been in touch with the resort by e-mail prior to our visit, to make sure their records showed we were previous Iberostar guests, and that our room preference was a king bed (as opposed to two queens), on the top floor, in a quiet location. We had booked a Junior Suite, the basic and most common room category at the Maya. Upon check-in, we were delighted that not only were our room preferences honored, but we were offered a free upgrade to the larger room, the Superior Suite! Did I mention that we love Iberostar? Later that evening, the bellman brought us two complimentary Iberostar T-shirts.
Check-in only took about 5 minutes. Unlike many other chains, Iberostar did not register a credit card, meaning we could not charge resort purchases to our room. We waited another 5 minutes for the bellman to get a golf cart, and then we were off to our room. The bellman’s English was perfectly fluent, and during the ride he pointed out some of the newer features of the resort. We quickly arrived at building 60, the building closest to the beach and furthest from the lobby. Our concierge greeted us as we arrived, and then we got our first glimpse of the room.
Now, I usually don’t care what my room looks like on vacation, as long as it is clean, since I aim to spend as little time there as possible. Before our trip, I kind of wished we had booked the Lindo, and not spent the extra money for the fancier Maya room. But this room was so incredible, it turned out to be one of my favorite aspects of the trip. Now I am totally spoiled! The room was immaculate, beautiful, and huge. The room was more than 40 feet long from door to balcony, with high ceilings. Floors were polished stone, with burgundy Mexican throw rugs that matched the elegant hacienda-style décor. We were happy to be on the third (top) floor, since the stone floors don’t do much to muffle footsteps. Our room was very quiet almost all the time.
The bathroom featured a large glass shower stall with a shower head 8 feet off the ground. My 6’3” husband enjoyed not having to crouch under the shower! There are twin sinks and a large Jacuzzi tub, and a phone in the bathroom. Some TV channels can be heard on the bathroom speakers. They put more towels in the bathroom than you could possibly use in a day, and two robes. The entry area features two large closets with plenty of shelves and 10 hangers each, a coffee maker, a digital safe, and a minifridge stocked with 4 bottled waters, 2 agua minerales, 2 Sprite, 2 Fanta, 2 bottled Cokes, 2 Coke Light, 2 Sol beers, 1 Superior, and 1 Dos Equis. There was also a bottle of tequila, a gallon of purified water, and plenty of coffee and tea.
The bedroom had a DVD player, CD alarm clock, satellite TV, 5 bed pillows and numerous throw pillows. The bed was comfortable, firm, and sat on box springs rather than the concrete platform used in many Mexican hotels. Lighting was good; there were so many switches that it took us a while to figure out what each one did! Air-conditioning was excellent, with digital temperature control and 4 fan settings. There is a ceiling fan in the bedroom and one in the sitting area.
The sitting area was very generous and included a coffee table, couch and two chairs. They were attractive, but you wouldn’t want to sit on them for hours. On arrival, we found a fruit plate with apples, grapes, a pear, bananas, and a nice ripe papaya. Bottles of peanuts and pistachios appeared the next day. There was a nice sized balcony with a drying rack, table and two chairs, as well as a hanging rope chair that looked great but wasn’t very comfortable. Planters around the balcony are attractively planted with croton and other colorful tropical foliage.
It was great having a concierge. They called us a couple of times just to check that everything was good, and asked if we needed anything whenever they saw us go by. When we first arrived, there were no robes in our room. I remembered after a while that there were supposed to be robes, and asked the concierge about them. The next time we went to our room, less than two hours later, there they were! The built-in hairdryer separated from its hose. I filled out a repair card and left it for the housekeeper, and the very next time we entered the room, it was fixed. The housekeepers did nightly turndown service. They left us fresh towels twice a day, and towel animals with candy or flowers at least once and often twice a day. We left them a daily tip of $2-3 in appreciation of their efforts, but I truly believe our service would have been just as good without the tip. Iberostar employees definitely go the extra mile for you!
III. Maya grounds, pools, and beach.
This whole resort is visually stunning. We loved the series of unique and beautiful courtyards that we passed through every day, on our way from our room to the Maya lobby. Our photos don’t really do them justice, but may give you a hint of how lovely everything is. Staff worked around the clock to keep everything perfectly maintained and sparkling clean. Even late at night, they were vacuuming the pools and scrubbing the walkways.
The Maya and Lindo sides of the resort show tremendous creativity with architecture and décor. There is a lot of polished stone and lush landscaping. The Beach and Del Mar sides are equally beautiful, equally lush, and equally well landscaped, but their buildings and walkways are not as unique and whimsical. Some guests have commented that the Beach and Del Mar side seems more tropical, but I don’t agree. Maybe the Lindo and Maya landscaping is more mature now. I found all four areas equally attractive, and certainly wouldn’t base a decision between them on the appearance of their grounds.
The Beach/Del Mar pools and the Lindo/Maya pools are also equally stunning. These are huge free-form pools, the prettiest I have ever seen, with fountains, waterfalls, and swim-up bars. One advantage of the Lindo/Maya pools is that there were always plenty of palapas and chairs, whether you prefer sun or shade. No need to reserve chairs here! Do bring your own floats if you want them; they are furnished only in the lazy river area. Plenty of fresh towels were always available. There was poolside drink service, and the “helado lady” passed through periodically with a cooler full of complimentary ice cream sandwiches and creamsicles.
The Lindo/Maya side features a wave pool and a lazy river, which are pretty cool; but again, I wouldn’t use this as a criterion for choosing one side over the other. The lazy river tempted us when we first saw it, but all the floats were in use. By the time we had a chance to use it, we had visited Xel-Ha and drifted down their real lazy river, and the Lindo one would have been an anticlimax. The wave pool only operates for the first 15 minutes of most hours. It’s very nice, but you can have the same experience any time just a few hundred feet away, at the beach. I would have used the wave pool more at a resort in Vegas, for example, where there is no real beach.
Speaking of the beach, it is lovely. Very long and wide, with soft white sand and an ample supply of palapas and loungers and hammocks. Palapas are more plentiful directly in front of the Maya, but all four hotels basically share the same beach. Lindo/Maya guests are the only ones who can use the beach grill, but there are beach bars in front of all the hotels.
Waves were about 1-2 feet most of the time. Most days during our visit, the yellow flag was up; a few days, the red flag. The surf was too active for much snorkeling visibility, but comfortable for swimming and watersports. We did see some topless women, though not as many as we previously observed in August, when the southern European guests seemed to outnumber the Americans. This time, the guest mix was perhaps half U.S. and Canadian, and about half Europeans (many of them British).
The gym is a shared facility between the four hotels, in the same building as the spa. It is very well equipped with 6 treadmills, 4 stair climbers, ellipticals, free weights, and weight machines. We never had to wait for equipment. They furnish all the fresh towels you could want. There is a water cooler with paper cones to drink from. If I could change only one thing about this resort, it would be to have the gym be air-conditioned. There was good airflow from fans, but it was still pretty warm in the gym, even early in the morning.
I am a mosquito magnet, and did find that I had to wear mosquito repellent to the gym, and at night, even in the air-conditioned restaurants. I still got a few bites. My husband did not wear mosquito repellent and did not get bitten. Remarkably for the Caribbean climate, we never saw a single insect of any type in the room.
IV. Dining and entertainment.
There is 24-hour room service at the Maya, but as much as I wanted to take advantage of this, I was only able to use it once because there was always so much good food around! We did order a salad and pizza one afternoon. They told us 30-40 minutes, but the food came in only 25 minutes. It was fresh and good.
Breakfast and lunch are served as buffets. There is a small breakfast buffet by the Lindo pool, a larger one in the Maya Mediterranean restaurant, and the largest, freshest selection in the Lindo buffet restaurant across from the theater. You can get pretty much any kind of egg dish, waffles, or pancakes made fresh. The pastries and muffins are good, and they make fresh doughnuts all morning. Plenty of fruit, yogurt, juices, cold cuts, breakfast meats and hot sandwiches, breads, and cereals. They had regular milk and light milk, and self-serve espresso/cappuchino machines. They had great lox, but usually no bagels. I was a little disappointed not to find my usual oatmeal. They did have bowls of dry oatmeal and hot water, but I didn’t think the water would cook the oatmeal sufficiently. I ended up with more enjoyable, but less healthy, breakfasts than I am used to. I tried to be good, honestly Other than a few minor details, I don’t really see how the breakfast buffets could be improved upon. Very good selection and quality. On our departure morning, we had to eat at 6:30, when supposedly only a continental breakfast is available. The “continental” breakfast included hot egg dishes, fresh bacon and sausage, and mimosas with freshly-squeezed orange juice. Pretty fancy!
There are small lunch buffets at the informal poolside restaurants, and a more elaborate one in the Lindo buffet restaurant. We were happy with the grilled hamburgers, 2-3 entrée choices, good salad bar, and wonderful guacamole at the poolside restaurant, but we also felt it was worth walking to the larger buffet when we had the opportunity. The larger buffet does require a shirt or coverup and shoes. I wore a sheer coverup dress over my bikini one day there, and felt underdressed. Most of the women were wearing shorts and shirts.
The Lindo lunch buffet offered many tasty choices, but honestly I didn’t think the quality was quite as good as the Iberostar Paraiso Beach buffet had been a few years ago. They could have used a little more daily variety: for example, they had tacos al pastor as the Mexican entrée pretty much every day, and also featured them frequently at the dinner buffet and the poolside grills. They were good, but I would have liked to try some other local specialties. I did get to try the well-know Yucatecan specialty tic-n-xic fish at the Lindo lunch buffet; but either it’s not as delicious as it’s cracked up to be, or maybe the cook just wasn’t having a good day.
Some other choices on the Lindo lunch buffet included thin steaks, curry chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs…. One day they had an extremely tender octopus criollo, which was the best thing I had on this buffet. Of interest to iced tea drinkers: sometimes you could get unsweetened iced tea in the restaurants, and other times they only had it with sugar added. We also visited the Iberostar Tucan and had lunch there this trip, and I thought their lunch buffet was also better than the Lindo’s. For example, the Tucan had delicious bacon-wrapped filet mignon bites, and the freshest grilled grouper I have ever tasted. The Tucan’s vegetables also tasted fresher. The Lindo lunch buffet was fine, but we did feel that the quality was a little less than we had expected.
No complaints about the desserts at the Lindo lunch buffet. There were far too many choices, all far too yummy! I really like the Iberostar’s savory and subtle cheesecake, which is light but not too fluffy, and just sweet enough. My husband enjoyed all the tiramisu and chocolate mousse he could want. All the lunch buffets, and some dinner restaurants with dessert buffets, feature several ice cream flavors daily. The ice cream is way too tempting! There is also a poolside ice cream parlor above the swimup bar, with about 15 flavors, as well as frozen juice and cappuchino drinks.
As a previous Iberostar guest, I was able to make one dinner reservation by e-mail before our trip. They told me they didn’t usually do that but were making an exception for me. I also saw the concierge our first morning at the Maya, and had no difficulty at all making reservations every night for the restaurant of our choice, at the time of our choice. However, when we later scheduled some long excursions and therefore needed to change some dinner times on 1-2 days’ notice, we did have to make some compromises on restaurants and times. You can eat dinner at the Lindo poolside buffet any time without a reservation, so that’s an option if you have problems with the reservation system.
Dinner our first night was the Lindo buffet. As with lunch, the selection was good, but we were a little disappointed in the quality. We ate there again on Thursday, when I had heard from trip report that they sometimes served grilled lobster tails and filets. No such luck. The concierge told us that the lobster was an occasional thing, not anything regularly scheduled on a certain day. I really wish we had taken that opportunity to go eat at the Beach/Del Mar dinner buffet, because I remember it being quite a bit better than the Lindo one was this trip. I don’t know if the kitchens are now overwhelmed with the greater numbers of guests, or perhaps the Lindo buffet has fewer choices simply because it serves fewer people than the Beach/Del Mar one. There were some good options, including lamb and giant prawns, cold cooked bay scallops, and 10 dessert choices. There were large crab claws, but they were uncooked.
Our meals at the a la carte restaurants were excellent. Our first reservation meal was at the Maya Gourmet restaurant, L’Etoile, and it was the best All-Inclusive meal we’ve ever had! The atmosphere was extremely elegant, with elaborate chandeliers, exquisite food presentations, and white glove service. My husband had a pheasant and lobster salad appetizer, I’ve tasted in expensive big-city fine restaurants. I had a well-prepared cream of asparagus soup. There were no salad choices, oddly. We were served an amuse-bouche of melon sorbet (formed into a dense little Popsicle on a toothpick) on a melon slice, accompanied by a china shot glass of “melon essence”. Most diners appeared more bemused than amused by this effort, but you’ve got to give the chef credit for trying something out of the ordinary. I had a delicious duck with two different sweet sauces, elegantly presented, and my husband had the tenderloin. My miniature green beans were wrapped in itsy-bitsy sachets with the tiniest vegetable bows I’ve ever seen on a dinner plate. For dessert, we both had the chocolate surprise with chocolate and berry mousse, and it was out of this world! It was so good, we asked for another serving to share. The waiter brought two more servings, so obviously we had no choice but to eat them both so they wouldn’t go to waste.
On Monday we had dinner at the Lindo Cajun restaurant, Jambalaya. We had read so many rave reviews of the coconut shrimp on Jambalaya’s appetizer buffet, we just had to try them. They truly are excellent! The secret is in the breading, which is sweet and spicy at the same time. The appetizer buffet included many other excellent dishes: a nice salad bar with hearts of palm and peeled tomatoes, tender calamari, delicious “Acadian vegetables” in zesty tomato sauce, breaded Portobello mushrooms and eggplant, and smoked salmon. My husband had the spicy fettucine with shrimp and scallops, and I had the seared bay scallops. Normally I prefer sea scallops, but these were the best bay scallops I’ve ever had! The dessert bar was also excellent, including a very tasty cake soaked in hazelnut liqueur, and that delicious Iberostar cheesecake topped with fruit. The prettiest dessert on this buffet (and on many others during the course of the week) was a beautifully decorated chocolate cake. It was dry and virtually flavorless, every time we tried it. In fact, it’s the only dessert we didn’t like. So if you’re a chocoholic like me, get your fix from the ice cream, syrup, or mousse, not the cake. Conversely, the least visually attractive dessert at Jambalaya, a pear tart, was absolutely delicious; a must-try.
Tuesday our dinner was at the Maya steakhouse, El Rancho. Right away they brought us a blooming onion. Great appetizers on the buffet: carpaccio, chicken wings, pork ribs mole, tuna, and tender conch. My husband had the salmon and shrimp entrée, and enjoyed it very much. I had the ribeye, which was also very good (and we live in the Midwest, so we are used to good steak!). The dessert buffet included the dry chocolate cakes again, chocolate mousse, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and caramel apple pie tartlets with ice cream.
We ate at the Maya Japanese, La Geisha, on Wednesday. They start each couple with a sushi plate of about 5 common rolls. I would have liked more of those! The miso soup and tempura vegetables were good, and the fried rice was excellent. I have a bad back and a bony behind, so I was not thrilled with the backless, unpadded blocks of wood that were the only seating option. The chef knew one egg trick, so it wasn’t really show cooking. I also thought the entree was tasty but average—a simple stir-fry that I could easily make with my run of the mill cooking skills. My husband, who doesn’t usually care for teppanyaki restaurants, enjoyed his beef and shrimp quite well.
Our last a la carte dinner, on Friday, was at the Maya seafood restaurant, La Marina. They really do seafood well at this resort. Even on the lunch, dinner, and appetizer buffets, the items I enjoyed most were often the seafood choices. Not surprisingly, then, La Marina had an excellent hot and cold appetizer bar, with crab claws, shrimp cocktail, and octopus that wasn’t the least bit rubbery. We ordered the grilled seafood platter for two. Since I am intolerant of many shellfish, my husband ended up with both the rock lobster tails and the giant prawns. But I wasn’t disappointed with my grilled tuna, grouper, and tender squid. Very well prepared!
House wines were typical choices for a higher-end AI: nothing a wine connoisseur would praise, but decent “best buys”. Some varietals I remember are a Mexican Blanc de Blancs, and a Spanish white wine labeled “XB”. We were offered a premium wine menu for a surcharge at the gourmet restaurant. The resort had Dos Equis on tap. The Maya and Lindo lobby bars serve similar assortments of moderately priced “top shelf” brands—for example, Bacardi, Absolut, Beefeater, Jack Daniels, Canadian Club; but no Grey Goose or Stolichnaya. The Maya bar did offer a few extra liquor choices that were not at the Lindo, such as Absolut Citron. The Maya bar is incredibly impressive with its immense ceiling and hanging snake sculpture, but the giant cylindrical saltwater aquarium in the Lindo lobby bar was even prettier and more interesting. The bars feature a wide variety of tequilas, and a Mexican anise liqueur, Xtabentun, which is sweeter than a million packets of saccharine.
The lobbies feature an assortment of small shops offering souvenirs, toiletries, clothing, tobacco and tequila, jewelry, and candy. Iberostar is building a shopping center on the Paraiso property, but it looks like it won’t open for a few months. Save your real shopping for Playa del Carmen (there is a free shuttle there and back 9 times per day) or the airport duty-frees. There are vendors east of either the Maya or the Lindo lobby, most nights. The resort shops don’t have a great selection of regional goods, but they can satisfy most minor needs. I bought a cute coverup tunic and an Iberostar shirt, and my husband found a great T-shirt with the Mayan calendar on it. Also in the lobbies are a cigar bar, game room, and Internet café (10 pesos/$1 for 5 minutes, minimum 15 minutes).
After all our excursions and beach time, we were usually too tired to stay up for the nightly shows in the theater. We did catch the kids’ show at 8:00 as often as possible. They were so cute! Sometimes they presented a show or skit they had rehearsed that day in the miniclub, and other times they participated in games or competitions such as hula hooping or limbo dancing. We also enjoyed the lounge acts after the kids’ shows.
V. Excursions.
A. Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal
On Monday, we visited a sister resort, the Iberostar Tucan & Quetzal. We caught the free Iberobus shuttle to Playa del Carmen, which dropped us in a parking lot across the street from Plaza Antigua, just one or two blocks south of the southmost major street in Playa (Avenida Juarez). This destination is a couple of blocks closer to town than Xaman-Ha Aviary, which was the dropoff during our last stay. We walked south just over a mile to the Tucan Quetzal, giving us the opportunity to look at all the Playacar AI resorts, as well as the Von Hagge golf course that my husband played last trip.
The Tucan & Quetzal grounds are lovely, and they have a very different feel from the Paraiso complex. Much more jungle-y, with actual caves on the site. Reportedly there are monkeys living on the grounds, although we weren’t able to spot any. We did see a giant tortoise, lots of iguanas and birds, and a coatimundi. We enjoyed our lunch there very much. Then we went down to the beach and walked south, just past the Gala resort, to where we had heard there was decent off-shore snorkeling. The surf snorkeling was OK, but the actual reef was a bit further offshore than we felt comfortable with. We did see a lot of small fish, of three different types, who seemed to enjoy the bananas we brought to feed them.
The Tucan beach is lovely, but not any prettier than the Paraiso complex’s beach. It had a very steep (3-4 foot) dropoff between the palapas and the waterline, where sand has apparently been carved away by recent storms. We had heard that the surf was calmer here than at Playa Paraiso, but didn’t observe any real difference that day. After the beach, we enjoyed the Tucan pool, which is about a foot deeper than the Paraiso ones.
Then we cleaned up, took a taxi into town (only $4), and did a little shopping. One of the highlights of this trip for me was bargaining in Spanish with a vendor who spoke even less English than I do Spanish. For several years now I’ve been trying to pick up some Spanish. It’s tough going, so I was thrilled (and Carlos my instructor would probably be shocked!) that I was able to have a few actual Spanish conversations this trip. The Iberostar staff and vendors in Playa del Carmen were very gracious about letting me practice on them. You can get by at this destination just fine without knowing any Spanish, but there are times when it really does help. My husband paid this vendor in money wet from having been zipped in his bathing suit while we snorkeled. The vendor made a joke about our money being laundered, and I actually understood it! How about that, Carlos?!
Then we walked back to the Iberobus pickup point and caught the shuttle back to Paraiso. We had a fun little day trip, and it only cost us $4 plus our purchases.
B. Xel-Ha
On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Xel-Ha (pronounced “shell-HA”) eco-park. We purchased the all-inclusive plan for $85 each through our Funjet rep in the Maya lobby. We had originally scheduled this trip for Tuesday, but my husband was not feeling well that day. It was no trouble at all to delay the excursion; I just told the Funjet rep and he wrote “Wed.” on our ticket. The guide did call our room on Tuesday to check whether we were coming; I guess he didn’t get the message in time. I was impressed that he bothered to do this.
The air-conditioned bus picked us up at 9:00 in the Maya lobby and drove us about an hour south. We did not stop at any other resorts. On the way, the tour guide oriented us to Xel-Ha and gave instructions on when to meet the bus. (Some people on the bus were leaving Xel-Ha after about 5 hours to continue on to Tulum for a couple of hours. After their tour, the bus picked up those who remained at Xel-Ha all day.)
On arrival at Xel-Ha, the guide made sure we got our all-inclusive wristbands, and led us on a brief tour. There were a lot of mechanics to take care of before we started having fun. First you give a deposit (a piece of ID, room key, etc.) at the shower facility for a locker key and towel. These are included with the AI package, but unlike the resort, you can’t exchange your towel for a clean one. The locker is large enough to hold a 24” by 12” by 10” beach bag comfortably, with some extra things piled on top. After stashing our extra stuff in the locker, we checked our sunscreen at an information desk. You are only allowed to use biodegradable sunscreen at Xel-Ha in order not to harm the fish. They didn’t search our bags or anything, but if you check your regular sunscreen, they will give you a free packet of biodegradable sunscreen and return yours at the end of the day. I recommend just buying and taking your own biodegradable sunscreen, because the free packet was very small and they would only give one. After that, we went to a snorkel hut, left another deposit, and got vests and fins (we had our own masks and snorkels). It would be nice if all these mechanics could be handled at one stop.
Then it was on to the giant lagoon for snorkeling, the main attraction at Xel-Ha. WOW! The snorkeling at Xel-Ha was the best snorkel experience I've ever had, and I have snorkeled all around the Caribbean. No coral because it’s a lagoon, but there were so many fish, so colorful, and such large ones-- better variety even than Cozumel. We saw a stingray larger than any at Stingray City in Grand Cayman. There was a four-foot long grouper, and huge, brightly colored parrot fish, angelfish, and too many others to count. We saw the most fish under the floating bridge where the sea enters the lagoon. There are stations there and elsewhere with free fish food, but we brought bananas, and the fish loved them. They swarmed around us and nipped the banana right out of our fingers in some cases! The lagoon is very comfortable for beginning snorkelers because it is protected from ocean currents and surf. You see a ripple effect in the water where fresh and salt water mix, but visibility is good. It has fascinating rock formations and caves you can snorkel into. They will take your picture in some of the caves. It was truly amazing.
Then it was time for lunch. Unlimited food, beverages (including domestic liquor and beer, soft drinks, and bottled water), and snacks from the ice cream bars are included in Xel-Ha’s all-inclusive package. You can also purchase just admission and buy other amenities as you go, but if you get lockers, lunch, ice cream, and a few bottled waters, you will probably save money on the AI package. We also found the AI package convenient because we spent most of the day in swimsuits and didn’t have to carry money.
When we return to Xel-Ha (and we *will* return!), I’d like to try the Mexican sit-down restaurant, because their menu included some Yucatecan specialties I’ve been wanting to try. On this visit, we opted for the international buffet. We were seated on the second floor of an open-air restaurant, with a great view of the lagoon. The food was very good! I was surprised because you come here for the ecopark, not the food. But the food was every bit as good as the Maya lunch buffet. We had pepper beef, tamarind chicken, fresh grouper, mixed seafood ceviche, tiramisu, and delicious fruit tarts. Iced tea was served in attractive blue mouthblown Mexican glass goblets.
After lunch, we walked across the floating bridge to the far side of the lagoon, where there is about a 2-mile nature walk. Don’t go on this walk if you have a lizard phobia, because there were iguanas everywhere! It was a good opportunity to see the distinctive vegetation, limestone formations, and cenotes of the Yucatan. Cenotes are deep holes in the limestone that go down to groundwater, and were one of the main sources of water in the area since there are few rivers aboveground. At some of the cenotes and other formations, you can swing on ropes. It was a very scenic walk which took us to the mouth of the lazy river, another Xel-Ha must-do. You can also take a tram from near the park entrance to the lazy river, if you don’t care to walk.
We stashed our cameras and shoes in a locked bag, got the key and a couple of tube floats, and set off along the mangrove-lined river. The current carried us along briskly at first. The water was refreshingly cold from its time underground, and a striking shade of deep bluish green. There are places where you can stash your float and jump off a cliff back into the river. Eventually, the river ends up in the lagoon, where the current becomes very lazy indeed. Either plan on spending a long time paddling through the lagoon, or take your fins along. Eventually we ended up on shore, where our locked bag was already waiting for us.
Then we just relaxed and enjoyed the hammocks and breezes until it was time to meet the bus. It was a fun and leisurely day, and we were glad we hadn’t tried to cram the Tulum tour into the day, too. We loved Xel-Ha and would recommend it to nature lovers, and especially for anyone who snorkels.
C. Mayan Palace golf course
One reason we chose the Iberostar Paraiso Maya for this trip is that my husband was attracted by the onsite golf course, which at the time we booked, was advertised to open in March 2005. Unfortunately, it was still not finished by the time of our visit at the end of May. Oh well, we’ll be returning to this lovely resort when they finish their next hotel addition.
Then he tried to play the Moon Palace golf course, but they would not arrange transportation even with 5 hours’ notice. Apparently you have to book a day in advance to get transportation, and it’s pretty far. So then he decided to play the Mayan Palace course, right next door to the Iberostar complex. Here’s where our concierge really came through! Our regular Funjet rep was away, and the inexperienced substitute told my husband that he couldn’t book the Mayan Palace, it was private. Well, we talked with our wonderful Iberostar concierge, Amanda, and she immediately set up a tee time and return transportation on less than 2 hours’ notice! My husband was very happy to be able to golf, and enjoyed the Mayan Palace—a nicely landscaped par-3 Jack Nicklaus course with lots of water.
D. Xcaret
On our last day, Friday, we visited Xcaret (“Shca-RET”) park. We purchased the “Plus” plan for $110 each, because the inexperienced Funjet rep told us it was only $8 extra and included a buffet lunch. I later realized it was actually $25 extra, but it did include lunch and also snorkel equipment and 10% off one additional activity (which we didn’t use). Unlike Xel-Ha’s AI plan, I don’t think most people would necessarily get their money’s worth from Xcaret’s Plus plan, since it is not a true AI and doesn’t include beverages other than lemonade with lunch. It was convenient, though.
The company that ran the Xcaret excursion was not nearly as well organized as the Xel-Ha one! They picked us up on time at the Maya in a small van, but then they drove us to the Iberostar Paraiso Beach to load some more passengers, then backtracked to the Lindo for more people. Then they drove us out to the highway, where they exchanged some of our passengers for some on a large bus that was waiting. Our van was overfilled, but only for the time it took to drive a few hundred feet down the highway, where we got out and walked across the highway to yet another waiting bus. After that fire drill, we drove about 40 minutes to Xcaret. There was no orientation talk on our bus. We then disembarked at Xcaret and waited at least 15 minutes in the heat for our guide to give a long orientation to an air-conditioned busload, after which that group joined us and we were admitted to the park. By this time, I was wishing we’d just gotten a taxi.
Fortunately, Xcaret was well worth the trip. It’s a huge park with all kinds of interesting exhibits. We walked around for hours looking at the orchid greenhouse, mushroom farm, replica Mayan village, colorful Mexican cemetery, cool underground aquarium, natural bat cave, manatee lagoon, bee farm, and various animal exhibits. We especially enjoyed seeing the gigantic sea turtles, some more than 7 feet long. The butterfly pavilion, a jungle of colorful flowers and thousands of butterflies, was also unusual and beautiful. We took a quiet, peaceful river raft ride through limestone canyons, during which a pair of wild red and yellow macaws flew overhead. They have several authentic Mayan ruins onsite, as well as a reproduction of a Mayan ball court (where a game is played on Sundays). We especially enjoyed going up in their rotating observation tower, which gives you a good view of the park, the adjoining Occidental Grand Xcaret resort, the Yucatan jungle, the ocean, and Cozumel island on the horizon.
Lunch at the Laguna buffet was included in our package. Xcaret also has several other restaurants, but we were happy with the buffet. Like Xel-Ha’s, this buffet was just as good as the Maya’s. It was mostly Mexican in its theme, featuring delicious grilled skirt steak, cochinita pibil, barbecued chicken, spicy fish, fantastic fire-grilled vegetables, and a wonderful dessert spread of cheesecake, orange cake, flan, fruit, and many other choices. Like Iberostar’s, Xcaret’s chocolate cake was desert-dry. Must be a local thing. Lemonade was served in elegant handmade blue glassware, similar to Xel-Ha’s.
The signature attraction at Xcaret is the underground river. After walking around in the heat and dust, we were ready for a nice cool river swim! We returned to our locker (not included in the package, but only $2 plus a returnable $5 deposit) and stashed a few things. The locker is quite small compared to Xel-Ha’s. At the entrance to the underground river, we traded our Plus package voucher for snorkel equipment. We used the fins, but ended up just clipping the mask and snorkel to our vests, since there wasn’t much to see in the water. Anything we didn’t want in the river was stored in a locking bag for us to claim at the other end. Then we started our river tour. The cold water felt great! (It might not be so fun in January….) The river occasionally surfaces, or takes in light from holes in the limestone, so you’re never really in complete darkness. But it has a mysterious, peaceful feeling (or would have, if we weren’t unlucky enough to follow right after a gaggle of squealing, singing, poorly supervised schoolchildren who kept kicking water in our faces). It was a unique experience that most people would enjoy, as long as they were good and hot to begin with.
Xcaret also has activities available for additional fees, including swimming with dolphins and an offshore reef snorkel trip by boat. (They have a free snorkel inlet onsite, but it’s not nearly as striking as Xel-Ha’s lagoon. The coast of Xcaret park is rocky and not suitable for swimming or snorkeling.) They have a night show which is said to be wonderful, but we will have to see that on a future visit, since we had to travel the next day. Even if we didn’t, we were tired after our enjoyable full day at Xcaret, and were happy to go back to the Maya for one final evening.
VI. Overall impressions & Xel-Ha/Xcaret comparison.
Iberostar Paraiso Maya: beautiful, clean resort, with the most gorgeous hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. Great staff, pool, and beach. Good value for the price; highly recommend. Wish they’d air-condition the gym.
Iberostar food: Very good overall. Buffets (except for breakfast) a little disappointing, a la carte restaurants excellent.
Funjet: did a good job as our tour operator. The only flaw was the inexperienced substitute rep in our lobby part of the time. In addition to being incorrect about the Mayan Palace golf course and the Xcaret price, he also misinformed us that we couldn’t get breakfast before our 6:30 AM airport pickup on Saturday. In fact, the breakfast buffet opened with “limited” service (actually plenty of choices) at 6:00 AM, or we could have gotten room service. But he was nice and I’m sure he’ll learn these things.
Since many people debate which ecopark to visit, here is my Xel-Ha/Xcaret comparison: both are worth visiting. Xel-Ha is probably better for people who love to snorkel. If you're not a snorkeler, Xcaret offers more variety. There is more walking at Xcaret, and more educational exhibits. My favorite features of both, in order, include features from each park:
1. Xel-Ha snorkeling
2. Xcaret underground river - unique and mysterious
3. Xel-Ha lazy river - fun!
4. Xcaret Mayan village and ballcourt
5. Xel-Ha nature walk with cenotes, iguanas everywhere
6. Xcaret observation tower
Overall, a wonderful trip. The Mayan Riviera is a beautiful location with activities that almost anyone would enjoy. We love Iberostar and will definitely return to their properties.
Author - CoralReef
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