01/23-29/2022

I never expected that I would be visiting Mexico in 2022, but I’m glad that I was offered this opportunity! The only reason I was able to go on this trip was that my dad needed to get massive oral surgery done down in Mexico, and I was brought along to look after him over a week-long period in case of any emergencies. The cost of having his surgery done down in Mexico was less than half the price in the U.S. and that included the cost of staying at a five-star all-inclusive resort in Cancún. We weren’t able to go explore much of Cancún since he was in the clinic most of the week each day, but the resort we stayed at had plenty of things to do and we had the first day to go on an awesome snorkeling tour!

This travel blog post won’t be as long as my other ones since I really didn’t go exploring much of Cancún, and pretty much stayed on the resort most of the time. There’s a chance I may be going back down again in May when my dad has to go back so they can finish fixing his teeth, so maybe then I’ll get to go visit the Mayan ruins, Tulum and Isla Mujeres, but we will have to wait and see what happens. Either way, it was still a pretty cool experience.

If you are planning on visiting Cancún here are a few tips that you should keep in mind;

1. Bring lots of $1 or $5 dollar bills for tipping. Most of the staff at these resorts depend on tips as part of their income so please remember to keep handing out those $3-$5 dollar tips. Also, most taxi drivers also expect them, and overall anywhere you go it’s good to keep tipping people, especially your local tour guides at any attraction.

2. Buy a big bottle of sunscreen once you get there, and if possible get the eco-friendly brands to help save the coral reefs (Most sunscreen brands are one of the main causes of death for the reefs in that area). It’s important to remember that you’re in Cancún you’re closer to the equator, which also means you’re closer to the sun, so you will burn a lot easier than normal if you’re from a different hemisphere.

3. Always have your passport on you if you are leaving the resort. If you are stopped by local police, go to the hospital, or need to have any sort of ID verification you will need your passport. Your local ID will not be a valid form of identification, only your passport. Also, keep your passport in a safe place at all times.

4. If you are leaving your resort switch to a safer type of purse or backpack that can’t easily be taken off of you. I used a fanny pack which worked super well and made accessing both my passport and tips easy.

5. Learn some basic words or sentences in Spanish. Most of the staff that works at the resorts or businesses around the resorts will speak English fluently, but once you travel more into the city people will tend to speak less & less English. Overall it’s always a good idea to try and pick up the native languages of any country you’re visiting, and it’s a very polite thing to do as well. If you find yourself in an emergency situation don’t go spewing off a bunch of difficult random words to someone who may not speak your language very well. In an emergency keep things short, to the point, and easily understandable. You can also always use google translate where you will have to follow the short, to the point rules as well.

6. Since we still live in a Pandemic make sure to double-check your country's covid rules for returning home. On the way into Mexico, we did not have to take a covid test, but in order to get back home to the U.S., we had to have a negative covid test 24 hours before our flight. Most of the resorts offer covid testing sites, but you will have to schedule your appointment in advance. I suggest scheduling your appointment at least two days before you have to take your test.

These few tips should give you a good head start for safely traveling around Cancún. Okay, now onto the rest of our trip!

For the week we stayed at the Hotel Riu Palace Las Americas, which was an absolutely stunning resort. This may be one of the nicest places I’ve ever stayed at. If you are interested in knowing more about this resort then read my personal pros and cons list below.

Pros:

-Gorgeous!! Great views of the ocean, beautiful lobby, the rooms had a really pretty old-fashioned style, and the restaurants felt pretty fancy.

-Everything is included, all meals and drinks anywhere on the resort. Tips are appreciated though!

-Free poolside and ocean lounging chairs (just on a first-come basis).

-A super diverse amount of food, I never got bored of the food here.

-Really tasty food, none of the food tasted bad to me.

-Filtered water, so you don’t get sick if you’re from a different country.

-Free room service, poolside service, and beach service.

-Free WIFI.

-Complimentary clean & dry beach towels.

-3 different infinity pools.

-Snorkeling gear near the beach (costs about $5 to rent due to covid protocols).

Cons:

-I don’t know if this is kind of a thing everywhere in that region of the world, but everything in our room constantly felt damp. Our towels would never fully dry, including my Turkish towels, and the beds always felt a little damp. Even the sofa felt kinda damp. The clothes I kept packed away in my suitcase would stay dry, but everything I hung up in the closet became damp. I’m definitely more of a dry climate type of person so this made me feel uncomfortable in the hotel room.

-This is definitely a party resort. Expect a lot of loud music and Dj’s at one of the pools each day. It was nice that it is an adult-only resort (so there aren’t a ton of kids running around), but I’m not much of a party all-day type of person so a bit less of a party scene would have been nice. Keep in mind that the party starts typically around 10:00 am each day.

-This was a pretty minor inconvenience, but there also wasn’t a fan or vent system in the bathroom to get rid of all the steam, or to turn it on so you can have a peaceful bathroom break while someone else is in the room.

I took these photos from our balcony. I was so obsessed with this view!

Below are a few photos I took with my phone of the resort.

All the food!!!! This resort has 5 different restaurant options, and also a huge buffet that is open almost all day.

Overall I had a very relaxing week at this resort, and I spent most days reading a book next to the ocean and eating a lot of food.

Thankfully, we were able to get one day in of exploration, and for our adventure, we chose to book a tour with Total Snorkel Cancún.

This was such an amazing experience and I’m so happy we booked a tour with them! We ended up going on their “Snorkeling In Cancun With Turtles, Reef, Underwater Statues, Shipwreck, And Underwater Cenote” tour. This was a really good introduction to snorkeling if you’re new to it, and also a great way to explore the area and what all Cancún has to offer under the water. Also, I highly recommend buying their photography and video package. It was very fairly priced and you get awesome coverage of your journey underwater.

There are tons of snorkeling tours around Cancún, so if you get a chance to go I totally recommend it!

And that’s about all I have for this trip since I pretty much just stayed at the resort the rest of the week. Overall, still a memorable experience, and given the chance, I would go down there again.