Hey guys! It’s been two weeks since I last posted. I got back
from my wonderful Mexico vacation last weekend. I didn’t know what to blog about
this past week because I was out of the country and didn’t try any new products. So,
I decided to write about my trip in Mexico. This blog will include a review on
the resort we stayed at, XCaret Eco Park, Cabo Mayan Ruin, and adventure day at
an old Mayan village (with AllTourNative Ecoarchaeological Expedition).
Over one month later--- I am finally posting this!! It took me forever to write. I hope you guys enjoy
😘
Where we stayed
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| Bed Room in the Family Suite |
We stayed at
Grand Rivera Princess Resort in Riviera Maya,
Mexico. It was a beautiful resort!! Our trip was all inclusive so we had access to everything on the resort. Every single worker here was super super nice, which was a relief. They all seemed to love their jobs and definitely wanted to please all of their customers. The resort had many pools, some were more "party" and some were chill. I noticed that you could get rooms with direct access to the pools which would have been fabulous (literally you could walk out your back door and jump in the pool). Only some of the pools had swim up bars but at every pool I believe there was a server taking your order. The servers were very attentive. The resort was HUGE so depending on which part you stayed it, the walk to the beach may take you up to 10-15 mins. We stayed in the "Family Club" part of the resort. The Family Club was definitely kid friendly, so if you're looking to go on vacation with kids stay on this side of the resort. It was quiet and had little kid areas and pools. I'm not 100% sure why my mom, my sister, and I stayed on that side of the resort, but it was well worth it. The cleaning staff did a great job and tended to our room everyday.
Internet/Wifi- Okay, so you're out of the country and you can't use your phone much. You need some free access to internet, right?? Well, unfortunately this resort doesn't provide free wifi (except for in the lobby). If you ask them on arrival for the Wifi user name and password, they should give it to you (you might have to be persistent). The lobby is a large area and has spaces for hanging out and a bar so you can easily chill up there and post pictures or whatever you need to do. There are several "computer rooms" where I believe you can pay for the use of the computers. And-- hush hush; we unexpectedly got free wifi in our room. The Family Club side of the resort has FREE WIFI, but I'm not sure they know all of the guests have access to it. I think it may work in some rooms, but not others. If you're willing to take a chance, book your room with the Family Club and use the wifi user name and password they give you at the front desk (supposed to be used for the lobby wifi).
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| Main Lobby |
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Pumpkin Soup at the
French Restaurant |
Restaurants- I know there are many restaurants on the resort, but we only ate at three because we were only there for five days (& of course the buffet). We ate at the Sushi restaurant, Italian, French, and the Green Buffet. Unfortunately, the food was the worst thing about this resort. The buffet and the French restaurant were the best places we ate at while at the resort. The buffet offers a wide variety of food and most people are able to find something pretty decent there. I am a vegetarian and I made out well at the buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My sister on the other hand hated the buffet, so I guess it depends on the person. The sushi restaurant was a big no-no. I don't know why we thought it was a good idea to eat sushi in Mexico. If you stay at this resort, steer clear of the sushi. We had great hopes for the Italian place, but it was no bueno. We ordered two Italian classics-- pizza and tiramisu. The pizza was worse than the worst frozen pizza you can imagine. You could tell they just heated it up from their freezer. Yuck. The tiramisu tasted like a marshmallow... I am not sure how that is possible but it did. Yuck again. The winner at the resort was surprisingly the French restaurant. I ordered a salad, some fancy pumpkin soup, mushroom risotto, and fruit for desert. The soup and risotto were so good, my mouth is watering right now thinking about it. My sister and mom got steak I believe and they loved it as well. Definitely worth eating at the French restaurant!!
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| Mexican Passion Fruit |
Alcohol- I am not a big drinker, but I am more willing when I don't have to pay for the drinks (ha ha). I thought that the drinks were pretty good quality and they seemed to have good quality liquor.
PS- They provide you water bottles and the water is good to drink on the resort!
XCaret was a really cool place and definitely worth checking out if you are able to! If you are not a morning person, I must warn you that this trip leaves at the crack of dawn (8 AM... ha ha). If you're looking for more of a "relaxing" vacation, this may not be something you want to do. It's a long day with the choices of 8 AM- 5 PM or 8 AM - 9 PM.
What do you do at XCaret? There is a ton to do there, check out the hyperlink above to look at their website to see a full list of the activities. I am just going to talk about the things that we did.
We started off going through the aviary, which was really cool and had a lot of scenic areas. The birds were nice and you could get some really good pictures. Then we went through the butterfly exhibit which I absolutely loved. There were a few other animal exhibits throughout the park that we also visited but most of them were like things that you could see in the States.
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| Rope climb over the ocean |
In the way back of the XCaret park, you will find the ocean. The lovely teal colored ocean... It's absolutely stunning. There was a rope climbing thing that you could do over the water which was really fun. Some people were swimming, some were laying out. You were able to rent inter tubes to relax in the water. There are also several restaurants on the water (including the Caribbean buffet, as mentioned below). Only advice here is: BRING YOUR OWN TOWEL! We thought that towels were provided, but it turns out they're provided for a small fee.
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| Underground River |
The BEST thing we did there was swim in the natural underground rivers! It was so cool... and kinda scary (in a good way)! Only sections of it are "underground" so for 95% of the time you're in full day light! These rivers weren't very deep and you were provided a life jacket so they're kid friendly. There are multiple places to get out of the water if you need to. There are minimal creatures (thank god because I am terrified of fish). The water is cool and relaxing. There was so many things to look at!
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| The view from the Caribbean Buffet |
The best place to eat at XCaret is their Caribbean buffet! We ate the best meal we had in Mexico there. I wish I took a picture of the food! It was so amazingly delish (and vegetarian friendly). I found something there that I will continue to make in the States: Pineapple with salt and cayenne pepper.... HOLY SH$T if you've never eaten this you need to try it! It's amazing.
Ps-- I highly suggest buying a water proof case for your phone so you can bring it everywhere and taking pictures of anything you want! They have cases at the park for $30!
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| Canoeing! Watch out for gators |
The Ecoarcheological Expedition was the BEST THING we did in Mexico. If you get a chance to do it you definitely should. It included a day in the jungles and old Mayan town, canoeing, zip lining, rappelling into a cenote, and touring the Cabo ruins. It's an all day trip with long drives, but it's well worth it! We had an amazing tour guide with AllTourNative, his name was Ivan Flores. I highly suggest asking for him!
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Climbing out of the cenote
(this is optional) |
We first arrived at the old Mayan Village. Canoed across a body of water and went zip lining! Unfortunately they do not allow you to bring cameras or any personal belongings with you because everything that you do is active and has the chance of breaking. Also, they want to promote their photographers and encourage you to buy their pictures (which are worth it, but not cheap!). So keep that in mind when you're doing this! The zip lining is kid friendly and it's not scary. I definitely felt secure while doing it. BUT if you're planning on skipping this part, you don't really have an option so if you're afraid of heights, watch out!
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| Rappelling down into the cenote |
The best part about this whole excursion was rappelling into the cenote. There was a fresh body of water filled with inter tubes so you could relax once you rappelled 130 feet down into the underground cave. The water is extremely deep, but it wasn't scary. There were a few small fish but I didn't see any other creatures in the water. This was sooo cool and I was so glad I did it! Memories to last a life time.
\At the end of the trip, we went to the Mayan Ruins Cabo. By this time, you're most likely going to be extremely exhausted so make sure you prepare yourself. The walk to Cabo is pretty long (I think about a mile) and climbing up Cabo takes some energy. Although, I climbed up Cabo in 3 minutes 😉 You will be given a tour of the ruins in the beginning which is quite interesting, especially if you're a history buff.
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| On top of Coba |
All in all I loved this day of our vacation and will always hold these memories close of my heart!
I hope you enjoyed and found this blog helpful! Please let me know if you have any comments or questions about going to Mexico!
Thanks for reading!
-K
❉ All reviews are my honest opinion and are not sponsored ❉
What do you do at XCaret? There is a ton to do there, check out the hyperlink above to look at their website to see a full list of the activities. I am just going to talk about the things that we did.
