Mexico

Royal Solaris Cancun

August 23, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

Known as the largest all-inclusive resort in Cancun, the Royal Solaris Cancun Resort features pyramid-shaped buildings, which house 500 guest rooms. Also featuring:

A theater
Seven restaurants
And four bars
There are even two-bedroom villas available on the grounds.

Royal Solaris Cancun Kids Club

Young guests at the Royal Solaris are treated to fully supervised beach and pool games, a children’s pool, a kid’s club, and swimming contests, and they keep the pool clean for this by using the best intex pool pump you can find online.

Children are also treated to drawing lessons, water painting, finger painting, face painting, and puppet making.

To fulfill your fitness needs, the Royal Solaris Cancun is equipped with a fitness center, tennis courts, four swimming pools, and a basketball course. Daily aerobics is held at the pool.

A miniature golf course and a marina for non-motorized water sports are also available on the grounds. Other activities include beach volleyball, Olympic day, daily scuba demonstrations, swimming contests, bicycle tours, and snorkeling lessons. You can also enjoy a game of polo or water polo as well as windsurfing and pedal boats. Also surfing is very popular in Cancun, you can literally pick any malibu surfboards and start showing of your skills with the locals.

The Resort also offers guests stretching and exercising classes, Spanish classes, card games, tournaments, Latin-style dance classes, cooking lessons, bingo, and tennis lessons. There isn’t only great entertainment to be had; there is also plenty to learn at the Royal Solaris Cancun Resort.

Royal Solaris Cancun for Adults

The Royal Solaris Cancun Resort is famous for it’s fashion shows where they exhibit the best fashion stores like Fifth Collection Chanel, as well as the Miss Solaris Bikini Contest which draws participants from all over the world. The hotel hosts many theme parties, and The Tehauacan Theater features live shows as well. The Royal Solaris Cancun Resort also features a full-service salon with spa treatments, so you can not only relax, but also look your best for the parties.

Special rates, packages, and privileges are given to Club Solaris Cancun Members, including airport shuttle transportation from royal-american-tours, express check-in, personal registration, a welcome party, and exclusive activities. Other all inclusive packages are also offered to non-Club Solaris Members.

Marietas Islands Day Cruise

May 7, 2016 by admin 1 Comment

The only paid excursion we took on our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta was a boat trip to go snorkeling. It was a lot of fun and actually a pretty full day of things to do and see.

The trip with Vallarta Adventures we paid $60 or $70 a person the day before and had to meet up at the Port which was about 10 minutes away from our resort at Conta Del Sol. The trip started at 9:00 but the fellow at the hotel told us to get there for 8:15, not sure why do early. For boating supplies to get ready for your next trip navigate here and get the best ones !

At the Port there were buns and coffee and there was an opportunity to get pics taken (for money of course) with a big parot (which we didn’t take), and a big sea lion (pics were just too cute not to pass on, visit vpnroad.com for see all the pics).

Finally just before 9 we got pictures taken by a statue and headed onto the boat. Big catamaran that held 100 people or so and this day there were probably around 40 of us.

On The Water to Marietas Islands

As we left the port our guides were great to introduce themselves and orient us with the boat. There were two separate washrooms each for men and women, only smoking in the back of the boat, and then a great breakfast with pancakes and eggs as well as juice, coffee, whatever we wanted. It was a lovely cruise, but if you want something more romantic then you should attend a dinner cruise for a wonderful night.

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And don’t forget the sunscreen. We had gotten special eco-sunscreen the night before and slathered it on. No one wants a sunburn. More on that later…

Once we got going the sea was a little choppy and we stopped in one area in Nuevo Vallarta to pick up a few people and then off again to the Marietas islands to do some snorkeling. This is what we came for!

The guides on the boat were great in showing us how to use their equipment. Really good info on what to look for and finally about sharks. He told us that if we see a shark… call him over because in all his time he had never seen a shark there. Great ice breaker for everyone that was a little nervous about jumping off a perfectly floating boat.

We still had some trouble getting the snorkel and mask on, finally got into a small boat and over by and island we snorkeled for probably 30 minutes or so. The time went really quick and we saw lots of tropical fish but also had a few problems, mostly with the fact that we were wearing lifejackets (safety first) and the water was really deep so it was hard to keep ourselves together.

After we finally got back in the boat after snorkelling there were some other things that we could do, including standing paddleboarding.

My 12 year old son and I went on the paddleboards and I warned him to watch his balance. He just stands up and asks why? I had a bit more trouble getting myself stood up but was able to paddle myself around a bit better. Finally when it seems that my son and I were definitely headed to south america one of the friendly guides came by in a little motor boat (that thing is sure handy) and gave us a ride back. To know more about Lucky Charter Mallorca visit us here.

While I was getting back in the little boat I apparently scratched my knee and the staff on the boat were all excited to help me out. The cut was really small but on my wet leg it dripped down. The head guide told me to let my family know that I barely got away from the shark on time and we all laughed.

Finding The Marietas Islands Hidden Beach

After we were finished with all these water sports we went over to the most famous island in the Marieta Archipelego and that is the island with the hidden beach. Again we had to take the little motor boat closer, don our life jackets and drop back into the ocean.

There is a cave that you have to swim through to get to the hidden beach and just because of the different currents this can be a bit tough to swim through.

I sure with we had a camera with us when we go to the beach. It is smaller than we expected but amazing looking with a hole in the island above you and actually to one side we were able to go through another cave and see ocean waves crashing into a big cave. The sand is like dust, so fine and we found a few shells that we were able to bring home as souvenirs.

After the swim back to the boat my wife had her accident, as she was getting into the boat she slipped off the ladder and went butt first into my daughter – we are still laughing about that weeks later and my Michelle has to admit she is not very graceful 🙂

Then lunch. The lunch were these great burgers with chips and lots of toppings and other food. And now that we were finished with jumping off the boat the bar was open! My wife does not drink and I decided ahead of time that I would be watching my booze intake on a boat. Last thing I would want is seasickness after drinking.

Finally Coming Back to Puerto Vallarta

The boat trip back to Puerto Vallarta was uneventful. We looked for dolphins, which are common in the area, but we didn’t see any which is too bad, my wife and kids have swam with dolphins before so we were not heartbroken over this.

The staff know that everyone is getting tired by this time in the afternoon so they keep the energy up with music and games. We laughed, enjoyed the afternoon and had a great time coming back. Lots of pictures as we got closer to shore.

We got into shore around 5:15 or so. The day was a little long but full of stuff done and time together.

Finally as we were getting off we noticed that maybe we had not reapplied the sunscreen enough times. We all burnt. Good thing we were going home the next day anyway as the sunburns were pretty bad and even my head was peeling for a week afterwards.

Even though we were nervous about spending so much money for an excursion we were really happy that we took this trip. We expected ahead of time that the highlight would definitely we the snorkeling but there were so many things that were fantastic, so many memories of things that we had never done before that we really enjoyed.

This was one of those days that we are glad we have lots of pictures of and memories to remember for years to come. Always a few problems on a long day our like this but in the end well worth it.

In Town Puerto Vallarta – Visiting the Malecon

May 1, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

Puerto Vallarta is a great resort city of around 300,000 people along the Pacific the coast in the Bay of Banderas in southern Mexico.

Our family went for 8 great days of vacation in mid April and had a great mix of quiet by the pool as well as site seeing and even an ocean snorkeling boat trip, thanks to the pool and spa builders for giving us the best experiences.

One of the great days we had though was travelling out to the central part of town known as the Malecon.

There are two parts of Puerto Vallarta as the tourists would see them. We got help from the staffing offices for this trip. There is an older resort area just known as Puerto Vallarta and a newer set of resorts to the north known by many as Nuevo Vallarta. Many parts of town have been renovated including seawall repair done in some areas.

We stayed in the older area at a resort called Canto del Sol. This was our central location and seemed to be nice and close to everything.

How To Get To the Malecon

For our day out in town we took a bus to the Malecon. We could have walked but we worry about our daughter after her Kidney Transplant being too tired to really make her way through the late afternoon.

Busses in Puerto Vallarta are cheap 7.5 pesos per trip which is around 50 cents or so. The hotel was able to tell us which bus to take and we just walked a block or so to get to the main street and bus stop.

Everytime we left the resort there were plenty of people offering to part us from our money for some excursion or another. State of affairs in a poorer country with relatively rich tourists I guess.

The bus trip to the Malecon was about 15 minutes or so. Really quickly we were there and just followed the crowd of tourists off the bus and a block down the cobblestone road to the very commercial beachfront boardwalk.

The Malecon is probably 10 block or so long and is a mixture of shops restaurants, bars, and beach. One other really great things to see on the beach side were all of the really great sand sculptures that people have made and ask for just some kind of change to take pictures of. I love this bit of entrepreneurship on the part of locals for some really intricate pieces made entirely of sand.

sand sculptures — Sand Sculptures on the Puerto Vallarta beach

There are a ton of shops selling all sorts of tourist souvenirs in every price range. We got a couple of blankets for $10 each or so and beaded ornaments. Just as we thought we were almost done shopping though we got caught in the clutches of a timeshare salesman, clearly he didn’t know that we recently went through a Timeshare Selling process.

I will leave that story for another article but just be warned that Mexico as a country has many ways for you to spend or save money.

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Just past the end of the Malecon is a street that leads up three blocks to the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This was one of the places that my wife was really looking forward to seeing and amazingly when we stopped by there was an afternoon Mass going on.

Right now there is some fundraising being done at the church to try and pay to do some renovations, but you would never know by the beauty of the church and definitely there was a lot of interest and people around sightseeing.

This Catholic Church is beautiful and is a big hit with tourists with people (like us) peering in and taking pictures.

Please be aware though that this a real church with Mass and is not just a museum. The church was completed in 1921 and was a source of some great conversations between my son and I afterwards.

Where Does The Malecon End?

I think that the Malecon really ends at the Seahorse statue but I am no cartographer so maybe not.

Further down the beach past the Malecon is a bit of a less touristy but more interesting bit of beach area.

There are still shops and hotels but eventually you happen upon the Muelle de Playa Los Muertos.

This sculpture is very interesting looking. I think it is supposed to be sails but it is great to look at and the walk around it is interesting, especially when you start on the walkway back towards the beach and you see a great looking vista of hotels and shops.

Pretty to say the least.

One thing that really struck us was the temperature change. Of course when you are at the water the temperature is really nice but just a few block away and it seems the temperature just rockets up 10 or 15 degrees. If there is no breeze off the ocean it gets hot really quick.

Watch For Salespeople Of All Kinds

Around this area we stopped to get frozen yogurt and it seems that once you stop moving the travelling salesman are even more aggressive.

We had found that when we were at the hotel beach that guys would come by and ask if you were looking for an excursion, or a hat, or sunglasses, or silver, or anything else it seems. But once you said no things would be ok.

When sitting outside a restaurant, in town though, I think we had someone come by every 30 seconds or so. Finally my daughter got mad about this and would say NO, loud and a bit rude.

The fellow that was the subject of her wrath simply said “stupido” and turned around and walked away, there were plenty more tourists around to sell too.

Sometimes You Don’t See It All

One thing that is a real tourist attraction and apparently very busy is the flea market which is situated just a few blocks from the Malecon, we drove by in a cab on our way back to the hotel but we did not actually visit 🙁 as our daughter was just to pooped from all the walking and hot from being out for so long.

family in front of Muelle de Playa Los Muertos With the excitement of busses – especially for my 12 year old son who has never been on a bus besides a school bus, it was strange to him to have the bus driver apparently making the road rules up as he went along, standing up and holding on tight as we maneuvered around corners at high speed.

We did on the other hand take a couple of taxis. I don’t think there is Uber but the taxi was only 50 or 60 pesos to get anywhere is seemed, this is only about $4 or so, cheap for a family of four for sure.

I know that many people in our resort went to the Malecon a few times, it It was a nice trip for us once but I am sure the nightlife there is a lot of fun every night of the week for the younger people and couples with no kids.

The great thing about the whole downtown Puerto Vallarta area to me was that it seems to be very safe, not too busy, and a nice break. Staying in a resort means that you only get to see a small part of an area. I love that whenever we go away we make sure to get out a bit.

This was a great small opportunity to get into a more open area of Puerto Vallarta without getting into the poorer residential areas.

Finally in Puerto Vallarta

April 6, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

We made it to Puerto Vallaerta last night. Although I will have a lot to show and share I just thought I would share this video I took today from the beach in front of our hotel Canto Del Sol

http://youtu.be/Lrnw-ZGxrSo

Planning A Cancun Vacation

August 24, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

It can be very difficult for you planning a Cancun vacation when it comes to not being there or having the experience of Mexico; this is a common problem for those in the United States or another foreign country.

Planning A Cancun Vacation

You will want to travel to Mexico, but since it is a far away place, you may have a hard time trying to get it organized. That is why you will want to do plenty of research and after you are prepared to organize the trip you will want to make sure that, you are planning a Cancun vacation thoroughly so that it can go smoothly.

Using a Travel Agency When Planning A Cancun Vacation

You may find that planning a Cancun vacation can be overwhelming and you may want to have a travel agency do some of the planning for you. You will find that this is a great way for you to save some trouble and headaches in the end.

You may have to pay the extra for the agent, but it is worth it. However, if you use a travel agency, there may be a few restrictions and you will not have as much control over your vacation. Planning on your own is a lot of work, but it can be done.

Finding a Hotel in Cancun

First, when planning a Cancun vacation, you will need to try to find a place to stay and you will want to research various hotels in the Cancun hotel zone. Pictures online can be deceiving, so look for reviews from people who have traveled to this area before. You may also want to call the hotel and ask them some questions about the things that they may or may not offer in their vicinity.

Word of mouth can also be handy when planning a Cancun vacation, so talk to your friends and family who have traveled to Cancun and stayed at one of the hotels. You will want to book to make sure that you talk to hotel about any specific accommodations that you may want or need and so that they can repeat back to you all the information about your hotel and reservation so that your reservation does not come up lost.

You will also need to get to Cancun. You will want to be ahead of the game in planning a Cancun vacation so make sure that you have the proper paperwork for you to get in and out of Mexico. You will need to have a passport and id so that you can enter the country.

Also when planning a Cancun vacation be sure to book a flight that brings you right into the city, because you may or may not be able to find transportation to your hotel immediately from the airport. Most packages will include or not include transportation to and from the airport and the Cancun airport is a pretty long drive from some of the hotels.

It is important for you to learn all of the rules when it comes to the things that you enter into Mexico and out of Mexico when planning a Cancun vacation and you’ll want to check out all the rules of customs and what you can and can not bring home.

Lastly, you will need to plan things to do and places to eat. There are people who will end up taking a trip to Mexico spontaneous, but then you may not be able to get on the best tours or into the best restaurants. Plan ahead, but leave plenty of room for flexibility.

When it comes to Cancun, you are going to have to travel with flexibility. You will be taking a vacation that may not be perfect, but you will want to make every bit of an effort to making the situation to be a positive one.

You will also find that vacation in Cancun will take a lot of preparation and you will want to take months in advance planning a Cancun vacation.