Always wanting to do something different, and not having our kids for Thanksgiving this year, why not go somewhere? How about the beach for Thanksgiving? How about an All Inclusive resort? We've never been to an AI resort before.
Ok...let's do it. We flew out on Thanksgiving day and the airport was PACKED! It was so busy!
I did some research to find the best Hyatt AI Resorts and ended up with Secrets Akumal - about an hour south of Cancun.
Wow. It was amazing. Beautiful. Relaxing. Chill. Most of our vacations are active, go-go-go, got things to do and see. Not this one. This was going to be a lay around, not do much, eat and drink whatever we want, when ever we want, vacation which was new to us. This kind of vacation doesn't come cheap either. More about that later.
Who says airport food isn't that good? The Delta lounge had a really good breakfast spread!
Only 4 hours direct from Salt Lake
Cancun airport was very crowded
The resort was beautiful. It's 9 years old which is pretty new, and exudes luxury and calm and tropical and private and fancy.
They had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner out by the pool, but we opted for one of the fancy restaurants
A model of the resort. We were in the 3rd building from the bottom on the right
We went to the Italian restaurant the first night. This was my chicken parm and it was so tender and flavorful
The wedge salad was amazing. All the food was a feast for the eyes as much as it was for the mouth
At the beach you can have a private dinner on the beach - only $300 extra
View from our room
Somehow they knew it was my birthday the week before
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Obligatory room video
The entire resort was so lush, jungle like, not a single weed in sight. There were animals that we'd see racoons, some other looking thing, monkeys, birds
Besides Tennis, pickleball, bingo, crafts, yoga, snorkeling, and other activities, they also offer a guided 2 hour bike ride which we did
Our first stop was along a rough beach area where our guide told us the history of the area and about the Mayans
VIDEO:He gave us a presentation of how the Mayan's communicated with shells
Our next stop was an open cenote that's very popular to snorkel. They just took us here to try and persuade us to come back and snorkel ha ha, but it was fun to come and see what it was like We ended up snorkeling right off the beach at the resort
Time for some of the relaxing beach time
You can get any of the drinks without alcohol, although for some of them it just ends up being syrup and soda water. I usually got the many different flavors of mojitos which were good non-alcohol and Shelley got the pina-coladas
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There was a BBQ lunch by the pool one of the days
There were three large pools - the beach pool, right next to the beach, the "noisy" pool where there were a lot of activities and bands and music and the "quiet" pool which was so relaxing - it had spa music playing
The quiet pool
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Someone enjoying their private dinner on the beach
We did take one day and went on an excursion to Chechen Itza and Ek' Balam - it was a long day though. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way to Chechen Itza, so we got picked up around 7am.
Chechen Itza was a thriving Mayan city around 600 AD and was one of the largest Mayan cities. It's also one of the most visited sites in Mexico with about 7500 people visiting every day. We got there right when it opened so it wasn't very busy for us. Much of the city is still unexcavated but what is visible is impressive. Our guide was very knowledgeable and everything in the city has a meaning. Every carving, every stair, everything points to the sun and moon. Those Mayans were very smart and resourceful people.
Oops..the little girl photo bombed us
They built walls with skulls of enemies they killed and others that were sacrificed.
This is one of the largest "ball game fields" in any Mayan site. It's double the normal size of most others. The losers of the game would be killed. They Mayan civilization was a very blood thirsty one full of violence
The walls are not straight, they angle in slightly. You can stand at one end, and talk in a normal voice, and those at the far end can hear you. The walls echo sounds and the Mayans even built "speakers" to enhance the sound
Having been to many ruin sites before, we knew that what you see above ground isn't all there is. Most of the buildings visible were built on top of and inside other buildings. Here, you can see more outer walls of another building around and under the one you can see
This was the observatory which was built with precision to be able to see stars and sunlight at precisely the exact time of solstice and equinox. Also with the larger pyramid looking buildings, twice a year, at the solstice and equinox, shadows of serpents would "climb" and descend the stairs if you stood in right place, which was symbolic of the end and start of seasons
One thing that detracted from the sanctity of the site was how many vendors they let inside the site. Not just outside, there are plenty of those too, but actually inside...everywhere...all over. All selling the same exact things.
There was one vendor that had something nobody else had and it caught my eye. Very random and interesting they had this! I should have bought it.
About about 2 hours there, we headed to our lunch stop and a cenote to swim in - Hubiku.
There are over 10,000 cenotes in Mexico, this one is a little different as it's closed off, like a cave, which many are, but it also has a hole in the top to let light in. Our group were the only ones there! The water was pretty cold too
This is a photo of the ladder they used 100 years ago
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After lunch, relaxing and swimming, we headed to our last stop, another ruin site, although much smaller - Ek' Balam. At it's height around 750 AD, Ek' Balam was one of the biggest Mayan cities in the area. It was discovered by some hunters not long ago - in the 1990's and only about 10% of it is currently excavated. It's one of the sites you can still walk up the pyramid temples. It's not very busy either, there were maybe 50 people there when we were there.
The stairs are STEEP and narrow!
This is all original and cleaned up. They stopped working on the site due to budget issues though
Most of Mexico is flat as a pancake. No hills. Not even small ones. So when you see a hill like this, you know a ruin is under it
Here's another one
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When we got back to the resort, it was dark and they had put up all the Christmas decorations
We went to the Asian restaurant that night and it was yummy
The next morning we found the buffet (we went to the normal breakfast restaurant the other mornings) and wow, wow, wow, so many choices! I've never seen such a big buffet
How about some fresh honey?
After breakfast, it was time for some more beach time, nap time, reading time
Passion Fruit Mojito
After a few hours, we ventured back to the buffet to see what it was like for lunch and we heard there was pizza. Wow. Just wow. So much more than pizza.
The next day it was time to head home.
We flew right over Utah Lake and Lehi area
So, after going on so many other cruises and trips, how does the AI Experience compare? It's different. Not better, not worse, just different. You just have to realize it's a relaxing, not do much kind of a trip, and that's not a bad thing. It was really really good. The resort was beautiful. The staff was amazing. Every single one was happy...helpful...smiled....when you walked by anyone they would say hello. When you said 'thank you' for anything, their response was always "My Pleasure". The beach was clean, shaded, and inviting. We'd do it again.
So, let's talk cost. AI resorts like this one are not cheap.
We stayed 4 nights, and over a holiday so flights and hotel was more, but we had specific dates so that's what happens when you're not flexible.
Here's your cost:
Here's my cost:
All in all, not too bad!
We had a great time and although quick, we enjoyed every minute of it!
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