Cancun

The wife and I are thinking about Cancun for our summer vacation this year. And people on this board have been just about anywhere, so I turn to you fine folks....

Who's been, and what did you think?

What did you like and dislike?

Where did you stay?

All that good stuff.

Much appreciated.

 

What kind of blankets?

 

Mrs. Wallace and I stayed at the Gran Melia Hotel in Cancun, and I couldn't recommend it enough. Great room, great pool, great beach. Nothing but good things to say about it.

Lots of fun stuff to do. We booked through expedia.com, so they set us up with a person there for a few "expedition"-type things. One was driving your own little speedboat on a jungle tour. While the "jungle" was nothing special, driving that speedboat was great.

I highly recommend Laurenzillio's restaurant. Great, great seafood.

 

Tulum, just down the coast a bit, is better.

 

The Royal Islander is the place that caught our eye. We're planning on exchanging our timeshare, so we only have about 10 or so places to choose from, but they all look about the same: huge resort, massive pools, right on the beach, you get the drill.

From what I know about other "resort" areas in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, all you need is on the resort; no need to go anywhere, sometimes for safety purposes. What's it like in Cancun? Will I be happy at a resort, or are there enough other things to see that it's worth venturing out?

Edit: The Royal Islander is apparently one of four "Royal" resort complexes. Anyone been? Here's a link...

http://www.royalresorts.com/the-royal-islander.asp

 

What would I need a Mexican blanket for? I'm confused, having never heard of these things? Are they just decorative?

 

If you're going after, say, July 10, be keeping an eye on The Weather Channel -- even if Stephanie Abrams isn't on. The Yucatan gets hit by hurricanes seemingly every year, and the Cancun-Cozumel area (particularly Cozumel) have taken a hell of a beating from some monsters recently, including Emily and Wilma in 2005 and Dean in 2007, all hugely evil storms.

Mexico and in particular Quintana Roo (the state the Yucatan is in) has their hurricane preparedness shit down tight, so there's surprisingly few deaths or injuries, but there's been a lot of damage (particularly after Wilma) and they're always a favorite target.

 

Pre-Colombian ruins are all over the Yucatan Peninsula. Chichen Itza is the main one, but others are almost as grand and much less visited. Cenotes, cold-water undergorund springs with pools, also dot the Peninsula. Whale-watching at Holbox. Merida is a grand old colonial city, and worth seeing, though the water at nearby Progreso isn't much (that lovely Caribbean water turns to murky Gulf water along the north coast of the Peninsula.)

But basically, if you're into the Mayan culture, there's a wealth of stuff in the interior. Just want to enjoy the sea and sun? That's easily done in Cancun or anywhere else between Cancun and the Belizean border.

Be careful swimming. Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and other guide books will probably tell you which beaches have a reputation for sweeping people out to sea and which ones are safer.

 

Funny you mention July 10...my anniversary....but no, we're planning on a June vacation. Not sure which week. I think we have three from which to choose.

 

Although there are interesting destinations in the interior of the Yucatan, be advised that the natural scenery is generally unspectacular. Tropical scrub, basically. The Yucatan is pretty much the only flat part of Mexico.