CANCUN, MEXICO
CANCUN, MEXICO
Travel Dates: October 31 — November 6
Where We Stayed: Grand Sirenis Riveria Maya Resort
Trip Highlight:
We booked this trip with some great friends of ours, desperate to get some sun in October, and all-inclusive resorts are the way to go. We chose the Mayan Riveria side as our friends, Lucas and Myeisha, had previously visited Puerto Vallarta on their honeymoon. It wasn’t a hard sell with the picturesque, blue ocean. Our research led us to SellOffVacations.com. Our ideal budget was between $1200-1500 per person for the week. We picked the Grand Sirenis Riveria Maya Resort because of the pools on the property and beach access. We checked out reviews to make sure there were no major red flags (like bed bugs) and to see how the food was. Overall, the ratings were good, so we went for it. Reviews for Mexico Vacations can be overwhelming because they draw such a diverse group, with varying standards and expectations — you need to dig through. A good rule of thumb would be checking the ratio of good to bad reviews (we go for an 80:20) and does it seem like it would affect your trip. Everyone will find something negative given a chance, you just need to decide if it bothers you or not. The goal of this trip was to escape the rain in Vancouver, get a tan and relax, so we were unbothered by most of the reviews.
The resort was great, it more than expectations. All of the staff were super nice and the resort was massive, we had to take a golf cart shuttle to our rooms or walk almost 10 minutes from the lobby. There were several snack bars open until late; the bartenders were all hilarious and kind. There were tons of spots to hang out at night, we spent every night playing card games and drinking (a lot, sorry mom). There were so many pools, enjoy pools that none of them felt crowded. There was a variety of adult-only pools, lazy rivers, kids pools, and secluded pools. The lazy river even had free floaties. The beach was easily assessable and but we didn’t take advantage of it as much as we would have liked. The food was surprisingly good; half of the food changed daily to fit the theme, and the other half with a consistent menu, so there was some familiarity. There were six specialty restaurants for dinner separate of the buffet, and each guest is given three specialty meals for free (this excludes the French restaurant that you pay for separately). You have to book these when you arrive as they are much smaller restaurants and can only accommodate so many people per night. We did the Japanese (teppanyaki restaurant, it was great), Mexican (AH-MAZE-ING), and Italian, which wasn’t too bad either. It was quite lovely to sit in at a restaurant after a few buffet meals.
Our adventures consisted of two excursions. We went to Tulum and visited a few Mayan ruins. It was neat to see but so warm. The tour also stopped in a little village area with a bunch of cool shops and local souvenirs. We also did a Cancun Adventures tour. The adventure included ATVs, repelling into a cave, ziplining into a cenote (the underground rivers in Mexico) and then snorkelling through the cenote, and a rope course. Snorkelling in the cenotes was terrifying but an unbeatable experience. Cancun Adventures was an excellent company for excursions. They are on the pricier side, but they are a larger, more reputable company. The staff were all well trained, and very funny. We recommend checking out their tours, Puerto Vallarta Adventures is their affiliate company, so if you’re on the other side, check them out.
We had so much fun on this trip; there wasn’t much that we could say on the negative. The food was good, the rooms were beautiful, and the resort facilities were excellent. One thing I did notice about this side of Mexico is that other than a few excursions, there’s not much to do other than what’s in your resort. So, we’d recommend taking the time to pick the right resort for all your needs on the Cancun, Mayan Riveria side. There is not much aside from resorts, and it’s not recommended to wander.
