The Omegas: Cora and Sany's Bunch: April 2006

Candace had a week off from school and clinicals to "study" for an upcoming exam, so we decided to go to Mexico! We'd never been to Cancun before, but many people say it's similar to Las Vegas with all it's huge hotels and resorts, the difference being that these resorts are on the beach. Instead of staying at one of the huge resorts though, we decided to book our week at a quaint (read as "small") place. When we made our reservations online, we opted for a 1 bedroom suite with a "kitchen", separate sitting area, a bedroom and a balcony that overlooked the ocean. I thought the separate sitting area would be nice for Candace while she was studying throughout the day...

I had looked on TripAdvisor.com for some reviews of our hotel, and as with anything, the comments were mixed - both good and bad experiences. Some of the nightmare stories included cockroaches, missing reservations, and loud noises due to construction - or should I say reconstruction from last year's hurrican damage. Needless to say, I was a little anxious to see what our hotel was like.

When we arrived, we were told that our 1 bedroom suite was unavailable (not sure if it was damaged or they overbooked), and in order to compensate for that, they were going to give us a normal room but also upgrade us to the "all-inclusive" plan. On Tuesday a 2 bedroom suite was going to become available, and we could decide then if we wanted to stay in our room with the all-inclusive, or go to the 2 BR suite. We sorta had no choice, so we decided to make use of the all-inclusive for the next few days.

Our plain room overlooked the lagoon in front of the hotel. Oh wait, the lagoon was behind the Flamingo Plaza shopping center that was across the street from our hotel. We did have a balcony though, and even a jacuzzi. But we were told that if we wanted to use the jacuzzi, just call and they would send someone to come and fill it up... Well, at least the food and drinks were free for a while.

Two of our friends, Eugene and Jay, were also in Cancun, but at a different hotel. (Something about having to use their timeshare before May, or lose it.) The first night we all went to dinner at a restaurant at a hotel downtown. The cab ride one-way was over $30. Since it was likely we'd be travelling back and forth between hotels (Eugene and Candace were planning to study together) and downtown for dinner on some evenings, we decided to rent a car. We had the car no less than 10 minutes, Jay was driving and we were in the "Hotel Zone." Mind you, this was a 4-door compact, not much get-up-and-go, if you know what I mean... The speed limit was 70 km/h or 40 km/h, depending on which part of the strip you were in. We happened to be in a 40 km/h zone, going faster than 40 km (which is only 25 mph), and people were still passing us by like we weren't moving. Next thing, the policia is next to us and pulls us over. He thinks I speak Spanish and I tell him not really. Asks if any of the rest of us speak Spanish, and it's the same, just broken Spanish. He asks where we are from, gets Jay's driver's license, then explains in his broken English that the speed limit is 40 km/h in he "Hotel Zone." He was then going to take Jay's driver's license to the police station where we could get it back after paying $100. Eugene asked if we could just pay the "fine" there and now, and he said, "that would be a bribe, I don't take bribes. But I take tips..." wink, wink. $50 later Jay gets his license back and we are free to go, paranoid for the rest of the week of going over the posted speed limit. Turns out that he was only allowed to give us a warning and that we should've just given him the rental agreement which had all the info he should've needed.

Well, the whole week wasn't that bad, we actually had some fun. On Tuesday we finally got our "suite." The extra bedroom went unused, but the sitting area and balcony overlooking the beach were exactly as we'd hoped. We were literally steps from the beach, and in the mornings and evenings it was relaxing to be able to hear the waves crashing.

And yes, Candace actually got some studying done. Here are a couple of pics to prove it:
Playing pool in the lobby. Notice the notebook Eugene is studying...

And now Candace has the notebook...

Studying at La Playa del Carmen...

Taken on the balcony outside our "suite."

Beach combing one afternoon. No competition whatsoever for any little treasure I may find...

Still not much luck finding shells. This one is so pequeno, and it's broken. :-(

The inside of our "suite." Dining area and kitchen to the far right, bedrooms out of sight to the left.

This is one of the resorts damaged from last year's hurricane. There were a number of resorts on the beach still being rebuilt or waiting, like this one is. The beach was "repaired" a few weeks before we arrived by bringing in a bunch of new sand. Everything was still settling though, and the water was not as clear as it could have been. When we went to La Playa Del Carmen, about 30 miles south of Cancun, the beaches were still intact and the water was crystal clear - a huge difference.

This was our resort, Avalon Bacarra. They were still repairing part of the roof while we were there, but for the most part the building is intact.