kixy1
Contributor
Just spent a week at the Barcelo Resort on the Riviera Maya. This was a family vacation with a mix of divers and non divers, aged 14 to 50 something, so to keep the non-divers and kids happy we did the AI thing. I will be honest and say that I was more than a bit nervous about this trip
Im not much of a big resort, AI type traveler, but it really turned out great.
The resort was absolutely beautiful. The beach was gorgeous and the weather spectacular. Yep, I had a great time and felt like I was living my own little Rich and Famous dream This was definitely the nicest place Ive ever been. Of course, most of my prior experience in this part of the world has been at small, no-frills, dive orientated resorts so I cant honestly compare the two. All I can say is marble bathrooms, fluffy robes, maid service and never-ending pina coladas on a picture perfect beach are pretty easy to get used to!
There was plenty going on at the resort to keep everyone busy, but for the most part we mostly hung out at the beach. I was pleasantly surprised that the snorkeling was pretty darn good right in front of the resort. Nice coral heads if you swam out a bit and on our first day we met a very friendly turtle. Not a bad start to a winter vacation, eh?  The food was plentiful, varied and we had no complaints. We thought it was very good. The bars offered just about any beverage you want, and they had stage shows each night. We only managed to make two, but they were fun. The only complaint we had was that after 6pm all the activities shut down and there wasnt much to do. However 2 days before we left we ventured a bit further down the resort and found an open miniature golf course, a lighted basketball/soccer field and tennis courts. Not to mention a sports bar with pool, air hockey, and other games. We also found out we could check out any of the board games from the beach activity center for the night! LOL Maybe next time .
The resort has a dive op on site, but I decided not to use them as I prefer not going out on boats with 20 or so people. Enough said? Based on reviews here, I used Dive Adventuras located about 5 minutes away (if that). They were very easy to work with, and we scheduled everything efficiently through email before the trip. They offered a free shuttle service, and kept our gear for us. This being a family vacation, I was limited on dive time, but I managed to get in 5 ocean dives and 2 cenotes. This was my first cenote experience and it was awesome! So awesome that even the theft of my dive light did not ruin the day. grr :depressed:
The ocean diving was good. Its not Coz, but it was warm water, Caribbean diving. In February! I was in heaven  The dives sites were about 5 minutes out and the reef system was fairly shallow with a very slight current. Easy diving for sure. The reef wasnt the healthiest, but I was surprised by the number of fish. There were a few times we were in schools of hundreds! We saw most of the usual suspects, turtles, rays, puffers, pipefish, trumpetfish the hightlight was a pair of very large, beautiful file fish that put on a show of flashing colors for us. The only thing I missed this trip was a seahorse and my favorite squidlies. My only complaint, and it would be considered more like whining, is that it was cold under there! I brought my full 5 mil and they gave me a 3 mil shorty to wear over it. I was still cold! Of course, I havent been down since I got back home, so Im sure Ill look back longingly at those mid 70s here very soon
All in all, a great trip, but Ive been back a week so its time to start planning my next trip Im thinking it might be a Cozumel summer. Its been a couple of years since Ive been and there is just something about that island
The resort was absolutely beautiful. The beach was gorgeous and the weather spectacular. Yep, I had a great time and felt like I was living my own little Rich and Famous dream This was definitely the nicest place Ive ever been. Of course, most of my prior experience in this part of the world has been at small, no-frills, dive orientated resorts so I cant honestly compare the two. All I can say is marble bathrooms, fluffy robes, maid service and never-ending pina coladas on a picture perfect beach are pretty easy to get used to!
There was plenty going on at the resort to keep everyone busy, but for the most part we mostly hung out at the beach. I was pleasantly surprised that the snorkeling was pretty darn good right in front of the resort. Nice coral heads if you swam out a bit and on our first day we met a very friendly turtle. Not a bad start to a winter vacation, eh?  The food was plentiful, varied and we had no complaints. We thought it was very good. The bars offered just about any beverage you want, and they had stage shows each night. We only managed to make two, but they were fun. The only complaint we had was that after 6pm all the activities shut down and there wasnt much to do. However 2 days before we left we ventured a bit further down the resort and found an open miniature golf course, a lighted basketball/soccer field and tennis courts. Not to mention a sports bar with pool, air hockey, and other games. We also found out we could check out any of the board games from the beach activity center for the night! LOL Maybe next time .
The resort has a dive op on site, but I decided not to use them as I prefer not going out on boats with 20 or so people. Enough said? Based on reviews here, I used Dive Adventuras located about 5 minutes away (if that). They were very easy to work with, and we scheduled everything efficiently through email before the trip. They offered a free shuttle service, and kept our gear for us. This being a family vacation, I was limited on dive time, but I managed to get in 5 ocean dives and 2 cenotes. This was my first cenote experience and it was awesome! So awesome that even the theft of my dive light did not ruin the day. grr :depressed:
The ocean diving was good. Its not Coz, but it was warm water, Caribbean diving. In February! I was in heaven  The dives sites were about 5 minutes out and the reef system was fairly shallow with a very slight current. Easy diving for sure. The reef wasnt the healthiest, but I was surprised by the number of fish. There were a few times we were in schools of hundreds! We saw most of the usual suspects, turtles, rays, puffers, pipefish, trumpetfish the hightlight was a pair of very large, beautiful file fish that put on a show of flashing colors for us. The only thing I missed this trip was a seahorse and my favorite squidlies. My only complaint, and it would be considered more like whining, is that it was cold under there! I brought my full 5 mil and they gave me a 3 mil shorty to wear over it. I was still cold! Of course, I havent been down since I got back home, so Im sure Ill look back longingly at those mid 70s here very soon
All in all, a great trip, but Ive been back a week so its time to start planning my next trip
Im thinking it might be a Cozumel summer. Its been a couple of years since Ive been and there is just something about that island
