Akumal Beach Resort - Part 4

I'm sad that I didn't get one single sunrise photo on this trip...I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. However we did get a few photos at sunset and I figure they are fitting for the end of this report.









And finally...sadly...it is time to go home...

Be sure to check out our next (and 3rd) trip to Akumal in 2015. Here is the link to the beginning of the blog posts...South of the Border Birthday Trip

Akumal Beach Resort - Part 3 (Snorkel Photos)

In spite of some "not nice weather", we managed to snorkel every single day. 

Of course the turtles were the "stars" of our snorkeling trips...

We had a surprise meeting with Barry. I didn't see him until we were almost face to face...how creepy.





Don't you think my husband's feet look a little like the brain coral?




The next picture is pretty lousy but if you look really close you can see a squid. I'm including the photo only because I was so excited to see the squid!

Akumal Beach Resort - Part 2

The best I can say about the food at ABR is that it was "ok" and interesting. I thought the food was a little on the bland side but that may be because it was authentic Mexican fare. I did try a lot of new foods and some I did like. Each night there was a different kind of cake but they all tended to taste about the same...and...they were all "wet". I like moist cakes but you could almost wring the liquid out of these cakes!


Had I not known that the dining room had burned down I wouldn't have realized it...the place looked exactly like it did four years ago. On our first visit I worried about eating in a place that wasn't air conditioned but with the breeze blowing in through the windows it was always pleasant.






Each meal there would be one thing done on the grill. At breakfast it was omelets or eggs and in the evening some type of meat or fish. We only made it to the lunch buffet a couple of times...it was so much easier just to eat at the snack bar. One night the grilled item was sail fish. I thought it was interesting how they just peeled back the skin and cut the fillets directly from the fish to put on the grill.





The snack bar offered hotdogs, burgers, french fries, pizza, chips and had all of the "fixins" like tomatoes, onions, pico de gallo, guacomole, hot peppers, etc. The pizza was made on homemade dough and was yummy!


The palapa right behind my hubby is where we spent most days so you can see how convenient it was to eat at the snack bar!




One night we ate at the Mexican restaurant. While we were eating the sky got dark and the wind started howling. Stuff was flying all over...dirt, sand, twigs from the roof, glassware, tablecloths, chairs, etc. The waiters scurried as fast as they could and were trying to re-set tables in the round building to get them out of the wind. Luckily we had finished our main course before the storm hit.




We encountered a little "wildlife" at ABR! One night this little (actually not so little) guy crawled up my husband's leg!



Each day we said "hello" to this iguana that lived behind our building.



And...there was no shortage of geckos...here is one that was our roommate for our week. Living in a Mexican resort sure beats selling insurance, huh?



One night as we were headed back to our room around 10 pm we saw a turtle coming on the beach to nest right by the dining room. There was a group from the CEA coming by at the same time so they ran ahead to warn people to stay away. Unfortunately someone leaned out the window of the dining room and took a flash photo and the turtle immediately turned around and headed back into the water. There were a couple of nests already marked by the dining room so they must have layed their eggs during the night when it was dark.

We had red headlamps and walked up the beach one night, but saw no other nesting turtles.



I really, really love all of the flowers and plants in Mexico. After going though the "winter that wouldn't end" just seeing the green leaves and bright colored flowers made me smile.









This banana tree was right next to building six...you don't see this in Minnesota!!

The staff at ABR always looked so happy and seem to enjoy their jobs. I love that they take the time to get to know the guests and make everyone feel so special.





One reason for choosing to visit ABR this year was so that hubby could get certified in cavern diving. Here in Minnesota he helps do cave surveying for the state and when he first experienced cenote diving four years ago he dubbed it "the most amazing experience ever!" It combined his love of caves with his love of diving! He visited Chac Mool and Car Wash cenotes for his instruction this time. Unfortunately he refuses to use a camera so we have no photos.

On the way to the cenotes on the first day his instructor wanted to stop and get some coffee in Tulum. Surprise, surprise! Bob ran into Alma, one of the staff that we had gotten to know well on our first visit to Akumal FOUR years ago!!

Akumal Beach Resort - Part 1

This trip report was published online in the Locogringo.com forums in 2011 and are being re-copied here.  You can find the original posts by clicking this link: 2011 Trip Report from Akumal Beach

Four years later...back to ABR

Back in 2007 I discovered Locogringo...and the paradise of the Riviera Maya. Hubby and I spent a wonderful week at ABR with our close friends, had a great time and vowed we would return. Since that time ABR has endured a fire, hurricanes and the swine flu and our travels took us on cruises and to other places.

This past Minnesota winter was one of the worst ever and I found myself lurking once again on LG and looking longingly at the beach webcam. I "needed" a trip to plan and the thought of warm sand and blue water was about all that got me through the cold and the snow. ABR here we come!

Here is a link to the webcam...or as I like to think of it...a link to paradise! Akumal Beach Live Webcam

Living over 3 hours away from the Minneapolis airport, our vacations always begin a day ahead...either by staying with one of our adult kids in the area or at an airport hotel where we can leave our car. Our oldest son is an IT manager at one of the nicer hotels in the Twin Cities area and was able to get us a complimentary room at an affiliated hotel next to the Mall of America with a free airport shuttle and parking privileges for the week. What a surprise to check in and find he had pulled some strings and got us into a very nice suite!

Our trip was booked as a package through Apple Vacations and included a direct flight from Minneapolis to Cancun, the transfer from the airport to ABR, and a week at the all-inclusive resort. 

After four years we found ourselves comparing ABR to "how it was"...and for the most part not much had changed. A few thoughts...

***The number of guests at the resort was definitely fewer this time. On our last visit I was up at dawn every day just to make sure we had a palapa...this time it wasn't necessary. On the downside because of this I never got to see a sunrise!

***There were some familiar faces in the staff, but many new faces as well. Once again we were amazed at how the resort had that family feel.

***The evening entertainment was non-existent...there were no shows at all in the theater. I thought maybe this was a permanent change, but heard that the shows had been temporarily discontinued after some of the animation staff had left. One new member had just started on our last day so maybe in time the shows will be back.

***We noticed some changes in the food, but not much. Both the Italian and Mexican restaurants now share the same building and the round building where the Italian restaurant had been now sits empty. We tried the Mexican one night and instead of different menu options there was just one meal with a choice of chicken or beef.

***One MAJOR improvement was the coffee at the buffet. It was so much better than the nasty stuff from a machine that was offered in 2007.

***We lost power in our room one morning but I chalked it up to the storm (I was sure we were having a hurricane!) 😏 Twice we came back to our room and found no running water. Once was on a very windy day and I was covered with blowing sand...not fun to find out I couldn't shower. 😧

***We requested (and got) a room on the 3rd floor of building six. The room had been painted white but otherwise no change. I swear the bedspread was still the same and the gecko that lived in our room looked pretty familiar as well.

***It was encouraging to see workers doing various "projects" around the resort all week. They were busy removing all of the blue tiles from the main bar. It will now be much more subdued and plain. There was also an artist touching up the painted designs on the floor of the snack bar. It looked like replacing the railings on the buildings and balconies is an ongoing project.

***In spite of several rainy, windy days, we managed to snorkel every day of our week long trip. I missed seeing the fish ball, but otherwise the snorkeling was outstanding. The bay was busy with lots of outside snorkel tours, but we just tried to avoid the masses.

***No tours this time. I had thoughts of visiting Xplor or Tulum, but once on the beach it just seemed like "work" to try and go anywhere else. Hubby did do a 2 day PADI class through Blue Caribe Diving and came away with his cavern diving certification.

***Lastly...for us the charm of ABR can be boiled down to two words...the people and the beach. We were fortunate to get to know some special people this week which made a good vacation turn into an even greater vacation!

I will fore go trying to write a detailed report and instead share some photos of our week...

On the way from the airport we encountered a car that had flipped over and had caught fire. This was following a brief, but intense, thunderstorm.

 

A few minutes later the firemen and an ambulance showed up. We never saw anyone taken away in the ambulance so hopefully there were no injuries. 

Traffic was delayed for some time but we were on vacation and having a much better day than the poor guy who flipped his car.

Our first night (June 15th) was a full moon...what a way to start a vacation!

The second night we had told our kids at home to be watching because Ma and Pa would be on the webcam. This comment was responded to with ridicule except from our precious daughter-in-law who dutifully captured the photos online. We rewarded her loyalty by writing her name in the sand.

This is what it looks like from the other side of the webcam...

Our home for the week...building 6

I am a lousy gardener and can't get flowers to grow in good soil so it amazes me how such beauty can thrive in sand!



It also amazes me how it takes so little to amuse my husband!

Can't beat the view...

We found out that there are rainy days...even in paradise.

The rains lasted for 3 days but the wind was with us the whole week.

We took advantage of the cooler temps and walked into town during a break in the rain. The waves on the north part of the bay were pretty impressive!

The water in the bay was much calmer.

Notice the LocoGringo cooler? Frequent posters on the LocoGringo.com forums get a free cooler (more like an insulated lunch bag). The coolers make it easy to identify other LG members and it is customary to exchange "autographs" on the coolers. I don't think we ever did use the cooler for the intended purpose, but instead it became sort of a purse/beach bag for carrying miscellaneous items. 

We found the gazebo was a good place to read on a rainy day.