Map of Akumal Bay Snorkeling Restrictions

For those interested in where the buoys/roped-off areas are for snorkelers in Akumal Bay, here is a pic which was posted by Kay Walten of Locogringo.com.  For the month of Sept. 2017, all guided tours are officially suspended from the bay (but that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be any out there), while general visitors may still snorkel outside the roped-off areas.  Here is the map I found on Kay’s Facebook page.  Notice how these areas extend onto the front sea area of the Secrets property.

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Palladium Rebrands The Royal Suites

Palladium Hotels and Resorts has renamed The Royal Suites Yucatan by Palladium; it will be called TRS Yucatan Hotel by Palladium.  The rebranding will involve guest room renovations, guest rooms with a private pool, the addition of an infinity pool and Ibiza-style beach club, and new dining venues.  Additional staff will be hired in order to provide a higher level of customer service.  This part of the Palladium resort complex will remain adults-only.

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Crackdown on Illicit Alcohol–Results of a Surprise Investigation

Mexican authorities have recently done an investigation on 31 resorts, restaurants, and nightclubs in both Cancun and the Riviera Maya in order to see who may be serving illicit/bootleg alcohol.  Their investigation resulted in the following findings: Continue reading

Adulterated Alcohol Risk In Cancun

Following alcohol related lab tests done by COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for Protection Against Sanitary Risk), it has been determined that the Iberostar Paraiso del Mar is NOT serving any tainted alcohol to its guests.  This comes after allegations made by a Wisconsin family earlier this year that the resort had given their 22 yr. old daughter adulterated alcohol which resulted in her subsequent death.

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Secrets Maroma Room Renovations

Secrets Maroma continues to work on guest room renovations.  Work began in May 2017 and will continue until Dec. 17, 2017.  While the resort has tried to avoid booking guests into buildings being worked on, there have been a few isolated reports of people being placed near ongoing renovations.  Guests are encouraged to contact the resort concierge for guest room building placement should there be any concerns about renovation noise.

Drone View of Dreams Riviera Cancun

One doesn’t hear too much of Dreams Riviera Cancun anymore; it’s a great resort with beautiful guest rooms and lots of dining options.  For those of you unfamiliar with the resort, or to those of you new to this particular Dreams resort, here’s a bird’s eye view of its layout and exterior amenities.  What do you think?

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New Xel-Ha Park Waterslide to Open Summer 2017

Riviera Maya’s Xel-Há Park is set to debut the world’s fourth tallest waterslide this summer.  Faro-Tobogán will be 141 feet tall, and riders will travel at 26 feet p/second; toboggan riders will end their ride in a cenote.  In addition to the waterslide, the Faro-Tobogán water park will include tunnels and submerged sculptures, so the waterslide is part of a new attraction within the existing park.

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How to Get Around Puerto Aventuras from the Dreams Resort

Here’s a short video of the environs of Dreams Puerto Aventuras Resort and Spa.  It is hosted by Christine Turner, a travel agent who has visited the resort a multitude of times and produced many resort videos.  The video shows approximately where the gated community of Puerto Aventuras is in relation to Playa del Carmen, as well as how to go about getting from the resort to the stores/restaurants and larger beach area in town.

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Karisma’s New Villa Opening in June 2017

The Karisma brand will be opening its fourth property within its Villa Collection, part of its esteemed Connoisseur Collection, in the Riviera Maya this June.  Villa Casa Del Mar is situated next to Azul Beach Resort Riviera Maya and will consist of the following amenities: Continue reading

Immigration/Customs Changes Coming Soon

There is a pilot project beginning in Mexico City’s airport Terminals 1 and 2 which signals a significant change to the current Customs and Immigration procedure currently in place at Cancun and other Mexican airports.  Mexico wants to do away with the Declaration Form and instead have everyone’s bags X-rayed between connecting flights or prior to unloading baggage onto carousels; also, the dreaded red/green light at Customs entry points is also going to be a thing of the past.  No more will travelers need to stand in line wondering whether they will get the red light and have their bags randomly searched–I’m all for that!  Traveling can be stressful enough without adding a procedure which purposefully induces more stress.

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