Playa Paraiso

Seeking a respite from the cold and snowy New England weather, we pulled the kids from school a day early for the February break and flew off to the Mayan Riviera for a week at the Iberostar Paraiso Maya resort.

It rained for about five minutes during our drive from the airport to the resort but then the sunny 85-87F days began… and just kept coming.  Having left on a sub-freezing snow covered morning, we took full advantage of all the endless Mexican summer had to offer!

We spent most of our time in the resort itself enjoying the activities, restaurants, and animals including peacocks and other birds, iguanas, and french fry-loving coatimundis. Eating and drinking were primary and excessive. We tried many of the resort’s restaurants and enjoyed both the food and the service.  It also seemed that we were never far enough from a bar! It will also be motnhs before we get that dang song out of our heads!

We had fun on the beach with the activities team and playing in the waves and we probably spent even more time in the pools with their own activities and swim-up bar that seemed to call to us each afternoon – right after they played Hey Baby with the whole pool crowd singing along! The boys played endless games of ping-pong, water polo, water basketball, bingo, and soccer.  They played in the wave pool, the lazy river, the ocean, and explored all the coves and crannies. They made a buddy, Juan Cruz from Argentina, and met several other friends from around the world.

We all took a field trip to the ancient Mayan city of Tulum (where, unfortunately, our camera died limiting our pictures from then and later). It was a great tour with lots of interesting history and gorgeous views from the cliffs!

John spent several of his mornings diving – both on the ocean reefs just off of our beach and in the Yucatan Cenotes.  The cenotes diving excursion he took was very unique.  With three other divers and a guide, they made two dives in the Chac Mool and Kukulkan caverns near the city of Playa Del Carmen. The crystal clear fresh water here was simply amazing and the beauty of the light filtering down through the water was beautiful but, unfortunately, not bright enough for John’s cheap camera! The salt water below and the resulting halocline was a unique and bizarre experience!

When, on our last day, after a relaxing breakfast and a morning swim, the sky at last turned cloudy… We declared the vacation done and (reluctantly) headed for the airport and our flight home. Tired out, slightly pickled, a bit sun burnt, and not at all excited to return to the grey snows of home.