Well, this time around, just my husband and I went for a trip to our favorite place in the world by ourselves. Our kids were pretty sad that they weren't coming with, but considering all of the extra hours my hubby put into work the last couple of months, he needed this. We started out the morning a little worried, on the way in to the airport at 3:30 am we saw a bunch of lightening in the sky! Our flight was out of Minneapolis at 6:00 am, so we were hoping it would go away. We checked in no problem, and waited for our time to leave. The flight was very uneventful, we stopped in Dallas to pick up more passengers (Sun Country doesn't have direct flights to Cancun in the summer from our area), and arrived in Cancun around 11:45. (I think) We made it thru immigration no problems, went thru customs no problem, and made it out of the airport. The only "problem" with Terminal 3 (unless we just missed them) was that we didn't see the women with the bags with information and coupons for Cancun. Oh well. We went outside and found our person waiting for us right away from Cancun Valet, and this time we were heading out to Isla Mujeres the first two nights of our stay. He took us on the highway not thru the Hotel Zone, so a way we never saw before to get to the ferry. We made it to the ferry, got our tickets and boarded the boat about 10 minutes later. The ride over was great and beautiful, the water is so amazing it still takes out breath away. We made it to Isla, had a man with a bike take us to our hotel with our luggage. He asked if we wanted to stop at the grocery store first to get something cold to drink, which we did, and then went to the hotel. We were staying at Cabanas Maria del Mar (which CancunCanuck had mentioned to try, and was great) We were there about 30 minutes before check in, but our room was ready and we were set. We changed out of our clothes into our suits and hit the beach. We actually stayed on the beach most of the day that first day, our flight had two meals on it, so we didn't need food for a while. When we did finally get hungry we showered up and went in search for some food. We went to the bank first and exchanged our money into pesos as our hotel had a rotten exchange rate, and then decided to do a little shopping first. We found some cute things for ourselves and our kids, but didn't think the prices were that great compared to some of the stores on Cancun so we were going to wait for that. We ended up eating at Don Chepos, which was very good and also had drink specials of beer 2 x 1 and drinks for 2 x 1. I tried a drink that I can't remember the name of that was some kind of Monkey, and it was great. We were going to try to take food pics this time, but never did. My husband had fajitas and I had tacos. (not real original) We talked to some people that were there for their honeymoon from Missouri, where my husband had traveled a lot to. We got back to the hotel and just crashed. The next day we decided that we were just going to take a taxi over to the Garrafon Beach Club instead of renting a golf cart for the day. We had breakfast down in the Center of town again at a place called Bamboo that was great, hubby had Mexican eggs and I had an apple caramel crepe thing that was great! Very filling, and then we were off to get ready for the Beach Club. It was great, it was $4.00 to get in, my husband bought some fish food, and we were there so early that no one was there yet. It was actually the place right where in February we had gone on a boat tour that had the best snorkeling. The beach itself was rocky, but my husband thought the snorkeling was great. It was so cool to even have the fish just come up to me as soon as I got in the water, even though I didn't have the food at the time. We stayed there a long time, had some guacamole and chips and some drinks, and were there a good amount of time. Then we decided to walk from there to Punta Sur, which wasn't that bad of a walk, but it was hot. We took some really cool pictures there, climbed to the top of the lighthouse and looked at the sculptures. It was really cool to see the coastline, and it was beautiful. We then walked until a taxi went by, and then hailed one to go back to the hotel. That night we had dinner at Bucaneros, which was another great place. My husband had Mexican pizza which he said was great, we had nachos, and I had quesadillas. The next day (Saturday) we were going to be going over to Cancun, so we got up and went to get some breakfast. We tried a restaurant called Gomar's which was good again, other than the orange juice was very watered down. (or something) My husband had mojitos and I tried the Mexican eggs this time. Breakfast was great, and then we were ready to head on out. We checked out and had a taxi take us to the ferry since it was already so hot and humid and I didn't want to drag the luggage down there. We again made it on the ferry, with about 5 minutes to spare!! The ride to Cancun was just fine, and I was excited to go to Cancun again. We ended up taking a taxi because we were staying at a hotel we haven't been at before and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to be on a bus with the luggage. We stayed at the Intercontinental Presidente (a brand that Holiday Inn owns/runs) because my husband had some points to use there for two free nights. The hotel was really nice, we again were early but our room was ready so we could go in right away. We ended up with a beautiful room, ocean view, and I know some people had complained about the rooms being dated on another board, but this was nice. I am not sure if we had a nicer one since he was a Priority Club member or not, but it was great. We went down to the beach and just relaxed all day on the beach. A wedding was going to be happening on the beach that night, so the workers were getting ready for it. After we were done for the day, we showered up and headed to Plaza Kulkukan to do some shopping. They have a store there where my husband always get a mask for his wall from, and they have a store there where I knew they had stuff I wanted to get for people. When we were done there, we headed to Carlos 'n Charlies for dinner. (we are the ones who have gone there the last two trips who our daughter has a slight crush on the waiter, and the waiter is just great and somehow remembered last time we were from MN) We went to the restaurant and our waiter was there, he gave us big hugs and we had a nice chat. We had brought him a Twins hat just for something for him from MN, and it seemed to mean a lot to him. We had a great dinner there, my husband and our waiter made guacamole together, I got pulled up by our waiter to try a dance they were doing, and I tried my first tequila shot. (I am not a big drinker anyways, but never had tequila) Our waiter brought three shots of tequila for him, my husband and I to all do it together, so I tried it. Don't think I'll do that again. We then decided it was a nice night for a walk, so we walked back to the hotel. When we got back we could hear music coming from the beach for the wedding's dance, so we watched that a little. Then we went up to our room, and you could hear the bass thru the windows. It was fine, we fell asleep anyways. The next day was our last full day, so we got up early as we had all of the other days. We decided to go for a walk, and see what was open for breakfast or a snack. Well, it was about 7:00 am so not much was open yet. We walked by My Place (I think) and this place behind it was still having an after party or something going on!! Amazing. We walked down to the beach that is across from Senior Frogs and walked along there, the waves were really crashing. It was amazing to see the difference in what the waves are like on the short part of the 7 and the long part of the 7. We usually stay on the long part, that is what we were used to. We walked along and then went back to the hotel, and found our spot on the beach. We pretty much stayed on the beach all day, decide to run across the street for lunch. Next to this grocery store was this little place called Biarritr's Carnitas. (I think that is what it was called) The food was great, filling, and very inexpensive. Back to the beach for the rest of the day, and then time to go out for dinner. We didn't know what we felt like eating for dinner, so we ended up at Hard Rock. We usually seem to go there each trip, but now that Minneapolis has one, we may have to find another "usual" place. We had great food there as usual, and then just looked around the shops a little there. We then went by Carlos 'n Charlies to say good bye to our waiter friend, and he got our email to stay in touch. We again walked back to the hotel, and had forgotten that another wedding was going on. I don't know if this hotel has a lot of weddings there or not, but both nights we were there they had one. It was late enough that it didn't bother me to hear the bass again, and we just went to sleep. Monday then was our last morning, but we were tired. We didn't do much that morning, made sure our luggage was packed, took some more pics to show the kids, and checked out. Our driver from Cancun Valet picked us up at 10:00 for our flight, and we made it with plenty of time to spare. Our flight was leaving at 12:35, dropping off people again in Dallas, and then going home to arrive at 6:30. Well, unfortunately the weather wasn't great in Dallas so they were going to go a little different way (longer) to get there, and then we had to stay in the air for a while because the airport was not letting any more planes in for a while. We finally landed there, went thru immigration and customs, rechecked out luggage and then flew home. We landed about 8:00pm, and we were ready to go home. Sun Country does a really nice job though, and it is great to actually get two meals on a flight like that. We got home to our kids about 9:30 and were happy to be home. Next year again in June we think, we are going back with the kids and we'll probably do it the same way, half the time on Isla and half the time in Cancun. They are such different places and different vibes, and very great. Here is the link for the pics: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559645657YWcqmZ
It was a long report but good, no, very good. CancunValet getting you to the Isla Mujeres ferry is not a surprise, what a great company! I think next time you may consider changing your money in Centro (Downtown) because the rates are better. In fact, Isla's prices for most things I have found to be higher than in Cancun. While it was great to read about your Isla experience, I am happy you enjoyed the Presidente Intercontinental. I stayed there this past April and thought it was an under-rated hotel. Everything from the clean rooms, great food and wonderful service surprised me. I hope you eat at Alfredo Di Roma next trip, their cuisine is such great quality and priced fairly for what you get. The best kept secret about this resort in fact in my opinion is the amazing beach, still with that sand quality from pre-Wilma days. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, 212eric
In February we had done a day trip over to Isla, and we decided to see what it would be like to stay there this time. It was great to stay half the time on Isla and then half on Cancun, they both have a totally different vibe. We'll go back next year and do it the same with with the kids, but for a longer trip. Isla was very relaxing and just really nice!
Thanks, I just printed off about 150 pictures yesterday from our trip. My husband had an underwater camera too that had some really nice ones from his snorkeling, so I could kind of "see" what he saw. I sure do love both Isla and Cancun!
