After the internal tour of the Sandos, we returned to the main entrance an d then jogged out the main driveway and to the south (away from PDC).
Entrance to Sandos:
Here the new buildings of the Sandos resort run right along Xaman Ha for a long ways on the east (seaside) part of the road, with numerous private and rental condos and homes along the west side.
Very cool condos:
The Sandos finally gives way to a condo complex under construction – 1 BRs are selling for $110,000 U.S. We returned to the main entrance from our jog and got the bicycle attendant to set us up with some bikes to ride, free for guests. Make sure you ask him to adjust your seats or your ride will be very short ;-)
Bike racks off to the left along the driveway as you enter the Sandos:
Biked to PDC – about 2.5 km from the Sandos to the circle by the Playacar gate. Saw many people walking this route day and night, a safe walk with no worries. Evidently, as Playacar is a gated community, no unauthorized vehicles are allowed inside the gates and we saw security at the Xaman Ha gate every time we went through. Just before the circle is a neat area with Mayan ruins on the east/sea side of the road that’s really cool – check out the placards and if you drive by at night, it is lit up & spectacular!
Once we biked into town, we walked the bikes through the Paseo del Carmen Plaza (get the Map Chicks maps) and saw few bargains here.
Looking from Paseo del Carmen towards the ferry dock:
Policia:
One of us who shall remain nameless mistakenly began speaking to a sidewalk “businessman” who engaged us in a 20-minute conversation about renting a car. The sign said “$19.95 per day”, and upon asking if that was for real, the game was on! At first, it was $19.95 per day but we had to walk 5 minuted to pick out any car we wanted. Then as the conversation went along, the “special deal” included free gas. The offer quickly went from there to include to two days for $30.00, then to free breakfast included, then to breakfast plus 2 days for FREE, then to breakfast plus two days for FREE and a free bottle of tequila. We had to go with the businessman to get the deal to…a nearby condo…
Next…
Down the street was Senior Frogs. Great location right alongside the ferry pier! Parked the bikes (PS: Get a lock from the bike attendant at the Sandos!) and sat down on the swings to have a refreshment. Very cool – great views, swings were great, cool breezes, lots of ferrygoers and activity, engaging bartender and then we got the bill: $24.00 U.S. for two (2 – dos – zwei – deuce) refreshments. Those were some sweet swings!
Senior Frogs Swings:
Back to the Sandos where we’ve already paid for our refreshments ;-)
1:00 p.m. Got to beach and found some gals with Australian accents sitting on our chairs. “Oh, did you want to sit here?” They looked comfortable so I grabbed my flip-flops (I was secretly glad no one had tossed them in the ocean) and we headed a few rows back to some empty chairs under a palapa near the hamburger stand.
View from the 3rd row:
After a bit we ventured into the snack bar between the pools – their noontime snack buffet is quite good – we enjoyed the pico, salads, pizza, hamburgers, jalapenos, guacamole and tortilla chips. You can walk in and get plastic plates and silverware from the bar and load up or eat light – just be polite and wear flips and a shirt. Other guests do a sit down to eat there and you wouldn’t want to send them to the bathroom prematurely…
Towels: the Sandos issues you one towel card per guest upon arrival. The towel shack is labeled “Information” and is immediately next to the poolside restaurant described above (between the restaurant and towel stand is the bathroom).
Snack bar (left), bathroom door (middle) and towel window (right):
You can get fresh towels as they become available – I recommend getting fresh ones as soon as you arrive, then at the end of your beach or pool day and before you head back to your room, stop by there again and exchange your wet towels for dry ones for the next day (if they are available). This should save you some time the next day you head to the water and keep the wetness out of your room. Our room had some minor issues dehumidifying – make sure the AC is set to 20 – 21c to keep the dehulidifyer working properly, and I recommend keeping the ceiling fan on to circulate air as much as you can tolerate.
Time for a siesta. After all, it’s vacation, right? We slept LATE! Awoke at @ 9 p.m. and got ready to go see the World Famous Fire Dancers at the Blue Parrot! Taxi into town and paid $15.00 per in cover. The interesting thing about these clubs is that to sit in the premium seating, you are asked to buy a bottle of some type of alcohol for around $125.00 per bottle! Yikes! We found no available beach seating but as we were standing around looking lost, a nice young couple, Jessie and Xavier from Miami invited us to sit with them.
Jessie & Xavier:
We had a great conversation prior to the fire dance. That’s one great thing about Playa del Carmen – the people are genuinely so friendly and welcoming and eager to please. This was the best feature about our entire vacation – the gregariousness of the people of PDC!