Playa del Carmen's most comprehensive online business directory
04-23-2008, 01:04 PM
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
 Funny about the Cancun testimony - it got crossed off our list due to reputation & you've just confirmed it! Thanks for the comments! 
    
|
| Messages continue after these Sponsored Links |
|
|
|
04-23-2008, 01:07 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
04-23-2008, 01:08 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Video 3 - Parasailing Close Call 3-22-08
Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective.
This day we slept in and made it down to the beach after our excursion to town, the beach at Coco Maya and a bit of window-shopping. We took the cab to and from town and it was a warm, sunny day and many people were lounging and enjoying the sand. As you lounge on the beach, there are different vendors that walk up & down offering jewelry, massages, henna tattoos, jet ski rentals, parasailing rentals, and on two occasions, a couple came by with a python and an iguana with which you could get your picture taken and, for a fee, buy a copy of later at the Sandos photo store, right by the lobby next to the tour operator’s desk. I had a negative experience with the henna tattoo – it was supposed to last 2 weeks and lasted maybe 2 hours – long enough for the group of 2 men and 1 woman hawking them to disappear from the beach. Mamasita got one at the Sandos by the pool, and hers lasted about a week, but you can have them re-touch it for free before you head back home. While on the beach, the parasailers in the video came quite close to landing on the whales. I think the tow boat had slowed down and led the sailers right in front of the beach for A) Advertising and B) They were exchanging customers via jet-ski and had to decelerate. In any case we got a good look at some very wide-eyed customers on the sail. As you can see, there are a wide variety of people at the Sandos and walking along the beach. Lots of kids and this really wasn’t a problem. The people watching was great, and we met some terrific people from Germany, New York state, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc… It was fun to strike up conversations when the opportunity and interest was there. This day started as a yellow flag day and later turned red, the way most did. We did some whale walking, swam and generally hung out at the beach. When we were hungry we went to the snack bar and loaded up our plastic plates with some great food & headed back to our palapa to eat. Same for when we got thirsty. Don’t forget the insulated mug to bring with to your palapa! Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/v/fzQI9IvccDI&hl=en
|
|
04-25-2008, 12:24 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
04-25-2008, 12:25 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Video 4 - Journey to Akumal
C’mon all you lurkers – pony up! Let’s hear what you think!
Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective. We had been looking forward to this day almost since the inception of our plan to come to Playa del Carmen. We found a website that featured a web cam perched on the outside of the Lol Ha restaurant right on Akumal beach, and I must have checked it, well, let’s just say a lot. Every time I did, I saw the variegated blue-shaded Caribbean waters, fishing boats, snorkelers, scuba divers and vacationers traversing the sands of Akumal Bay, and I wanted to get there and perch in front of the web cam too. So off we went. Thanks to Mapchick Maps, we knew to go to the ADO station at 5th & Juarez to catch the 10:10 to Akumal – cost: $3.50 per person, one way. I suspect that many people who come to AI’s never leave them unless it is to travel through a gated community or on their return trip to the airport. Nothing against this at all, since for many travelers, I think this provides a level of comfort and convenience (as well as cost) that warrants that type of vacation. We found out that by leaving he confines of the Sandos Playacar and PDC, we were able to see more of the area and get to know the people, land and culture better than if we would have stayed put. There’s a bit of adventure attached to this as well, and this factored into the decision not to use a tour company and lit off by ourselves. Just keep in mind that one person’s adventure is another’s apprehension, so my advice is to make sure you know your schedules, costs and activities ahead of time. This day was so much fun – the Web cam and eating at the Lol Ha, snorkeling, laying on the beach, the traveling to and from and just being able to spend this day in paradise with my beautiful bride was a magnificent blessing! Hope you enjoy the travel and beach vids too! Here’s the first – Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/v/X1goOSGNLCA&hl=en Last edited by 130taKen120; 04-25-2008 at 12:26 AM. Reason: vid
|
|
04-25-2008, 10:36 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
The bus dropped us off right on the highway - get outta your seat & move towards the front when you see the pedestrian bridge at Akumal so he stops for you. Took the bridge over 307 (see 1st picture) and then maybe 1/2 km walk to the beach area. The smaller town of Akumal is on the west side of 307 but we didn't go there. We're bringing backpacks next time instead of clunky beach bags Is Akumal on your itinerary?
|
|
04-25-2008, 11:03 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
04-29-2008, 12:57 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Video 5 – Lol Ha and Akumal Beach
3-25-08
Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective. Once we exited the ADO bus on 307, we walked the .5 km to Akumal. We initially stopped in to the convenience store/gift shop near the famous Lucy’s taco stand. Lingered there for a bit- you can buy souvenirs, refreshments, clothing and snacks, etc… there. We were impressed at the amount of product they had. We’d moseyed on down past a hotel and along a road that led to the back of the Lol Ha (take a right at the “Y” past the store – once again, get the Mapchick maps…). Originally we passed the Lol Ha and frankly, I was on a mission to find their Web cam. I’d only been looking at it daily (ok, maybe even more than once a day ?) for months. Once we found it, we grabbed a pic of me standing just beneath it and later a pic of a heart with our initials carved within it in the sand. The pic at the beginning of the video with the … um… generous looking gentleman is the one with the heart. Met a Denver couple there who had just returned from the local Internet station and emailed their daughter, who promised to go online and get a screenshot of the couple when they stepped in front of the Lol Ha Web cam – pretty cool. Maybe we’ll line this up next time! We were a bit hungry at this point so we went back to the Lol Ha snack bar and had the guacamole and pico with chips plus a whistle-wetter. As we sat there and found out that Lol Ha customers could use the restrooms gratis (others had to pay .25), we worked on our snacks and took turns visiting the restroom to change into our suits. The video was taken during the times when we took turns changing. It’s amazing and way out of our ordinary world to show up at a restaurant and look across your table to see one of the most gorgeous bays in the world in the middle of March in a swimsuit, working on guac, pico, chips and a refreshment, the wind blowing through your hair and the woman you love beaming back at you within your view…. Months of anticipation went completely un-disappointed by a few hours of reality. If you ever get here, relish every minute. http://www.youtube.com/v/JhBHb3AM01A&hl=en
|
|
04-30-2008, 01:46 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Video 6 –Akumal Beach Walk & Akumal Beach resort
Videos – 3-25-08
Hi all – remember more specific details about our trip are found earlier in this trip report. These sections have additional information about the days from the video perspective. After about an hour of snorkeling we laid out for nearly an hour on the beach in front of the Akumal Dive Center (less expensive than the Akumal Dive Shop and friendlier). We were chilled after that amount of time in the water so the sun felt great. It was getting near time to leave so we decided to meander south along the packed, flat, and gorgeous beach. As we headed just south of the Dive Center we noticed a rope fence separating the seemingly public beach from the Akumal Beach Resort property. Earlier in the day, we spoke with a couple from Denver who had their daughter doing screen captures back in the states while they stood in front of the Lol Ha Webcam with their particular message scraped in the sand (visit their site at http://www.locogringo.com/Upload/netcam.jpg to see this phenomenon happen numerous times a day in front of your eyes…). In any case, their opinion was that the ABR was a nice place to stay but Akumal lacked the same type of nightlife that Playa del Carmen has. On the plus side, Akumal Bay was one of he most beautiful seascapes I’ve seen in my life, outpacing Cozumel, Newport Beach, Coco Beach and the Honolulu and Ala Moana beaches in Hawaii. There is nothing – that I’ve seen – like the color and beauty of the beaches in the Caribbean. This being said, I’d easily stay here for a part of a trip to the Mexican Riviera. So often had we seen people traversing up and down this beach that I still long to take a sunrise walk along this expanse, not having to worry about going to and from Akumal, our whole day ahead of us with absolutely no vital decisions whatsoever facing us. At one point we spied a father and son playing American football on an etched out field – I think the son won the field goal contest – and later we saw our first Mayan pyramid – made of sand ? This place has a completely different and more relaxed atmosphere than Playa, and the scenery, service, mood and attitude of the people of Akumal match it perfectly. Once again, if Akumal is not yet on your trip itinerary, it most certainly should be. Our Akumal Beach Walk: http://www.youtube.com/v/ISWNxKO3q1s
|
|
04-30-2008, 09:33 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Thanks again for sharing these vids with us. That was great. Felt like I was right there in Akumal walking down the beach........with your wife.......which was a bit odd, I might add.......
|
|
04-30-2008, 12:32 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
04-30-2008, 04:28 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
04-30-2008, 04:54 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 You stay classy Playa Del Carmen.....
__________________
You stay classy, Playa Del Carmen....
|
|
#136 ( |
Slow learners, but at least we know better now. 
