Who's been to Rivera Maya?

MrsPaps

we've decided to now save Hawaii for next year when we can go when flights are cheaper so we're doing Riviera Maya for our honeymoon. We've decided to the Secrets Maroma Beach resort and are super excited but neither of us have ever been to this part of Mexico. What did you do there? Anything you would highly recommend or what we should avoid?

Jami86e

definitely go to xcaret. also playa del carmen was pretty cool. you're in an all inclusive so there should be plenty to do at your hotel

SoonToBeMrsDi

Take the boat trip to Cozumel. It's super fun to rent a scooter and just drive around the island all day - stop at all the bars. The snorkeling is also AMAZING in Riviera Maya - just take a boat out about 200 yards to the reef!

Have fun!!

mcweiss1

Chichen Itza ruins are a couple hours away but you can get a great tour with bus ride, lunch at a nearby resort, cenote swim and ruin tour for an entire day for about $100.  Loved the resort time but this part of our trip was really neat!  We booked our tour through Apple Vacations.

ecjc524

You will have an absolute blast.  I've been to Mexico 10 times -- once in Cancun and the rest of the time in Riviera Maya.    There is tons to do.  Your resort is beatiful and you will have plenty to do there alone.  

I would take the ferry to Cozumel (you can get the ferry from the town of Playa del Carmn).  Spend at least a few hours on Cozumel.    Playa del Carmen is fun with all the markets, stores, and restaurants.   You can even take a trip to Cancun (your hotel should offer like a shopping tour or something) if you want to see Cancun.   In my opinion, Riviera Maya/Playa del Carmen is much better than Cancun but if you are into all the bars/clubs, then you will like Cancun too. 
Tulum is nice to see -- it's about 1-1 1/2 hours from Playa del Carmen and is a full day tour (they may have 1/2 days available too).   It's the Mayan ruins but they are set on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and it's just a beautiful site. 
A fun tour is to see COBA -- more ruins but you take a hike thru the jungle to get to the ruins, spend some time there, then visit a Mayan Village (see how they live, go through one of their houses, etc.) and have lunch made by the Mayans.  I've done this tour twice  - once as specified above and once which included zip lining and repelling down a cenote.  Both were great tours!
Jump in a taxi and go to Puerta Aventuras.  It's a smaller town south of Playa del Carmen.  It's quaint with shops and restaurants along a boardwalk along the water.  This is where you can also swim with the dolphins (if you've never done this before, I recomment it --- book in advance though b/c fills up quickly).  If you walk along the boardwalk you can watch the dolphins jumping and swimming with the people too.  They also have Manatees (I believe they offer something with them as well) and sea lions.  

If you have any more questions about Mexico, please send me a message.  I love it there!   I actually tried to convince my Fiance to honeymoon there but since I've been there so many times he didn't want to!     Going to Dominican Republic instead! 

MrsPaps

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_whos-rivera-maya?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:8647b46c-375b-4e18-8046-b8ff44953084Post:d3091794-4faf-47cd-b43e-e69b2a9fafb0">Re: Who's been to Rivera Maya?</a>:
[QUOTE]You will have an absolute blast.  I've been to Mexico 10 times -- once in Cancun and the rest of the time in Riviera Maya.    There is tons to do.  Your resort is beatiful and you will have plenty to do there alone.   I would take the ferry to Cozumel (you can get the ferry from the town of Playa del Carmn).  Spend at least a few hours on Cozumel.    Playa del Carmen is fun with all the markets, stores, and restaurants.   You can even take a trip to Cancun (your hotel should offer like a shopping tour or something) if you want to see Cancun.   In my opinion, Riviera Maya/Playa del Carmen is much better than Cancun but if you are into all the bars/clubs, then you will like Cancun too.  Tulum is nice to see -- it's about 1-1 1/2 hours from Playa del Carmen and is a full day tour (they may have 1/2 days available too).   It's the Mayan ruins but they are set on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and it's just a beautiful site.  A fun tour is to see COBA -- more ruins but you take a hike thru the jungle to get to the ruins, spend some time there, then visit a Mayan Village (see how they live, go through one of their houses, etc.) and have lunch made by the Mayans.  I've done this tour twice  - once as specified above and once which included zip lining and repelling down a cenote.  Both were great tours! Jump in a taxi and go to Puerta Aventuras.  It's a smaller town south of Playa del Carmen.  It's quaint with shops and restaurants along a boardwalk along the water.  This is where you can also swim with the dolphins (if you've never done this before, I recomment it --- book in advance though b/c fills up quickly).  If you walk along the boardwalk you can watch the dolphins jumping and swimming with the people too.  They also have Manatees (I believe they offer something with them as well) and sea lions.   If you have any more questions about Mexico, please send me a message.  I love it there!   I actually tried to convince my Fiance to honeymoon there but since I've been there so many times he didn't want to!     Going to Dominican Republic instead! 
Posted by ecjc524[/QUOTE]
Holy cow THANK YOU!! This is great! I will definitely keep this in mind :)

jonkim902

LOVE Riviera Maya.   Our time was limited there for a wedding so we only went to Tulum and spent rest of the days on beach.    We are going again in October and plan to hit up some places that I wanted to do but didn't get a chance to:

Alux Restaurant - just gorgeous inside
http://www.aluxlounge.net/FTP-ingles/index.html

Hidden Worlds

Fireshow at Blue Parrot
http://www.blueparrot.com/fireshow/

edv

Riviera Maya is beautiful!! Went there with girlfriends and had a blast! We ventured in to town one afternoon and had a great time!! Felt safe too!