Honeymoon Discussions

Dreams Tulum & Secrets Maroma Beach

mrs4everhartmrs4everhart member
First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer
edited September 2014 in Honeymoon Discussions
About a month or so ago there was a post about one or both of these resorts and I said I'd be happy to post my two cents upon return. We were married at Dreams Tulum and it was very, very nice. The food wasn't amazing and the ocean is rocky where it isn't roped off. Those are my only two complaints - so not much! The staff is super friendly, the grounds are gorgeous and there's enough restaurants and bars that all of our guests were very happy. I'm not sure how I'd feel about this resort as a honeymoon spot. That it, as compared to Secrets. Although it is less expensive than Secrets so if it fits your price range and you don't mind "family friendly" then by all means, don't be discouraged, you're going to have a blast. Secrets Maroma though..... Holy cow! It's smaller than Dreams but is situated on the most beautiful stretch of beach most people will ever see. It's definitely more relaxed - the bars and restaurants close earlier than Dreams but if chilling is more on your agenda this is the place. The food is better at Secrets than Dreams but still not blow you out of the water amazing. But still very good. The staff is bend over backward nice and extremely helpful. We stayed in an Ocean View Junior Suite, Preferred. The preferred designation doesn't include much but I'm not sure if our room would have been as awesome without it. It does afford you separate, expedited check in, a few free spa services and an exclusive lounge with higher end brands of liquor and appetizers. These things were appreciated, but certainly not a necessity. The grounds are gorgeous and there are monkeys and coaties roaming around, which is super cool. Having been to both I would recommend Secrets 100% to honeymooners, with Dreams a close second. We were there for 11 nights in the rainy season and only had one day of rain, mostly sunny skies the rest and one really overcast day. It was worth the risk for the immense off-season savings. Hope this helps any of you who were curious!

Edited: i see this site is still anti-paragraphs. 

Re: Dreams Tulum & Secrets Maroma Beach

  • THANK YOU for this review!! We are currently torn on upgrading our Ocean View King to a PC Ocean View King... but so far most people have said they didn't feel it was worth the money. What do you think? 

    Your review just makes me more excited!! Did you guys do any excursions??
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • I'm at work and stuck using mobile. I'll log back in to answer your questions. But in short, yes, we did two excursions - they rocked. More deets to come.
  • Thanks for the review! FI are honeymooning there after our wedding (in 31 days, holy cow!) and we are so excited!


    Daisypath Anniversary tickers



  • As far as the preferred status being worth it, I can't really say bc I think it's really up to each person what they think is "worth it." Like I said above, we were allowed to use some spa services (jacuzzi, sauna, steam shower) free of charge. But we never did for a variety of reasons but mainly bc I'm a beach bum. I can find world-class spas in Colorado but we're fresh outta ocean so I'm a very happy girl in the sand and salt water!

    Maybe if we had encountered inclement weather we would have but we were fortunate in that regard.

    The Preferred Club lounge was actually beneficial a number of times but in no way a necessity.

    The biggest benefit of it IMO was the upgraded bar selections but the other bars had decent enough selections for a bartender and a restaurant manager that we didn't booze there much because there were better bars around the resort and it doesn't stay open any later than the others.

    Private computer use was nice due to some technical difficulties we had but I can't see the appeal for the average honeymooner. There's always a 24-hour business center in the main building if you really need it.

    The private "preferred" check-in takes place in that lounge building as well but I was super sick when we checked in so the golf cart ride to get there and the unwanted champagne sadly wasn't a perk. I could imagine this to be a fun way to roll up though!

    I have no previous experience with this resort or resorts owned by AmResorts in general so I have nothing to compare our room to the same room category, non-Preferred. It's such a crap shoot what room you end up with anyway, if the free spa services, separate check in and lounge aren't that important and you are willing to gamble a little bit on your room, don't spend the money unnecessarily. When you see the beach, pools, palapas, day beds, swings, hammocks and other areas of awesome, you'll not want to spend much time indoors anyway!

    We went on two excursions.

    The first was the day before our wedding while we were still staying at Dreams Tulum. We booked through the on-site Apple desk for a day at Adventuras Maya. You can choose a combo of three activities. We chose ATV's, zip lining and snorkeling a cave cenote. We had an absolute blast! The only downside we could see is that they don't route the shuttles very well. Tulum is about 45 minutes south of Maroma and there were people from Secrets on the shuttle who spent an hour and a half on that bus before we finally arrived. It was the same for them on the return.

    Knowing that, when we booked a day at Xel-ha (one of my favorite places on the planet. I had been before) we opted to take a cab. We sat through a sales presentation at Secrets for a $125 credit for the excursion which was worth it to us. After paying the cab we only came out slightly ahead money-wise but it was fine with us since neither of us wanted to be stuck on a shuttle for hours on end. Xel-Ha is expensive but it's all-inclusive. Towels, lockers, snorkeling gear, life vests, food, booze, it's all included. I think Xel-Ha is one of the most breathtaking, amazing places ever and worth every penny.

    Also, right off the beach at Secrets two guys, Fernando and Eliseo anchor a little red and white 1970's skiff. For $70/couple they'll take you offshore to the reef for about an hour of snorkeling. It was some of the best money we spent while we were there. The reef is simply stunning.

    Things of note: bring lots of bug spray and small bills. Trying to break $100's isn't always easy.

    Sorry so long, trying to cover it all!

    Have a wonderful time. We sure did! :-)
  • We're off to SMB innn.. 54 days! (thank you google search)  Thanks for the info about this resort.  I've heard really nothing but good things, but it's still nice to hear it.  Xel-ha is where I wanted to go, so excited to hear what you had to say!
  • jaime232 said:

    We're off to SMB innn.. 54 days! (thank you google search)  Thanks for the info about this resort.  I've heard really nothing but good things, but it's still nice to hear it.  Xel-ha is where I wanted to go, so excited to hear what you had to say!

    Xel-Ha is amazing. The snorkeling there was better 14 years ago when I was there but the place just sort of overall is amazing. There's so much to see and do and experience. Give yourself plenty of time, it's not a quick excursion.

    The snorkeling on the reef right off SMB is pretty rad though! Find the skiff guys. Fernando will guide you and his eye for hidden and camouflaged wildlife is spot on!
  • THANK YOU so much for taking the time to write all that. It would cost us around $900 to upgrade to PC status, and I was mostly just interested in it because (like you) I am a beach bum and want all the ocean views I can handle... which a PC room would get us better location. But for $900 we could pay for ALL our excursions and a massage or two... so based on your evaluation and what I've heard from others I think we will skip it.

    Does Xel-Ha do any zip lining? We were looking at going to Xplor because FI really wants to zip line.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • tcnoble said:

    THANK YOU so much for taking the time to write all that. It would cost us around $900 to upgrade to PC status, and I was mostly just interested in it because (like you) I am a beach bum and want all the ocean views I can handle... which a PC room would get us better location. But for $900 we could pay for ALL our excursions and a massage or two... so based on your evaluation and what I've heard from others I think we will skip it.


    Does Xel-Ha do any zip lining? We were looking at going to Xplor because FI really wants to zip line.
    $900 can go a long way for sure. The resort is basically a giant horseshoe to I don't think there's many rooms, if any, that have bad views.

    Xel-Ha offered zip "bikes" so they're not quite the same but similar. They're an additional fee. We didn't do them this trip. There's also a few zip line type attractions that you can do that are included and you end up in the water, which is fun.

    But for actual legit zip lining, above the jungle canopy, Adventuras Maya was a great excursion. They let you pick three out of a bunch of activities so you could cenote snorkel, zip line and go check out sea turtles for example. Or ATV. There's a bunch of different things. I only learned of this tour company once we were there. Try googling Adventuras Maya and see if they list activities and pricing. The zip lining was pretty bad ass!

    At the end of the ATV part you end up at an uncovered cenote that you can zip line / jump in to that's a fun way to cool off too.
  • @jaime232 we are only planning two days of excursions too! I just don't want to tear myself away from that beach for more than is necessary to keep FI content :)
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Exaaactly.  Our plan is to sit on the beach and take advantage of the beverages.  LOL.  
  • Excursion recommendation - look up Local Quickies on TripAdvisor. It's always one of the top rated companies in riviera Maya and it's awesome. We did the Signsture Tour a year ago and it was awesome. Snorkeling, cenotes, sea turtle and s catamaran booze cruise. Awesome excursion and great company We did a tour with Alltournative tours that was zip line, repelling into cave, and touring Coba ruins (you can actually walk up it unlike the others) it was a good company too
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards