The Riviera Maya

I haven't been to that side of Mexico but have fun! When we got our Twinrix shots the nurse said most people aren't getting food poisoning or have Montezuma's revenge they just have overindulgence. So much food, free food, all day, so many places. Plus drinking, even non-alcoholic it's added sugar. Day after day. It's just too much.

If you don't go to an adults only, pick a place that has a few pools, further away from each other. One has activities, aka super peppy guy with a megaphone, one might be a kid's pool, one might have a swim up bar. Then you can go where it suits you. The all inclusives I've been to have the airfare included.

We've stayed there at least a half a dozen times. All at different places. Tulum is gorgeous and more low key. Cancun is busier and much more touristy. Both places have great hotels. We went to Akumal for swimming with the turtles and I loved that spot for a day trip. Take the ferry to Cozumel. Some hotels even have sister resorts on Cozumel and you can eat there for free. We started going in the 90's. We were last there in 2018. Several of the resorts had hired gunmen at the front for your safety and that was bizarre, but we always felt safe. We've also ridden camels on the beach and that was a lot of fun. So many day trips and we've been to Chichen Itza twice. That is an amazing set of ruins to visit. We've taken dune buggies on the beach, snorkeling every time, sailboating trips and treks through the jungles.

To be honest, I think all of our vacations to Mexico have just been pretty awesome. We try to do a tour one day and beach the next. You will pay for alcohol even if you don't drink with the all-inclusive prices, but having food available 24/7 when you are in and out of the hotel is pretty nice.

ETA: We've never gotten sick in Mexico. My SIL is a travel agent and said that much of Mexico makes their living on tourism and they have good water filtering systems and their service is decades ahead of many other island stops. I really don't care if people put a napkin in my lap or replace my silverware while I eat, but she loves that kind of stuff. I want to eat on the beach with the coatis and monkeys.

We are headed to Dreams Sapphire in a few weeks - and we can’t wait! It’s close to Playa Mejeuries (totally spelled wrong)

But I do know that as much as we want to hit the ruins, it is a 3 hour drive to Chichen Itza and I was told a good hour and a half to Tulum so no ruins visits for us. You might want to keep that in mind if the ruins are a must do for you. We don’t want to spent six hours on a bus when we could be relaxing by the pool lol.

We've been to Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya twice. It's near Playa Del Carmen. No issues with food or stomach issues and the resort was very nice, absolutely gorgeous and comfortable. I will say dh and I were disappointed in the food, it seems to get great reviews food wise, but we were expecting more. But it's the only all inclusive we've done and we didn't know what to compare it to. Not bad, but just very average, maybe comparable to mid level chains.

We didn't do any ruins as we didn't want to spend that much time in our a bus or walking in the heat/sun (I'm very sensitive to both). We just enjoyed the pools/beach.

Check out Unico 2087 about an hour south of Cancun. It's adults only and is a bit smaller and quieter resort than some of the others along Riviera Maya.

Unico is our favorite. It can get more of a party scene during Spring Break (learned that the hard way, lol)  but by May it should be totally quiet! 

We'd love to see it - but I don't do well with long bus/car rides lol. But next time we go to Mexico we will look for resorts closer to that area and for sure be going!

We just spent a week in Akumal (between Cancún and Tulum) after Christmas. Tulum is absolutely an influencer haven and EDM party scene. Prices are on par with NYC and Miami Beach, the infrastructure has not kept up with the crowds, there’s construction everywhere, police are pulling over and extorting tourists willy -nilly and there were 3 overdoses the week we were there. Akumal is a lovely little sleepy town with a beautiful beach, tons of sea turtles in the bay, and within good road trip distance of the major sites (20 minutes to Tulum, 2.5 hours to Chichén Itzá, tons of cenotes nearby). We’re not into all-inclusives but if we were, Secrets Akumal would be my pick -  not sure of budget there. Lots of other resorts on the same stretch of coast. There’s also great snorkeling at the Yal Ku lagoon in Akumal.

Has anyone gone to any of the Marriott all-inclusives in Mexico?