I had been to the Mayan Riviera once before, back in August 2002. On that trip I had only left the resort twice, once to go to Playa Del Carmen, and then a bike tour to the Tulum ruins. My last 2 trips were both to Cuba as the beaches in Holguin are immaculate. The case is not the same here as the beach is really lacking a decent swimming/snorkeling area. My girlfriend and I chose this trip because we wanted to do a lot of sightseeing and snorkeling.

Our flight was with Air Transat and we booked the Club Golden package with them. The Club (or was it Royal?) Golden or Premiere villas are located in the best section of Coba. You also get bathrobes, slippers, a welcome fruit basket and bottle of wine, beach towels, an extra a la carte reservation and free use of the internet in the private Coba Golden lobby. I had emailed ahead of time and booked 2 restaurants, requested a third floor corner room in a certain villa, and a mattress cushion. An email the next day confirmed all would be taken care of and they were; with the exception of the mattress cushion but we really didn’t need it. The beds are very firm and nowhere near what we are used to but we still slept like babies every night. Our room was in villa 27B overlooking the Coba quiet pool, and within sight of most of the restaurants and snack bars in Coba.

Food: We found the best buffet for both breakfast and lunch was the Kukulcan. It was enormous with lots of seating and selection. You can easily find anything you are looking for here. There is a healthy choices section, Mexican corner that serves authentic Mexican food each night, kids buffet with food tailored to what kids like and lowered stations so they can serve themselves, tons of cheese and fruits (the white cheese curds taste like mozzarella Cheese Strings), made to order omelets and pasta, grilling station etc. They also change the theme each night so the variety is ever changing. There was a chocolate fondue fountain with melons, strawberries, bananas; pretty much anything you can dip in chocolate!
The 24 hour snack bars were ok if you wanted a quick bite of basic food or a drink when all the other bars are closed. They has nachos with lots of topping options, and a self-serve ice cream machine.
For ala carte we picked Mikado, Oriental, Tortuga Grill and Le Gourmet. Mikado is a Japanese restaurant. If you have been to one of these at other resorts or in your city then you might want to skip this one. The food was bland but the chef puts on a great show. You won’t be disappointed but you won’t be impressed either. For the Oriental we booked this ahead of time for 8:00pm Thursday based on recommendations from the forums. By doing so, when you exit the restaurant you are already inside the Hacienda and therefore you can watch the Fiesta show for free. The only drawback to not paying the $16 US is that you can’t compete in the games, ride the bull or enjoy the buffet and drink service. I would not want to pay for that especially since I had just ate an amazing meal at the Oriental! Our reservation was mixed up but they still squeezed us in at 7:30 and the meal for the 2 of us lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes. Le Gourmet had great service with a welcome drink and a caviar appetizer on your table within a minute or 2 of sitting down. For a starter I had the seafood soup, and then scallops and each were superb. We both ordered the surf and turf – half a lobster tail, and 2 pieces of lamb. Small portions but melt in your mouth good. Our last choice was the Gran Tortuga in Tulum. We ate there the day before we left and it would have been a 2 shuttle trip to get there but I talked to one of the staff at the Coba lobby and he offered to drive us in a golf cart himself! Talk about great service! The restaurant is right on the beach and breezy thanks to open windows. This one had a serve yourself appetizer buffet which I found strange but they were all good and it was hard to choose just a few. We had wrote this one down a month before we left after looking at all the menus online. Now, looking at the menu again we were baffled wondering what it was that made us come here. We ordered the Porterhouse steak for her and the New York steak for me. Wow. Sitting before us were 2 of the biggest and best steaks either of us had ever had. Highly recommended! The desserts at all of the ala carte choices were the same for me, all included chocolate of some kind and they were all amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Beach: If I could rate the beach out of 5 I would give it a 2. The sand was fluffy and white and not at all rough as some have stated. The reason I give it a 2 is as soon as you enter the water barefoot you are in danger of getting your feet cut. You should always wear water shoes. My girlfriend cut her foot within the first minute in the water. You can also only go out about 30 feet before it is roped off to protect the reef. This means you can only “swim” up to your waist deep. If you like to sit in the ocean, and can find a sandy spot you will be happy. There were a lot of fish swimming around, but the snorkeling is poor due to very strong currents. You can literally get in the water by the swing bar and just float all the way to the other end of the beach. The water is too shallow to have any fun snorkeling. Instead take a collectivo north to Akumal for $2US each. You can swim in deep water and see sea turtles and live coral, stingrays etc. The beach here is fantastic. Just get off before the pedestrian overpass on the highway beside an arching entryway with LOL-HA on the sign. You can find out more about this area by doing a quick Google search. Back to the Gran Bahia Principe beach. The swing bar was great fun to sit at and have a drink. It is right on the ocean and has a great view. There were always chairs and shade to hide from the sun underneath trees or pallapas. There were quite a few topless women on the beach which I didn’t mind at all.

Service: Every waiter and bartender we encountered was great with the exception of the disco staff who seemed to only want to serve the people they knew. “German” in the Hibiscus pool bar was the best we encountered. He always had a smile on his face and was quick to serve and refill drinks. The only complaint was the staff at the Spa who gave my girlfriend a hard time. With the Club Golden deal we each had a $40US credit to use at the Spa. My girlfriend told them she wanted to use the credit and booked a pedicure which she gets in Canada monthly. She came out of the spa with bleeding toes and was very upset and to top if off they charged her $40 and would not grant the credit due to restrictions. I marched her off to the Coba management with exactly what to say and after 30 minutes of arguing (and the manager threatening to keep us hostage by not letting us on the bus because we had already checked out) they finally caved and let her use the credit towards the worst pedicure she ever got. By the way the Spa is ridiculously overpriced.

Rooms: Our room had a great view from the balcony. The quiet pool looked great in the day and night. We had a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom and a large room with king size bed and separate sitting area. Everything had touches of marble. There was also a tv that had S-VIDEO and RCA inputs if you happen to bring a portable DVD player. The maids did a great job of cleaning and the minibar was jammed full with beer, brand name pops, Hershey’s chocolates, chips, juice and soda water. There were also two 1 liter bottles of purified water left each day which we took to all of our excursions.

Pools: If you use the activity pool stay clear of the side with the pool bar. There were too many people smoking over there and many of them were smoking in the middle of the pool and who knows where the ashes went. The Coba quiet pool was our favorite and we spent quite a bit of time here late in the afternoon at the pool bar. There were also some very relaxing pools that had 3 whirlpools in them, not to mention a bar. There were so many pools all over the resorts that you were always within walking distance of one whenever you were too hot. In the middle of the day though the water is very warm.

Drinks: Anyone who has ever said that the drinks here are watered down must work for a rival resort. Yes, I’m calling them out. First of all I saw the bartenders cracking open new bottles of SEALED Bacardi Anejo for me on a couple occasions as that was all I drank. Second, we both have hangovers to prove it and I am no lightweight at 6’6” 260 lbs. If your drink TASTES watered down it is because of all the ice in the drinks. Try asking for no ice or ask for more alcohol! There were times my drinks were so strong I had to add more coke to them. That being said there were brand names of everything that you just had to ask for, no hassles. Bacardi, Smirnov, Jack Daniels, etc. As for the beer drinkers there are 4 cans in your room each day that I can guarantee haven’t been watered down!

Excursions: The travel rep had lots of tours but we only did the Coba Mayan Adventure one. This included transportation and a guide, zip lining, cliff repelling, swimming in an underground cenote, kayaking, a Mayan lunch and drinks, and entrance to the Coba ruins. It wasn’t cheap at $107 but well worth it. Every other tour/trip you can do on your own by taking the collectivos for $2US. Take one to Xel-ha and the Tulum ruins, Akumal to swim with sea turtles, and Playa Del Carmen for shopping. By doing these all on your own you will save big on cab fares and hotel tour rip-offs. You can catch a collectivo just past the Hacienda at the highway entrance. These are air conditioned, safe and cheap.

Tips: * Use the internet to write emails or chat on MSN instead of calling anyone from the resort. Prices were $4-6 a minute here! Also the computers all have USB slots in the front that are perfect for uploading your just-captured memories or for attaching a webcam to show off your tan to your loved ones back home.* The safe is $5US a night! This is pretty pathetic from a 5 star resort. I have never had to pay for the security of a safe before at any hotel I have stayed at, including some rather shady ones at that. * The sports bar in the Hacienda has 3 pool tables to play at free of charge.* Bring water shoes. They are $5-10 and well worth it. *Tip the maids and the ala carte staff daily. Don’t bother tipping the mini bar guy, it is his job to make sure you have a full fridge and is included in the price you paid. * Take the bikes out for a cruise of the resort to get your bearings or transfer from shuttle to shuttle. Check the activities boards to see what is going on as they have games for prizes (bottles, or T-shirts). * Bring biodegradable sunscreen and bug repellant * Buy a disposable waterproof camera if you are snorkeling or swimming in the ocean. * Leave the resort and see Mexico! There are so many options out there for you. Do some research before you go and you will be fine.