SilentMonarch

BOY did you ask the wrong guy questions. We dug the trip so much, you'll probably have to read a novel by the time I'm done.

Ruins:
1. Coba. Not as far as Chichen Itza, but WAY more interesting and less trafficked.
2. Tulum. Fast, easy, and by a major town for food stops
3. Xcaret - Lots to do at this park, and they have some petroglyphs and a coupla pyramids. Not ruins per se.

Cenotes:
First, a piece of advice. Get scuba certified. Yeah, it's not cheap, but diving the cenotes is incredibly safe these days, it's never deeper than 40' in most cases, and the views are INCREDIBLE. Hit youtube and search on the names I'll be giving you below. My wife, who learned to snorkel 5 years ago, and my 8 year old son were really kicking themselves (well, son had an out, can't be certified until 9) they just were able to snorkel.
Second piece of advice. Get a dive light, even if you just snorkel. Dorcy makes a cheap LED dive light - like 20-40 bucks that's bright, lasts long, and you can take down a hundred feet on your next vacation.
Third piece of advice - grab an underwater housing for your digital camera. My camera and housing totaled under $300 and the pictures were incredible. Plus the videos of everybody snorkeling. BHphoto has clearance housings, and then match those up against cheap cameras. Canons are the most UW housing friendly.
Okay, now to answer that part of your question:
1. Gran Cenote - good for snorkeling or just swimming. It's just past Tulum down the Coba road. Look for signs, they're easy to miss.
2. Tajma Ha - I dove this one and the light effects were incredible (youtube). There's also some spots where there's a halocline - salt and fresh water mixed together so it looks blurry underwater, like you aren't wearing a mask. Way cool. Also search on Taj Mahal - the original name before they "adjusted" it to sound more Mayan.
3. Chac Mool - dove this one too. Much different than Tajma Ha - more vegetation, less eyepopping formations.
4. There's another one I can't remember. It's popular with snorkelers, and you can do two different entrances - dos ojos, that's it.

Dive/snorkel shop - the Akumal Dive shop, bar none. It's right on Akumal beach, everybody's friendly and has a great time. The beach is pretty good snorkeling too - turtles and rays mostly, but all over the place. Lucy's has the BEST fish tacos - beats SanFran and San Diego w/o a doubt. Plus her ice cream rocks.

Look into Xcaret - it's kind of a theme park, but it's got a cenote there you can snorkel in (crowded), a stingray touch (kinda fun), and a bunch of other stuff. It IS a tourist trap though. Mondo expensive and then there's food on top of that.

For driving, two sites with good maps are googable - deleted the bookmarks, sorry. It's WAY easier to get around then it sounds. Take the main drag out of the hotel zone and head south. Look for signs. It's that easy for everything. When you get to Tulum, turn left for Coba and the interior.

For example, in one day we did:
1. Breakfast at the pastry shop in the JW
2. Headed south to Coba to hit it as it opened.
3. Took a lunchtime snorkel in Gran Cenote
4. Grabbed lunch in Tulum, did some shopping (HAGGLE BIG TIME)
5. Saw the ruins
6. Had a late dinner back at the JW.
..but I drive to keep up with traffic versus the speed limits. Overall, we stayed north and hung out south. Lots more fun, lots more to do, lots lower prices, nicer people. Just no Marriott. HINT to whoever actually reads this.

Oh, one more thing - you'll see a stand-alone jewelry place along the highway in a couple spots - the name escapes me. STAY AWAY. It's a huge scam - the shops in Tulum have a lot of the same stuff for less than half, and that's before you haggle them down another 20% or so. When you walk in and see the gold three foot leopard and golden viking helmets - that's the place.

Also check out scubaboard - they have quite a few trip reviews of the area.

LarkSFO

Awesome info, thank you!

We'll be at the Fairmont our first three days, so we'll be a lot closer to all this.

I don't have a car booked, I think I will at least for part of the time we're here.

Newflyer123

SilentMonarch , Thanks for the info. With two small kids we were debating whether to rent a car.. Now highly inclined to rent a car ! any recommendations on car rental agencies?

SilentMonarch

All the usual suspects at the airport. We went with Avis. One odd thing though - they tried to pitch us a timeshare appointment in the rental building.

I shortstopped that, however. When they started the pitch, they asked me what I was paying to stay in a hotel. "I'm staying on points, so it's free. Like my vacation every year."

Grab keys and walk out.

johnaalex

I am currently at the JW having upgraded to a Club 91 room. The lounge does good food, but I think the rooms are looking a bit dated. Also the "over 18s" pool area has much better padded mattresses on the sun loungers than the rest of the hotel.

johnaalex

Some more comments from my recent stay:

• The Club 91 Lounge can get overrun with kids even during the cocktail hours. I suppose as it is a pay for extra the staff have to allow the kids in, but in a lounge which can get crowded I think this is a bit of a downer.
  
• If it gets even slightly windy the pool attendents insist that the umbrellas are not used in case somebody may get injured. They need to get heavier/sturduer umbrellas.

• I only ate in Club 91, Champions (next door in Casa Magna) and Gustino but the food was good in all three^
  
• Club 91 staff were very helpful and have numerous discount offers for restaurants outside the hotel so it pays to ask them to make bookings. ^

karnold8103

My wife and I are considering booking a 5 night trip to Cancun in May and are interested on some opinions about which hotel everyone prefers. I normally opt for JW over traditional Marriott, but the pictures online make the Marriott looked better. Also, does anyone have experience with the all inclusive option at the Marriott, and can that be booked with points?

karnold8103

PLEASE DON'T MERGE THIS THREAD, THE EXISTING CANCUN THREAD IS VERY DATED

My wife and I are considering booking a 5 night trip to Cancun in May and are interested on some opinions about which hotel everyone prefers. I normally opt for JW over traditional Marriott, but the pictures online make the Marriott looked better. Also, does anyone have experience with the all inclusive option at the Marriott, and can that be booked with points?

LarkSFO

The Ritz Cancun is offering a 5th night free package in May...

1) 5th night complimentary with $100 credit, includes every 5th night adjusted at check out, 100 USD resort credit per stay

Rooms as low as $249/night, 1 BR Oceanfront Suite $399/night.


Or you can get an Ocean View Club Level ('all inclusive', kind of) for $399/night, again with the 5th night free. Ocean Front Club Level $429/night.

2) Treat You Package, includes wireless Internet, stay 5 nights pay for 4, valet parking

Jmr007

we are the casa magna marriott right now. 3rd time in 12 months. We love it. Best room is the carribean suite, but this time i used points for the one week points + miles deal, and got platinum upgrade to nice ocean view room. On site several nice rest. Make sure you pick up the brochure at airport by exit door for discount coupons.

sorka

Unfortunately, no.

DOUDOU1980

jw is definitely better in cancun. Both hotels are outdated.

NJUPINTHEAIR

The heck the pre-existing thread is dated. It has more than 4 pages dating from 2012 -- that is not dated and this thread should be merged and the OP posibly suspended.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...hreads-54.html

Soliciting additional info should have been made in the merged thread and additional info gained from Tripadvisor.com

bdschobel

I totally agree. We don't need yet another new thread to ask questions that have been answered again and again in the existing thread. And readers searching for information on Cancun Marriotts shouldn't have to open thread after thread after thread. It can and should be all in one place.

Bruce
Moderator

sunnyjl

We just returned from a five night stay at the JW. Let me preface this by saying I am very picky. We walked through the CM numerous times and ate at the restaurants at the CM several times as well. I think the CM lobby is actually a lot nicer. Don't know what the CM rooms look like, but the JW rooms are so-so. As a platinum, I didn't get any upgrade at all. We had a room for four, with two double beds, and they were so small. The balcony was almost nonexistent. The mattress was way too soft for my husband's back and he was sore most of the trip. We only ate at Sedona Grille at the JW, and ordered poolside for lunch from the Beachwalk. We did eat at Mikado, which was great, and Champs, which was just okay. Personally I don't think you're getting much more for your $ (or points) at JW. If I had it to do over, I probably would have chosen the CM and used the remaining points for Marriott gift cards that I could have put toward food. BTW, make sure to ask for coupons for the restaurants. They will hand you one "punch card" that you can use for dinner only at the restaurants, but they have 10% off coupons for every restaurant for any meal, but you have to ask for them from the concierge (ridiculous that a platinum member would have to go begging for coupons, but I digress).