Sorry I was unable to post the past couple of weeks! I was on Spring Break and then had a very busy school schedule, but I am back!

For Spring Break my roommates and I went to Cancun for 5 days and 4 nights. Get ready to here about one of the best vacations I have ever been on! Our hotel, flight, and airport shuttle cost for two people came out to $635.

Day 1

My roommates and I left Ft. Lauderdale International Airport around 10:35 AM and arrived in Cancun at 12:30 AM. The flight felt extremely short. Going through customs took up a little bit of our time, but not too much. When we got past customs we collected our bags and headed to our shuttle. WARNING: if you head to Cancun, be aware of the locals that will try to get you to purchase tourists tickets. The trick is to ignore everyone and walk out of the airport to the shuttle company. We booked our shuttle through Expedia with Super Shuttle. The ride was about 20 minutes from the airport to our hotel, The Grand Caribe Resort, and was great service. Staying at the Grand Caribe rewarded us access to their amenities and the amenities of the Royal Solaris, their sister hotel. The hotel is right next door. After checking in, everyone gets a wristband that you must keep on for your entire stay. Since check in started at 3 PM we decided to head down to one of their restaurants, Bogavante, for lunch. The menus for the restaurants on property change everyday, so you’ll never eat the same dish twice. Bogavante become one of our favorites throughout the trip. Their menu was titled “Peninsular Flavors” that day for lunch. The beauty of “all-inclusive” is that you can order all the dishes if you wanted to just try a little bit of everything. I ordered the Atasta Soup and Iberic Fillet. The soup was alright, really not that great. The fish, on the other hand, was outstanding. All the flavors went so well together. I was so close to ordering a second plate of it.

We then spent the rest of the day exploring the hotel and tanning by the beach. The hotel has a pizza and sushi bar by the pool!

For dinner we ate at Las Fuentes. I really was not impressed with this restaurant. It’s a buffet style every night, that night was Asian themed. The food was okay, really not that great. I, personally, would only recommend this place for breakfast. Don’t waste a night eating dinner here. After our unsatisfying meal we spent the rest of the night dancing in the lobby area by the bar. There’s a dance floor there and they had live music entertainment that night. It was honestly a lot of fun.

Day 2

Day two in paradise did not start out so smoothly. We agreed to go to a time share meeting to receive a discount on a catamaran ride and a free trip to Tulum. They first took us to breakfast at Rosmarinus. This breakfast is buffet style, but is delicious. The views here are also gorgeous, especially early in the morning. Now, if you have two hours and thirty minutes to kill, do the time share. If you don’t care about discounts and don’t want to spend all that time listening to someone talk, do not do it. We did it because we are college students on a budget and jumped at the words “free” and “discount.” It will take all that time and yes, it will be incredibly boring. So only do it if you’d really like those perks. We just relaxed for the the rest of the day until it was time to go clubbing.

WARNING: The clubs are going to be pricey to get into! I’m used to the clubs in Gainesville that are only $5-$10 cover, but in Cancun it ranged from $35-$80. This was also because it was during Spring Break. Still, be aware of this! The first night we spent $70 for entrance to Señor Frogs and La Vaquita. This price also included one-way transportation to the clubs and dinner. The dinner was at Señor Frogs and was pretty good. I ordered the chicken enchiladas, which were delicious. Club wise, Señor Frogs was not my thing. They had a glow party that night and I really didn’t enjoy myself. La Vaquita was a lot of fun though. The music is a lot better and they have big screens that show the music videos for each song. It’s a much more fun atmosphere in my opinion. If you’re not a huge fan of crowds and get annoyed easily, don’t go to Seńor Frogs. To get back to the resort we took the public bus that takes you down the strip. It’s only $1 per person and is completely safe. Almost everyone on the bus was college students. The bus may also have entertainment, if you’re lucky. Our bus had a fun guitar player playing requested songs and just having fun with everyone.

Day 3

This day was our trip to Tulum. We hopped on a shuttle from our hotel and started on our way. Unfortunately, we got sucked into a tourist trap and were left in a jewelry store for an hour. None of us even cared to look around so we just waited outside for an hour until our shuttle returned. After that pit stop of annoyance we continue on our way to Tulum. When we finally arrived we ate at a restaurant called “El Crucero.” It wasn’t terrible. I ordered the shrimp tacos and they were pretty good. This lunch was not covered by the hotel, we had to pay it ourselves. The bathrooms here were disgusting. There is a Starbucks close by that has nicer bathrooms so if you ever end up here, just wait to use the other ones. When we finally arrived I wasn’t really impressed. I have been to Chichen Itza before and that was breathe taking. Tulum, to me, was not as amazing. It also wasn’t as well organized as Chichen Itza was. The beach at the bottom wasn’t great either. The water was not as clear as the water by our resort. It was a free adventure, but not one I would take again. I would definitely visit Chichen Itza again, but not Tulum.

We relaxed for a bit when we got back from Tulum, then got ready for dinner. We had made dinner plans with some friends we made at the resort. Veneto was the destination for dinner that night. I ordered a cheese platter and salmon. Both were outstanding. I enjoyed every bite of my salmon. It was probably one of the best salmon I’ve ever had. For dessert our waitress brought out three different plates. I tried all of them and enjoyed them all. I wish I could remember what they were. After a fun night at dinner we called it a night and headed to bed.

Day 4

Catamaran time! We paid $30 per person plus a $12 tax fee when we got there. The catamaran had unlimited drinks the entire time and played some awesome music. It took us to two parts of Islas Mujeres. One was a more tourist area where they had a lot of shops and the other was a private area owned by the catamaran company, Albatross. We had a buffer dinner included and the food was delicious. We spent about an hour and a half at each of the stops. This was a lot more fun than Tulum and definitely worth the money. I would do this again any day!

After a long day out, we rested then got ready for dinner. We went to our favorite place again Bogavante. I ordered a fish fillet that was to die for. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of it! Every type of seafood I had in Mexico was all around amazing and so fresh. I was never disappointed with their seafood.

Since it was our last night in Cancun, we just had to go out again. We paid $45 for entrance to La Vaquita. This price included all you can drink, which wasn’t bad. The night was a lot of fun, better than the first time there. The cups that the drinks are served in are huge. You may not want to get all you can drink because of how big the cups are, but up to you! The difference between the prices was only $10. Our bus ride home didn’t have entertainment this time around and we were all disappointed.

Side note: Room service came in clutch so much throughout the trip.

Day 5

Last day in paradise. *Sigh* It was a sad time. We woke up, went to breakfast at Las Fuentes, then headed to the pool. After staying around the pool for a good amount of time we went to Bogavante for our last meal in Mexico. It was BBQ themed for lunch. I ordered the BBQ Pork Ribs, Jalapeño Peppers Filled with Cream Cheese, and the Caribbean Fish Filler. I wasn’t a fan of the ribs, but the other two dishes were mouthwatering. I wish I could’ve ordered more of them, but I was too full. It was a tasty end to an amazing vacation.

Our shuttle came to pick us up two hours before our flight. Reminder: if you use Super Shuttle, you have to contact them 24 hours before your departure.

Overall the hotel was amazing and the trip was worth every penny! I could definitely see myself going back. I hope this helps you out if you’re planning a trip to Cancun!

All Photos By: Bismarie Plasencia