For the last five years now, Lil Annee and I have been taking off for the warmer climes of Mexico during the winter, to partake of lots of sunshine, warm beaches, and muchos margaritas. The first two years we hit Puerto Vallarta, but then we checked out the Caribbean side of Mexico south of Cancun, referred to as the Mayan Riviera. For two years we stayed south of Playa Del Carmen at the Copacabana just below Xpu-Ha shown on the map below. This year we decided to try a new spot, and chose the Barcelo Maya between Puerto Aventuras and Xpu-Ha.

On Feb 18 we pulled out of Montrose with Annee's sister Sherril and Big Donny in tow for this year's adventure. The first leg of our journey was to Denver for an overnite near DIA and an ungodly 2 AM wakeup for our 4:45 AM flight to Cancun. Way before first lite we were winging our way south to an early Cancun arrival. By 9 AM local we were thru customs and being delivered by van down the coast some 50+ miles to the Barcelo Maya, a magnificent 5* hotel renowned for its service and amenities.

We checked in, but couldn't get into our rooms til 2 PM, so we took the opportunity to orient ourselves and check out the facilities. The Barcelo is a magnificent facility sited on 100+ acres fronting on the beautiful azure waters of the Caribbean. The hotel actually has two lobbies, the Beach and the Caribe. Guest packages are "all inclusive", meaning all meals, drinks, water sports, and amenities are included in one price.

Meals are taken in either of two huge open air dining halls offering buffet style service. At each meal food selections seem to offer unlimited choices. In addition to the main dining areas, there are three different restaurants, one Mexican, one Spanish, and one a steak house, that require reservations to enjoy a sit down served meal.

Also housed in the main hotel complex is the Kukulkan Theater that can easily seat 1500 folks at one seating. The theater is open 7 nites weekly, offering a wide variety of Broadway quality shows performed by the hotels own staff. Nitely shows begin at 9 PM and at the conclusion, the action shifts to Captain Morgans Disco by the beach for dancing til the wee hours.

The grounds are a landscaper's dream! The lawns are a lush green with a St. Augustine type sod, thousands of every kind of palm you could imagine, every kind of tropical shrub in full bloom, huge water features, and tremendous statues of Mayan gods at every focal point. Large undisturbed natural areas abound that are inhabited by scurrying iguanas that only let you approach just so close.

There are two huge fresh water pools with swim up bars, latilla covered shaded areas for those sun sensitive folks, and enough lounges to accommodate a battalion of Marines. The beach itself is a good half mile curve of pure white sand that is raked and cleaned daily. The crowning jewel is the beautiful crystal clear Caribbean that provides cooling fresh breezes during the hot days.

After settling in our rooms we got down to casual beach attire and headed for the closest bar to begin on margaritas or cervezas. Gassed up, the gals hit the beach for some sun, Donny took a siesta, and I wandered down the beach to check out the sea kayaks, sailboats, and various water sports. Dinner was supurb with each of us having more options than we really needed. After dinner we hit the theater for the nitely show, then we all crashed after an extremely long day.

At first crack of lite, I was up and on the beach with my fishing rod, hoping to get a rise out of a good barracuda. My first try was on the hotel pier, but along came a security guard who informed me that it was " no possible pescar en hotel propidad". Damn, a no fishing zone. Apologizing in my best Espanol, I moved up the beach a half mile, waded out on a coral reef, and caught a couple of nice unknown toothy fish, before being once again run off by security guards. Looked like my plans to "pescar" were ruined for the week.

By then it was just 6 AM and the rest of my crew was still fast asleep, so I hit the gym situated in huge thatched hut for my daily 9 mile bike ride and a tour on the weight machines. By 8 everyone was up, so we took in the breakfast buffet to enjoy a selection of fresh fruit, waffles, pseudo Virginia ham, omelets made to order, and anything else you could imagine for breakfast.

Since , on previous trips, we had taken in most of the historic Mayan ruins like Coba, Tulum, and Chinchen Itza, we elected to spend most of our days enjoying the sun around the pool or on the beach- just kicking back and relaxing. Those days involved three delicious meals [ we weren't ones to miss a meal] and lots of sun. We were determined to eat well, partaking of all the major food groups-- fruit, grains, meats, margaritas, and cervezas!

One night we had reservations for the authentic Mexican restaurant, the Blue Agave. It was a "dressup" occasion and we were ushered to our table by Don Hector the manager. Two waiters hovered around us and we enjoyed grilled camorones [ shrimp] Mexican style. One waiter was passing out tequila shots, so I donned the traditional sombrero and a bib, while he poured tequila down my gullet. Quite an evening!

Another nite we enjoyed Captain Morgans steak house under a huge open thatched roof palapa. Here again, the service was excellent, as was the food. Most nites we would attempt to take in the theater show, but never could seem to stay awake for the entire program. Needless to say, hitting the sack nitely by 10, we never got to experience the Disco goingson.