Last weekend Zac and I headed over to Mexico. I make it seem so casual but there was planning involved. Its probably been about a year and half since Zac and I had planned our Cancun trip. We wanted to celebrate his birthday and finally being off an 18 month long probation at his job. That happened to land in October. Luckily when we booked our trip we decided that we would get insurance on both our hotel and our flight. As the time got closed and closer for us to go the weather was getting worse and worse. Who wants to go to Cancun when its pouring rain the whole time? Isn't the idea to be laying out but the pool or on the beach? So last minute we decided we would cancel our trip. We got most of our money back (thankfully) and our airline tickets were credited back to us knowing that in the future we would need to use that credit.
Long story short I told Zac we should use those flights. we both looked at the calendar and decided that my spring break (March) would be the best time to go. Zac would only have to take/trade two days and my office would be closed anyways so I wouldn't have to request off any time. Needless to say prices are go up a bit more during spring then they do in the fall with hurricane season. We talked it over and although it would be fun to still go to Cancun we decide we did not want to spend the extra money or time to fly over there so Cabo it was. It was only about a 2 hour and 40 minutes flight on the way there and about 3 hours on the way home.
So now let me tell you a little bit about our trip:
Once we exited the airport we were looking for our "Cheap Caribbean sign for our shuttle to our hotel. We chose to do an all inclusive hotel which definitely has it pros and cons. Our shuttle was very easy to find and they said it would just be a few minutes and we would leave. When you exit the airport its like a party….they have bars outside. So we sat down and had ourselves our first Mexico margarita. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the hotel. It was so weird being able to take our drinks with us in the shuttle. I don't recommend spending the extra money for a private shuttle. We paid for the group version and Zac and I were the ONLY ones! I think it might of taken us 30 or 40 minutes to get to the hotel. It really didn't feel long at all. Plus I could not stop looking out the window, Mexico is not the cleanest place.
Once we arrived we were greeted with complimentary drinks and walked right over to check in. Everything went very smoothly. We dropped our bags off in our room and went to explore! We ended up staying at the Riu Santa Fe. My sister had been to both the Palace and the Riu Santa Fe and she seemed to like the Santa Fe better. They have 3 pools at the RSF (Riu Santa Fe) there was one but by our room, one that was centered in the middle that had chairs in it and a volley ball net and then the last one is the party pool that was right by the ocean. The ones further away from our room had the best view but they were also the busiest and noisiest.
The pool by our room
The "center" pool
The party pool is actually off to the left of this photo so I guess technically they have a total of 4 pools. This one definitely has the best view!
And finally once you make it past all the pools you can head down to the beach. They had a bunch of chairs to lay out in, a volley ball net and a bunch of people trying to sell you everything….and I mean everything. If you don't want to be bothered by that then I recommend staying up at the pools. Its interesting that a lot of the hotels in cabo tell you the beach is not "swimmable". I was expecting to see these monster waves and no one in the water but that was not the case. I think because of the current they don't recommend you swimming in the ocean but I saw people doing it.
When Zac and I went on our honeymoon we did everything…..rode jet skis, parasailing, snorkeling, luau, etc. On this trip we didn't want to sign up for a bunch of stuff but rather take it easy and if we felt like doing something then we would decided at that time to do it. Our first day was coming to an end and we were hungry! We headed back up to where the restaurant was ( and Im using the term restaurant loosely) and we saw they they were setting up a taco station outside. We waited in line and got some tacos before heading into the "restaurant". Here is one of the biggest cons (in my opinion) of the all inclusive places. They get you with saying EVERYTHING INCLUDED…..well it is, but its not good. Our first night we ate at a buffet like setting for dinner which I kind of expected. I knew we would need to make reservations for the restaurants so the next morning we made sure to do that. There was a line in the lobby to make the reservations. They do book up quickly. We made a reservation for the Mexican restaurant on Saturday night and the steakhouse on Sunday night. Im sorry but the food was just no good.
Friday was our first full day in Cabo. We decided that it would be our pool day. We took it easy and hung out by the pool all day. Nothing to exciting but very relaxing. We really wanted to go into town so we thought Saturday would be a good day to give it a try.
Before we knew it Saturday arrived. We made it down to our buffet breakfast, decided to schedule a fun activity for Sunday and then grabbed a taxi and headed into town. I was excited to check out the marina. Zac and I had both agreed that we did not want to spend the money to go fishing. It is so expensive! You can spend $500 to go out and not catch anything. The downtown area was nicer than I expected. They had a pretty decent mall that they drop you off at and then when you walk through it you are at the marina. We were there right about lunch time and were both excited to have some lunch other than the food that was at the hotel. I really liked walking around the marina ( minus the people trying to sell you stuff). Here are some pictures from our day.
And I didn't have to spend $500!
All the fishing boats
A sweet old man offered to take our picture at lunch
#Cabo
Beautiful day walking around
We headed back to the hotel to have some more pool time before it was time for dinner. Sunday was our day to ride razors around and I was SO excited!
Sunday morning we got up, head breakfast and walked out to the lobby of our hotel. We were looking for a van to come pick us up that said ATV Cactus tours. At about 10:00 they arrived and we were off! I want to say it was a 40 minute drive. It seems to take a little longer than going to the airport but I was still distracted by looking at the scenery. Just driving around seeing everything made me more excited to go back to Sonoma County! When we arrived we had to check in and get all our info. It was quick and easy to do. When they explained everything to us I was thinking we would all be in a lone going slow and not very exciting…..I was wrong. This had to be my favorite day in Cabo! Riding around in that razor through the desert and on the beach was SO much fun!! Zac and I loved it. I know Im kind of over doing it on the pictures but I feel like pictures are worth 1000 words.
Ready to ride. You get really dusty so the bandanas are a must!
Some of the desert scenery
So much fun!
I think we were out there about two hours but I felt like I could ride all day! Our van came and picked us up when we were all done and it was time to head back to the hotel. We had some other people in our same van that had to get back to their hotel so we dropped them off…..while we were close to down down dropping off another couple Zac and I decided to ditch the van and get some lunch! I was craving some GOOD mexican food ( not the hotel stuff). So now that we knew our way around we walked over to the Marina and had lunch outside enjoying the beautiful weather! It was the perfect end to our little vacation.
Monday came and it was time to head back to the good ol USA. I was SO excited to go back home. I don't want to sound like Im not grateful because I am but this just wasn't my favorite trip. When Zac and I go up to the Smith river and have our own cabin….now THAT is my kind of vacation. Mexico was fun and I am glad that I was able to experience it but I don't know if I'll be going back any time soon.
Stay tuned because my next blog post will update you on my birthday present! Im so excited!
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