Home : Puerto Aventuras : Adventrua Palace Part 6
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Puerto Aventura
We had read about the beach and shopping at Puerto Aventura and thought it would be nice to see the ocean waves splashing and do some shopping for the trinkets need for the relatives back home. What a disaster this turned out to be, someone try this and tell us what we did wrong. We first looked for the free golf cart ride to the town, and after talking to many hotel reps we found that the golf carts had been discontinued and the walking gate closed. This occurred because the locals and tourist were trying to get from PA to the Aventura where the lagoon was. The only way to get to Puerto Aventura was to walk (not advisable) out the resort gate and down the highway or take a cab. It is only a 3 minute drive and cost $5 US each way. We leave about 10:30 in the morning. We go thru the control gate at Puerto Aventura and to the town, or small village or what ever. There is a inlet for fishing boats, a dolphin caged area, 20 or so small shops and the OMNI hotel. Five or 6 of the shops are real-estate offices selling the condos there, of the others only 4 were open. One restaurant, we ate free at the Aventrua, and it was great, no need for that. There was one overpriced trinket store, sold silver bracelets for $10 US more than back home. A clothing store, lots of nice dresses and garments, and a grocery store. We ask a family at the store, where the beach was, they told us that the only beach belonged to the OMNI and we would have to go through the hotel to get there. He said that it was not that great, but the only on there. We went to the grocery store and saw a sign for the LADATEL calling card. We noticed 2 phones outside and the instructions on the wall between the store and the phones. We ask to cost of the cards and found they come in denominations of 50 and 100 Peso's. We purchased a 100 peso one for $11 US, and followed the simple instructions to dial home. The US code is 001- then your area code - and phone number. We called the Houston, Texas area code and the LED read out on the phone told us 3 things ( how many Peso's were left on the card, the time remaining on the card using that area code, and the time length of the call) kind of nice. Calling the Houston area code we had a full 10 minutes of calling time.
After the call we decided to return to the resort where we knew we could use the beach, upon entering a cab, the cab driver said "back to the Aventura Palace", and I ask how he knew that, he said the bracelet. He ask if we had a good time in Puerto Aventura and I said we came for the beach. He said "what", I told him we had heard that they had a nice beach here and he said " He- - No" there is no beach like yours. We ask where he learned his English, he said he had liven in the USA for 10 years and is now back home with his family. By the way always make sure you know the price the cab will charge you before getting in, we agreed on $5 US to take us back.
Playa Del Carmen
Day 3 of our vacation, and our camera quit working, I had taken extra batteries for just a problem, but it was not the batteries. One of the bartenders looked at the camera and recommended a camera shop in Playa Del Carmen that might be able to fix it, but said he suspected we would have to go the Cancun to get it fixed. I had 10 rolls of film and no camera to take them with, so off we go. The cost of going to Playa is about $12 US each way which is 5 times the distance than Puerto Aventura, and much larger and nicer city. There are lots of restaurant, shops and miles and miles of beach. After finding out that the shutter was broken, very knowledgeable lady at the main camera store, we purchased a $39.00 Kodak replacement. We then went shopping, there were lots of nice shops, restaurant and a huge beach. We spent a hour or so in town and decided how great the Aventura was and went to get a cab and return. Why buy food when is it's free at the Aventura. My wife did check out the prices of lunch, just for info, a Mexican lunch with enchiladas, tacos, rice and beans was $10 US no drink included. I will say that Playa Del Carmen was worth the trip, it was very clean, and the people were very friendly. The folks at the camera shop were nicer and more knowledgeable than any of the camera shops in the USA. The cab ride back was 105 Peso's and the driver agreed on $11 US, as in the cab rides before I gave the driver a $1 dollar tip.
Things we did not find or Use at the Resort
We did not use the golf carts to go to Puerto Aventura because they no longer do that. We do not play tennis and have no idea the shape of the tennis courts. One web page said they have shuttle carts on the property, this must have been when they took you to PA. Another said they had horse drawn carriages, could be, didn't see any, but didn't ask or look. One site said there were snack stations in all buildings, I don't think so but why would you need this. Go to one of the restaurant get one of the many fantastic deserts they have at every meal and take to your room in the carry out boxes available. Keep one or two in your frig. like my wife did.
Cautions
Take care with your footing on the Mexican tile all around the resort. My wife claims that I am the most sure footed person she has ever known, and I slipped 3 different times on the wet tile. If you leave your room door open in the early morning for a minute or two, condensation builds just outside to door sometimes. This can also happen in the room floor below the refrigerator, if the room is warm. There is sometimes water at the bottom of the up and down stairways. This may be caused by people with wet swim wear or other things. Keep an eye out for wet tile spots, do not spoil your vacation because of a fall or slide on the wet surfaces.
Nightly Theme Shows
The resort put on a show each night at 9:30 PM, usually lasting about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The disco was open in the same room after the shows. The room is air conditioned as long as people entering close the doors once inside. Since the main patio which is open to the sky is just outside, if the doors are left open the temperature inside rises quite quickly. Some days the room was cool and some it was quite warm and uncomfortable. The 7 nights we were there four (4) of the shows were put on by show groups and three (3) by the recreation staff. I will list the shows while we were there but I am told the professional groups change around. The shows by the recreation staff are a little amateurish, but they try hard to entertain the guest, and do a great job. Some were better than the professional groups, just depends on your taste in entertainment. Give the shows a try, from the laughter and applause I would say that most of the guest enjoyed the shows.
Thur night was "Hollywood Night" - a professional group performed scenes from musicals
Fri night was "The Idea Couple" - the staff got three couples from the audience and had them do different things including changing clothes with their spouse.
Sat night was "Turn on the Radio"- professional group performed lip sync songs (incl Will Smith, Madonna, Cher, and others)
Sun night - the staff hosted "Anything Can Happen", they divided the room into 3 groups and played a name that tune game. Afterwards was sing along night downstairs in the game room.
Mon night - Casino night - staff sets up games of blackjack and roulette with play money, you can use later to bid on prizes (hats, t-shirts, etc) Seating at games was limited, get there early.
Tue night - Masquerade night - professional group performed songs and dance from horror shows ( Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Opera)
Wed night - Mayan Culture through 2000 - professional group performed authentic Mexican cultural dance numbers
Thur night - we noticed that the show this night was going to be different that the one last Thur.
There is a bar in the show room that open around 9 PM and stays open as long as people are in the disco. The room has a enclosed upper area for the DJ and has stage and disco lights with a hard wood dance floor area in front of the stage. How many people stayed for the disco depended on the night and the temperature of the room.
Submitted by: Bonnie & Dave Green -- dgreen@tisd.net
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Pages Updated On: Wed Dec 03 2008 - 06:35:15
