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We returned June 30, 2002 from the Bahia Principe Tulum from a seven-night Apple Tour. Our departure and arrival from BWI were uneventful. Everything went very smoothly from the airport to the Bahia. It is a long walk from the Cancun terminal to the Apple bus so do use the airport porters. The Bahia is a little over an hour from the airport. Our whole bus was going to the Bahia so the Apple rep did his little welcome orientation on the bus. We were greeted in the lobby with mimosas. We arrived about 11:00 a.m. our rooms were not ready until about 1:45 p.m. There were 20 in our group and I believe we were all in our rooms by 2:00 p.m. We changed in the lobby bathroom and were off to the beach to wait for our rooms. You may be wondering about the “rock” issue. You can get by without water shoes I did because someone in our group forgot theirs and borrowed mine but I’m just a wader. At the Tulum end of the beach it is strewn with rock and coral in and out of the water. As you walk down the beach more toward the end of Tulum the beginning of the Akumal side of the resort there are less rock/coral close to shore in the water and little to none on the beach. The best stretch of sea for wading and swimming is from past the dive center boats to the last pier. The snorkeling is excellent – swim along the rope. The current was strong every day – red flag – three afternoons they switched to yellow late in the day, after 3:00 p.m., the dive center closes at 4:30 p.m. Bring your own snorkeling equipment the dive center does not give out any equipment on red flag days. We spent most of our time on the Akumal side. You can take the shuttle from the Tulum lobby to the Akumal lobby but I found it faster to walk. To easily walk to the good beach take the sidewalk to the front of the Gran Tortuga then walk down to the beach and head to your right you’ll see the good beach. Between the two piers there are steps up to the Akumal lagoon pool. Excellent location to sit either at the beach or pool (sea view at the pool) at this point you are near a bathroom, three bars and the Akumal buffet (sea view). Remember to take a coverup and beach shoes to use at the buffet. I’m a vegetarian and could always find something to eat but I did not go expecting too much. Mama Mia was my favorite of the ala carte’s. Try the chocolate cake with the liquid center, excellent. We had reserved a junior suite with a sea view we got the junior suite but no sea view that was disappointing. The resort was 100% capacity so we could not move until Tuesday by then I was settled in the room so we stayed put. The room was spacious and the maid did a good job keeping it clean. There are motion sensors in the room if you leave either door open the air cuts off. We did not go to any shows. We spent each evening in the lobby bar where we enjoyed the live music and drinks. The live music ends in the lobby bar at 10:00 p.m. The bar closes at 11:00 p.m. The shows are at 10:00 p.m. in the amphitheater. We usually headed up to the Hacienda about 11:00 p.m. where our guys played pool (not air conditioned) and we sat outside listening to the live band and dancing. At mid-night the dance club opened (nicely air conditioned). I never made it past 1:30 p.m. so I’m not sure how late the dance club stayed open. The drinks were good most of the time the Akumal swim up bar made the best drinks and had a fun bunch of waiters too they jumped in the pool more than once. Our group of 20 loved it, even my husband, senor wet poncho, had a great time, if only the restaurants were air conditioned he would have been completely happy and I would be heading to the Bahia next year only to stay on the Akumal side.
Submitted by: Teresa -- recowashdc@aol.com
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Pages Updated On: Thu Nov 20 2008 - 00:00:13
