Smythley

If you were goin to spend 5 nights in the Riveria Maya, which of these would you choose? What is closer to "other" things to do? What are the pros and cons to each?

Is it a good idea to go ahead and book the transfer from airport to hotel when I make reservations, or is there a better way to do it?

We definitely want to do some tours as well. An ATV/zipline tour sounds great, as does snorkeling cenotes and Mayan ruins tour. Any suggestions along these lines would be great.

Thanks again for the great advice I've been getting on Fodors.

MFNYC

Haven't been to either resort, but I do think you should book airport transfers in advance, whether through a package with the resort, or separately. We recently used www.entertainment-plus.net for transfers to a condo in Playa Del Carmen, and it worked out really well. The roundtrip transfer was $120. This is private door-to-door service with a van. There were 5 of us.

I'm sure either resort will have a tour desk that could arrange the tours you'd like. You can also consider renting a car for the day and doing something on your own. Driving to Tulum, Akumel, or Coba, is fairly straight forward and you can beat the afternoon bus tour rush at places like the Tulum ruins where the crowds are in full force.

shirleyk

The two hotels you mentioned are near each other. We recently stayed at Secrets Maroma and liked it very much. Book your transfer from and to the airport before you leave home. Once you exit the airport there will be so many transfer companies picking up passengers that you won't want to be looking for one then.

lifetothefullest

Those are both two really nice resorts! The beaches are great at both, but if you go to Secrets Maroma, it is one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Secrets Maroma is a bit nicer than Valentin but if price is a factor, you won't lose much by going with Valentin. I think booking the transfer before you fly out is recommended, it will save you trouble in the end!
Beth
www.riviera-maya-hotels.com

tcinct

Hi,
Here's a review for Edventure tours I wrote on trip advisor from last summer-though we didn't zip line, that was an easy option to arrange.

Edventures Tours was quick and responsive to answer our questions via email. On the day of our tour we were promptly picked up in an A/C, immaculate 12 passenger van at our hotel at Maroma Beach. We were brought to the business with other hotel guests to Tulum where we met Eddie, the owner. Though we usually bring our own masks, we were encouraged to use Edventure's masks. We were glad we did because they didn't fog up once the entire day! Our tour was customized for 2 adults to go snorkeling the cenotes of Dos Ojos which was incredible. Next, we enjoyed swimming with turtles at Turtle Bay, and then had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. We spent some time snorkeling in the lagoon aquarium in Akumel before we returned to our hotel. Our tour guide was Hector. Hector was a pleasure to spend the day with! He was so helpful and accommodating. Hector even took pictures for us while we were snorkeling. This is a tour company that we have no hesitation reccomending or using again.

I have a review for Secrets Maroma-I'll try to find that and post it, too.

tcinct

Here's what I wrote about Secrets Maroma and Banyan Tree Myakoba. There's transfer info, too.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...Peninsula.html

We're going to give Valentin a try in April.

Hope that helps!