Travel Friday: Riviera Maya - Where it all began!

Our very first trip (and when we caught the travel bug) was to Riviera Maya Mexico in March of 2006. We stayed  three nights and it was not enough. We had a beautiful view from our room and were a 15 minute walk into downtown Playa Del Carmen. I didn't have a good camera so there are not very many pictures. 

We stayed at the Viva Wyndham Maya and it was great. The rooms were spacious and almost every room had a great view. The food was good and the bartenders were amazing! They even had a swim up bar and were right on the beach. It was perfect.

Here is the view from our room:

Since the hotel was right on the beach, we signed up to go snorkeling and para sailing. These pictures were taken with a throw away water camera. Not too bad. 

Para-sailing view!

Snorkeling.

  Downtown Playa Del Carmen is awesome! There are a ton of restaurants, shops and bars and the strip goes right along the beach. We spent an entire day there. We started by checking out the shops, having drinks on the water, shopping some more and then ending the night at a small bar with swings for chairs. 

Shopping in downtown Playa.

Drinks on the beach. The breeze was incredible. 

Swinging in our seats at the bar enjoying our drinks! We look so young!

  One night while we were there, we took a cab into Cancun. I had always heard about Spring Breaks here and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. It was a 30 minute cab ride from Riviera Maya and cost us $25. We walked around downtown Cancun, ate dinner, checked out a few bars and ended our night at Senor Frogs before heading back to the hotel. 

At Senor Frogs.

 We spent our last day just relaxing by the pool, enjoying the view and having some drinks at the swim up bar. I definitely wish we would have stayed longer but I just didn't know any better. I did know when we left the resort, that this would not be my last vacation and DEFINITELY not my last trip to a tropical destination. 

I learned so much from our first vacation that people now look to me for advice when booking their first tropical vacation. The following year we went to Cancun with a big group and we accompllished SO much because of everything we learned during this trip. Can't wait to share that experience. 

Happy Friday!