“Wakey wakey, let’s get CRAZY!!”- The wise words of the entertainment staff at the wonderful Hard Rock Cancun resort.
In August 2018 Zach and I traveled to Cancun for our honeymoon get away and can I tell you with utmost confidence that we did a lot more partying than relaxing! As we exited the airport looking for our resort transportation van we were welcomed by locals serving fresh alcoholic beverages and local margaritas….uhhh YUM! This was a clear forecast for our week in paradise.
STAY.
First let’s talk about where we spend most of our time. We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort which was everything we expected and more! We were greeted with champagne and warm hand towels. The concierge took our luggage, checked us in and gave us our VIP wrist bands (which indicate the all-inclusiveness) and set us off to explore the grounds before we settled in. Our room wasn’t ready till 3pm…it was 11am at that time. But no worries we though it through and packed our bathing suits in our personal bags and you better believe we went straight to the pool(s). This resort had one GIANT main pool with two wet bars (in the pool) we considered it the Party Pool. The second pool was located on the 3rd floor, it wasn’t so much as a pool but more like a shallow body of water for adults only, we considered that the Calm Pool.
After getting our room keys we were escorted to our room which was absolutely breathtaking. Ocean view, large Jacuzzi, and best of all stalked bar with liquor of or choice #Perfection. My favorite part would be how room service would come to our rooms while we were out to dinner every night and leave us a plate with very fancy deserts to top our night off. Another fun fact was that the resort entertainment held a different show in their outdoor theater every single night. Zach and I watched circus acts, rolling stone band, magic show and much more. The resort held many different events and games throughout the day to meet anyone’s needs *cough cough* like one night I was brought to the serving side of the bar and taught how to throw bottles in the air (or at least attempt)!! So fun.
The second day there we went to the Spa which was Afreakingmazing. Zach and I did the couples massage and being our first time we didn’t really know what to expect. The pamphlet said full back massage so we though going into it, it would be okay to get fulling naked under the blanket. Well well well we both had a nice belly laugh when both masseuse lifted up the blanket to reveal our legs and begin to massage our full leg including the glute and then asked us to FLIP OVER HAHAHA!! Memories memories I told myself.
PLAY.
SO I’m going to try and keep this brief because we did A LOT. We adventured through 5 different excursions and I’m about to tell you all (but briefly).
Isla Mujeres- for this excursion (like most) we got on a large boat with about 20 others and headed for the blue waters to snorkel! Got all our gear strapped on and jumped into the crystal clear warm waters and explored the stunning underwater world. After about an hour of snorkeling and getting stung by a jelly fish (it was only a small one but STILL) we got back on the boat and headed to the private isla mujeres beach front property were we enjoyed an authentic lunch and relaxed on hammocks in the sun. This is also the same day we both turned into lobsters. Back on the boat we all made our way to the main part of the island to do some shopping at the street markets. There Zach and I bought all our souvenirs and enjoyed a nice Cohiba cigar on the beach. Back on the boat we finally made our way back to the resort- yes I know longest day ever- we were exhausted and you can tell everyone on the boat was ready for a long nap. But the boat crew had a different plan…they pulled out a handle of tequila, cranked the music up and started pouring shots into our mouths- no this wasn’t a 21+ tour boat LOL- we go to experience a local Mexican battle off with a tourist on who could chug the tequila bottle the longest. I still cringe to this day as I watch the video on my phone of the man chugging for 30 long straight seconds.
AquaTwister- This excursion brought out our inner child rebellion side. We signed up for a high speed boat ride. We sat in the back row because they said it was a more wild experience (they weren’t lying). Strapped in as if we were riding a roller coaster we took off on the smooth waters. We were flyingggg so fast I could hardly keep my eyes open! Then our driver did the “twister”, made us look like we were about to crash straight into an island and at the very last second whipped the boat into a complete 360 as a huge wave of water crashed over us. This repeated about 6 times while music was blaring through the boat speakers. Wicked awesome adrenaline rush to say the least.
JetSki Jungle Tour- for this excursion we were given a large jetski and followed the tour guide through the marshs to a large open body of water that was netted off. We got our snorkel gear on a dove into the water. This snorkel experience was significantly better that the previous because our tour guide had a bottle of fish food in his hand which attracted ALL the fish. Seriously it was like a dream having all these beautiful fish swim through your hair, fingers, and legs! But these dang transparent jellyfish I swear were out to get me again!
Zip Line- This excursion was full day and started out with a trip to where the fresh water and sea water meet. We got our snorkel gear on- again- and this time we had the option of wearing life vest that don’t float! This was great because it allowed us to dive under and get up a personal with sea life. Out of all the snorkel experiences on our trip this was by far my favorite one. Aside from the absence of jellyfish we were able to see a variety of sea life and I swear diving under to get a closer look made our experience that much better. After snorkeling we hopped on our tour bus a drove to a huge plot of land filled with zip-line obstacles. We got dressed in weird looking harnesses and helmets and climbed a butt load of stairs. Every tower we got to we had to climb all the way to the top (yes I’m lazy). The cool part of this zip-line experience was that they had a different style of flying at each tower. For example one tower Zach and I were able to race each other, the next I was strapped at the legs and went head first like superman, another tower we sat in a hammock and rode that down the zip line. So fun!
Dolphinus- Okay last one I promise. For this excursion we got to swim and interact with the dolphins! I loved it, it was a blast. But if I’m being honest, which I am with you all I would have rather snorkeled another time. Don’t get me wrong the dolphins were fantastic, super sweet and loving but it’s just something with animals in captivity entertaining tourist that just rubs me the wrong way. We maybe interacted for 30min and then payed for a $45 picture on top of our $150 excursion fee.
EAT.
Mmmm my favorite part! Food food food! Our resort had an Italian Restaurant, Mexican Restaurant, Japanese Steakhouse, and Brazilian Steakhouse along with their full day breakfast lunch and dinner buffet. We didn’t care much for the all-day buffet but me oh my the restaurants were to die for!
Let’s first talk about the Mexican restaurant because we ate there for dinner 3 times during our stay. If you know Zach and I you now our love for Mexican food and this restaurant had the best fajitas my taste buds have ever tasted. Zach always ordered the steak and I the chicken and below is the picture and it just doesn’t do it justice! On our last night I thought I should order desert and got the churros…the came out rock solid and definitely inedible, but I didn’t complain becausec my stomach was so satisfied with the fajitas.
Alright next we have the Brazilian steakhouse, our second favorite restaurant in the resort. They had everything your typical steakhouse serves and they don’t stop coming. Zach and I love our meats and this if by far the best way to satisfy your drunk munches after laying by the pool all day long.
Quick little side note to give praise to the wood fired pizza we always ordered for lunch by the pool. It was heavenly (never thought I would enjoy pizza in Mexico).
Okay moving on…Italian Restaurant. I love me some carbs and nothing satisfies has much as a good bowl of pasta carbonara! Which is exactly what I ordered with a delicious glass of pinot grigio. BTW my homemade pasta carbonara recipe is in the “LIFE” category blog, check it out! We also started with crispy fried calamari and ever so fresh caprese salad (currently salivating).
Last is the Japanese steakhouse. First off we made the mistake of not making reservations for the habatchi table like we had hoped for but the food was still good (my husband may think differently). We had some fancy looking sushi to start and Phad Thia as our main. I loved it but my husband isn’t a fan of onions and peppers so he quickly shot that down. Safe to say we ordered some room service later that night.
After this fun packed week we both needed a vacation from our vacation. But we wouldn’t have done it any other way…except maybe take it a little easy on the tequila shots and foam party!
Have you ever been to Cancun Mexico? If so, comment your favorite part!
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