I am officially a Club Med Fan

I hate to admit it but before my recent trip to Club Med-Cancun, I think I was a bit of a travel snob towards Club Med type vacations. I thought Club Med was for travelers who didn’t have a sense of adventure and wanted everything nicely packaged for them. I did go last year to Club Med Turkoise because it was sort of a family vacation. I really didn’t think I would be going again after using my travel credit from last years trip. However, I am a now an official Club Med fan. Well, at least on Facebook. There really is something for every type of traveler. Whether you want to just chill out at the beach or want do some of the excursions. There was plenty of adventure on my trip. I went water skiing in the lagoon home to a crocodile that the staff has affectionately named Albert. Swam in the ocean where the day before a barracuda joined the water aerobics class just for some fun. The best part was that I really did not have to worry about anything. The only decision I made during my week trip was what I wanted to eat, drink or do. And sometimes that was already done for me. For example, before I even knew I was thirsty the “Beach Boy”, would show up next to my little piece of heaven on the playa with a cold lemonade. Sometimes its just nice to check out and not have to do anything. Here are my top five favorite things at Club Med Cancun:

1. Lunch at the restaurant by the water
2. Showers at the beach
3. Yoga at the beach
4. Sailing
5. The colorful sky

After this experience, I definitely want to go back soon to Club Med soon- like right now.

No More Club Meds

I am cautiously getting ready for some fun in the sun at Club Med in Cancun. I have to admit that I have been a bit wary of taking advantage of my 7 day all-inclusive Club Med credit. Most travellers, even the adventure seeker ones who would never willingly go to Club Med, would be embracing a 7-day all inclusive free vacation and wondering why somebody would have travel cold feet. I have to say that this vacation comes with some baggage. That is the hurricane kind. We got the credit after having our vacation rudely interrupted last year at Club Med Turks and Ciaos by hurricanes. That’s right not just one but three hurricanes. Hurricane Hanna, Ike and I believe the last one which we may have dodged was Hurricane Josephine. The hurricanes trampled through our much sought after all inclusive beach vacation like terrible 2 year old brats.

We had the pleasure of meeting Hurricane Hanna at her infancy. She arrived the same night as us to the resort and wasn’t too bad the first night. We danced in the outdoor disco with Hanna rocking in the background and I thought well hurricanes are not so bad it’s like having natural strobe lights with the lightening in the background. This is because growing up mostly in Cali, I never knew hurricanes are initially storms than turn into hurricanes. So Hanna came back the second night in her true nature as a hurricane and crashed our party. She didn’t even give us a chance to get 3 of the essential vacation D’s (drinks or dancing). That night she howled through the complex like a betrayed woman out for vengeance breaking windows, roof tiles basically anything she could wrap herself around. Hanna was angry she made a huge mess of the resort which resulted in the closing of all activities. We started referring to the resort as Club Med Turks & Chaos. The scuba diving license that I almost lost my hearing for in my training dives was of no use on this trip. Neither were the 2 new bikinis I was planning to tan in. My photos from the trip consist of documentations of wreckage instead of me on the beach with my new bikini. For the rest of the week my activities were limited to taking an exercise classes or drinking at the open bar. I learned quickly that it was best not to combine the two. I came back from Turks and Chaos tanless but more in shape and a borderline alcoholic. I also benefited from trip credit that I will be using in a week at Club Med Cancun. Hopefully it will not be another Club Meds as I hear its close to hurricane season.

Turkoise (Turks and Chaos 2008)

The Honorable Security in Turquoise overlooking the ocean after Hurricane Hana left.