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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Cancun is a Caribbean paradise in Mexico - especially at luxury Sensatori resort


Well fort out: The fortress city of Tulum looks out over the sea
While lying on powdery white sand in the dappled shade of a palm tree there seemed to be nothing in this world to entice us away from our Caribbean paradise.
But, there was something...
It was a reef teeming with ­exotically coloured fish just a 15-minute swim away from Islas Contoy, the tiny dot of tranquillity we had sailed to from bustling Cancun in Mexico.
The reef didn’t disappoint as shoals of fish, every colour of the rainbow, ­encircled us. An impressive grouper passed by like the king of this underwater metropolis while French angel fish eased their way through the coral, swaying in the gentle surf.
But, just as everything seemed at peace, our guide Larissa called out: “Shark, shark.”
In the shallows below we could see a 6ft nurse shark. We just hoped it had no no plans to devour Larissa, me or any of the others invading its territory.
Suddenly, it made a swift move. ­Fortunately, towards much smaller fry.
Out of 20 Thomson guests on this day-long excursion only three of us went on the reef swim, which was a real miss for others in our party.
Still, those who felt safer on terra firma were not disappointed either. They saw some of the 1,500 fork-tailed frigate birds that nest there.
When they use their huge wingspan to soar from mangroves it feels like a scene from Jurassic Park.
While catching glimpses of some of the other 150 bird species we had lunch on the beach. Barbecued fish, gutted on the boat by a deck hand, was washed down with an ice-cold Superior lager before we returned to Cancun then carried on south by road to our luxury resort – the Thomson exclusive Sensatori, which has a Travelife gold award for being environmentally friendly and committed to local communities.
Guests staying in its 435 suites on the Riviera Maya can soak up the sun at several swimming pools and the beachfront too.
For the more energetic, there’s volleyball and football along with circuit training. You can follow core and back exercise regimes at the water’s edge.

Rooted out: Paul at Sian Ka'an

A good way to start the day is at Spoons breakfast buffet, where fresh papaya, pineapple and even more exotic fruits are served up. The really health- conscious stick to yoghurts and bircher muesli while the rest lap up syrupy pancakes, fried eggs cooked sunny-side- up, omelettes to order and Mexican pastries.
To burn off the calories tennis coach Armando put us through our paces before a visit to the luxurious spa.
It’s a place of absolute calm with a hot tub, a cold tub if you feel the need (I didn’t) and a steam room before a stress-busting massage.
For lunch there’s a Mexican restaurant overlooking the Caribbean. It serves up freshly cooked tacos, burritos and fajitas (watch out for the chilli peppers). But for the really culinary adventurous it’s got to be dinner at the Heston Blumenthal-style Le Chique, which is next to the resort’s butler-run premium section.
We sat at a table in the kitchen watching about 20 chefs preparing what must have been close to a thousand courses in one night.
Beef dishes melted in the mouth, pork belly with roasted eggplant was so ­delicious we didn’t want it to end, but parts of the 22-course Experimental (with a capital ‘E’) dinner are not for faint-hearted foodies.
While I found the dried worm salt sticking to the lip of my glass of tangerine aperitif interesting, others declined.
And cricket dust with cheesy puffed corn was very memorable.
Pairing fine wines with the food meant that we sampled half a dozen different vintages so well chosen there wasn’t a hint of a hangover the next morning, despite a nightcap in the Mojito bar.
Elsewhere, Sienna’s Italian chefs served up lovely pasta dishes, fresh fish and desserts along with good house wines.
But by far our favourite eating place was the Caribbean restaurant Zavaz, which overlooks the beach with a wraparound balcony. There’s a swim-up bar where you can take in a rum punch too.
Head waiter Javier is a master at making guests feel special and will do his best to adapt the menu to meet your requests. Grilled grouper, sea bass and shrimp were served for main courses, along with a full salad bar including ceviche (fresh fish in lemon juice). The Mexican honey and aniseed ­digestive with an espresso cortado coffee was an enjoyable way to end lunch or dinner.

Creative: Le Chique restaurant chefs producing 22-course meals

When we felt a little complex-bound we had a day out to Coba, the centuries-old ruins of a Mayan jungle city.
The Maya people settled there for the freshwater lakes and underground rivers and our guide Raul explained farms are still being uncovered today.
The centrepiece is an 80ft pyramid rising through the jungle canopy and we climbed its 120 steps in 28C heat to the temple on top. This gave us views of smaller temples popping through the thick jungle in the distance.
After a lunch of spicy beef and pork we visited a Mayan-descended family in their palm-thatched house where the mother cooked corn tacos on an open fire and an auntie worked a foot-propelled Singer sewing machine to make colourful blouses.
We also rented a car for a couple of days to travel to the Mayan city fortress of Tulum, which is perched on a cliff top above a turquoise ocean.
Walking around the “castillo” it’s easy to transport your imagination back 700 years to a time when it was a port where merchants traded the volcanic rock obsidian and honey farmed from stingless bees.
From there we drove another 30 minutes to the Sian Ka’an biosphere, where mangroves line a sand bar stretching for many miles into the sea , interrupted only by palm-fringed coves of pristine sand and crystal-clear waters in a true paradise.
Our evening was spent in the town of Tulum eating a feast of grilled mixed seafood served on a tin platter set above a small fire on our table.
Chilled Superior beer was a welcome accompaniment again as we people-watched from our pavement setting, knowing we would surely return one day.

Get there

Thomson has 7nts a/i at the 5* Sensatori Resort Mexico in Riviera Maya from £1,092pp based on 2 adults sharing, inc Dreamliner flights from Gatwick on Apr 27; Manchester departure on May 6 from £1,115, E Mids on May 9 from £1,128pp, Newcastle on May 1 from £1,062. thomson.co.uk 0871 230 2555.
Coba Mayan archaeological excursion £72.50 adult/£36.50 child.
Contoy Island excursion £82.50 adult/£66.99 child.
Car hire booked locally – around £65 (inc essential CWD) a day.
Tourist info: visitmexico.com
Time zone: UK -6hrs
Currency: Peso £1 = 21.6 (US$ widely accepted)
Best time to go: A feast for the holiday senses year-round


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