Family holiday to Mexico

Having already been to Mexico a number of times on previously holidays, I already knew the beaches were stunning, there is a vibrant culture with so much to see and do, the hotels are a really good standard with excellent service and high quality food and beverages. This is what convinced me that it would be an ideal holiday destination for our family. As most of the resorts are all-inclusive, a holiday to Mexico can be as relaxing or as busy as you’d like it to be.

I have written a blog about travelling long-haul with children, which you can also read.

I planned ahead and involved the children, to prepare them for the trip and to build excitement. We read about all of the different things to see and do. We decided to go snorkelling with turtles at Akumal, so I bought children’s snorkel masks & we practiced using them in the bath before we went. It was great fun.

On arrival to Cancun airport, we were met and taken by private transfer to our resort. I chose a private transfer to make the journey as hassle free and quick as possible (no waiting around in lines or being held up by others). I would recommend that you do the same when travelling with children. The difference in cost is minimal.

Dreams Natura Resort and Spa is a 5 star all-inclusive beach resort. It is situated in a quiet area (maybe too remote for couples looking for nightlife or families wanting to be in the centre of all the action). The airport transfer took just 20 minutes.

We booked a Preferred Club junior suite with sea view. It was very spacious and beautifully decorated, with all the facilities you would expect from a luxury hotel with room safe, mini bar etc. We even had a jacuzzi on our terrace. A luxury not always available at other hotels is complimentary 24 hour room service. Very handy if children are having a nap and you would like a drink or a bite to eat. The facilities at Dreams Natura (and all Dreams resorts) are fantastic, including kids club, teens club, a beautiful spa, excellent gym, four swimming pools including a kid’s pool and an adults-only pool, a lazy river, 4 water slides, roll-glider (seated zipline), climbing wall plus water sports and daily entertainment. Yoga is held at the beach pavilion (weddings are also held here).

There is a large number of restaurants to choose from and they are all excellent! Options include Mexican, Italian, French, Asian, seafood, a steakhouse, a buffet (handy for children) as well as grab n go from the Barefoot Grill (chips, chicken wings and burgers), a café with great coffee, drinks, and treats, plus an ice-cream parlour which the kids absolutely loved. They wanted to visit it every day! Being a luxury resort, there are no wrist bands, and you are not required to prebook restaurants in advance (except for the Teppanyaki show) - a huge gripe of mine with some all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean! You can dine where you want when you want. If a restaurant is busy, you don’t have to wait in line. You are given a buzzer and can go to the bar for a drink or for a walk on the beach until your table is ready (we only experienced this wait once at this hotel).

The hotel app is brilliant, not only to see what restaurants are open and to view menus, but to see what is happening each day in the resort. There are tablets provided for use in the bedrooms and you can download the app to your mobile phones also.

The hotel staff are excellent & they work hard every day preparing for events and providing entertainment. The children loved the staff in the kid’s club. The evening entertainment is great. There is live music at the lounge bar, shows in the theatre (we loved the silent disco, and the acrobatics show) and some more low key bars with pool tables etc. There are a number of bars including a swim up bar and a beach bar with swings.

Note: There was a lot of sargassum (seaweed) on the beach, which is an annual occurrence during the summer months. It was particularly bad when we visited; however, the hotel was very active every day in cleaning it up. If you visit Mexico at that time of year, you will more than likely see this clean up happening at all of the beaches along the coast. The beaches are stunning and are hugely important for tourism, so they are looked after very well. The Preferred Club rooms include a 25 min chair massage along with other benefits. I availed of this & it was a lovely treat. They only do this short massage during certain times each day & it fills up in advance. You can book longer massages or other spa treatments at an additional charge. We spent our days relaxing and enjoying everything the hotel had to offer. The time flew by. With young children, we felt that we had everything we needed within the hotel and did not need to leave at any stage. It is a really well appointed resort.

I prebooked the Jolly Roger pirate ship excursion. This included transfers from our hotel to Cancun where the boat set sail from. The show includes music and a meal. We sailed around the area while the sun set. We all really enjoyed this. A big thumbs up.

As many of the scheduled day tours depart early in the morning and spend a full day visiting a number of different areas/attractions, they didn’t suit us as a family with young children. Instead, I booked car hire for a day giving us more flexibility. It was delivered to our hotel with car seats for the children. I prebooked a snorkel trip from the dive centre at Akumal ($35 adults / $25 kids). The beach is stunning and the turtles feed here daily very close to the shore. The children did great with their snorkels (which I brought from home), and we all really enjoyed this experience. We had lunch at a beach restaurant and relaxed. On our way back, we stopped off at a cenote and had a swim in the cool water with the jungle surrounding us. Truly magical. Note: Cenotes close by sunset, so plan accordingly.

What a day! And what a holiday. Mexico, we will be back!!