Secrets Silversands 2016

Many people think we are on vacation all the time because we live in a house on wheels and travel to places that many only dream of going. That is like saying if you live in a stix and brix near Disney World you are on vacation all the time, not. When we are in our rig we do our own cooking, make the bed, clean the place inside and out and deal with repair issues, just like everyone else. When we vacation someone else does all that and more so we now try to get away at least once a year. A while back we bought into the Unlimited Vacation Club that gives us good rates at nearly sixty all-inclusive resorts. Our favorites are Secrets, because they are adult only kid free zones.

We have been to five different Secrets and liked them all, but we decided to return to Secrets Silversands because we like the location, the food and most of all, the people. This was part of our view overlooking the resort and one of the eight pools.

On this trip we opted to stay for two weeks and were joined by Rick and Denise the first week. In the center is the spa that we all took advantage of three different times. We both had massages and love the hydro cycle that includes steam and sauna rooms, a hot whirlpool and cold dip pool and an outdoor pool with five different water stations, all very relaxing.

With all those pools you can pick one with an Caribbean Sea view, one in a quiet corner, or the main pool where most of the fun activities and the swim up bar are located. We opted for the main pool most of the time.

This is our view of the sea. Every morning and evening we could see the cruise ships sailing into and out of nearby Cozumel. Being here and seeing the ship out at sea just reinforces the fact that we really prefer the all-inclusive resorts over the cruise 

Every evening there was a different show. Of course, because we were there for two weeks, they did repeat, but there was still plenty to keep us busy. The rock show was music from our era, the best rock music ever.

One evening was the managers' reception with food, drinks, entertainment and gambling (with their money). We have found the management to be very open and interested in any concerns or issues people have about the resort.

The circus evening was very entertaining with acrobats......

.....doing what would be death defying acts to us.

The Secrets sensuality show with scantily clad ladies and guys was a big hit. 

Denise, Nanc, Rick and I took the bike trip lead by Jonathan from the entertainment team into nearby Puerto Moreles one morning. It was a fun four mile ride passed other resorts and some private homes on a back road. 

It included the mandatory stop at the local market and a walk to the beach. Check out the lighthouses, one turned into the Leaning Lighthouse of Puerto Morelos so they left it in place and built a new one right beside the old one. 

An activity we highly recommend is the kitchen tour. They are very proud of the food service and the tour gives you an inside look at how they prepare three meals a day for 600 to 800 people. 

Of course part of the tour is getting to sample the food. Our guides were Ramiro and Ana (on the right) whom we met on our first visit to Silversands.

One of the bonuses of the kitchen tour is they offer a special meal to those who take the tour. Since the special seating can only accommodate twelve people they draw names if there are too many people. Our tour had few enough people at the end we all were treated to a great meal. And how about this?  Seated across from us are Ron, Kay, Jerry and Kris whom we met at Secrets Akumal a year ago. It was a great evening getting caught up with them over a fantastic meal that started with an assortment of appetizers, soup, surf and turf and ended with a flaming dessert. Of course as they always do the had a veggie entree for Nanc. 

At all Secrets you have your pick of seven restaurants for dinner offering steak, seafood, Mediterranean, Italian, French, Mexican, and Asian. Every meal is presented with all the flare of the finest restaurants. Antonio did the flaming desert at the special dinner, chocolate domed creme brulee (top left) and another evening flambe over ice cream just for us at Ratatouille. The food is another reason we chose to return to Silversands.

Another reason is the super excellente' activities and entertainment team. They have something going on all day including yoga, aqua cycling, water aerobics, Spanish lessons, dance classes, volleyball and much more. Here is Nanc with Nico, Ana, Jonathon and Emmanuel at the Mexican Fiesta night. 

Of course, many of the fun things are in and around the pool. Here we are with the entertainment team Nico, Mayra, Cesar, Rodrigo, Jonathon and Ana. They are a great team who made our stay a lot of fun.  Thanks to you all!

Nanc with Ceci, who just started the week we arrived, and Moreno who remembered us from last year. Prizes are given to the winners of the competitions and crazy games the team does.

Rick throwing darts blind folded!  What could possible go wrong? Darts also were thrown with the opposite hand, through your legs and three at a time, all in good fun.

Nanc won at darts one day and the prize was fish therapy, a flesh eating treatment at the spa. A very weird experience that she would not have paid for and does not plan to do again.  Too creepy!

She also won a bottle of tequila at bingo that we brought home.

On our beach walk one day we went passed this scene at a local snorkeling and fishing tour company. Seems one of their boats sank overnight.  With a lot of man power and a tractor they got it righted and drug it to shore. 

Nanc, Rick, Denise and me having a toddy before dinner. Being an all-inclusive, unlike a cruise, everything is included without any additional cost. 

Rick and Denise at Himitsu, the Asian restaurant. We went twice for the sushi and were the only people at the sushi bar where they served the food on a conveyor belt. It was a unique experience for all of us. I know many people have concerns about the food and water in Mexico, often with good reason, but Denise and Rick have been to Mexico several times and she said this is the first time she did not get sick.

While the daytime activities are around the pool and a bathing suit is the uniform of the day, the restaurants require that you dress up. Nanc sure does a great job of dressing up.

Yoga every morning was on the gazebo over the water. Nanc went many mornings and loved it.

A couple days each week a local trainer brought his Harris Hawk to the resort. He would release it and then walk around and call the bird to land on his glove. Very neat way to get an up close look at this beautiful rapture.

What is a trip to Mexico without a tequila tasting. After getting an explanation of the whole process we got to try several different kinds. One thing we learned was make sure your tequila is 100% blue agave. That Jose brand that is so popular in the US is not.

Nanc doing water aerobics. They also had aqua spinning in the pool.

The beach here is very nice and the water is shallow with almost no waves because there is a coral reef just off shore that breaks the waves down. The reef helps protect the Riviera Maya from hurricane storm surge.

Nanc on the beach. As you can see there were very few people on the sand or in the water. We spent most of our time at the pool, another reason I like the all-inclusive over a cruise.

While I did do a few activities, this is where I was most of the time, soaking up the rays in the pool. We had great weather every day with highs in the mid 80's and lows in the 70's. It never rained for very long but a couple of days there was a wind chill that made it feel like 81.

On the last Sunday we opted for a room service breakfast with mimosas. We had a wonderful stay and really enjoyed getting to spend a week with Rick and Denise. While we may go to other Secrets in other countries, we both agree when we return to Riviera Maya we will be at Silversands.