Spring Break Adventures in Playa del Carmen
/I just returned from my senior year spring break trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and I had the most incredible time. I was there with my mom and her friend, and three of my closest girlfriends. We were also joined for three days by four of my good guy friends!
We stayed at the gorgeous Rosewood, Mayakoba and it felt like heaven on earth. We were able to have a home that was situated over a lagoon, and every morning when we woke up, I was at such peace because of how calm and serene our surroundings were.
Not to sound cliché, but every day was honestly a new adventure. We did everything from stand-up paddle boarding to taking a catamaran boat out, exploring the area on bikes, and eating our weight in delicious tostadas!
Here are a few of my favorite memories from our adventures in Playa del Carmen.
Tropical Drinks
As I have said many times before, I am a tequila girl through and through, so of course I was all about the margarita life. One day when we were on the beach, my friend Emilie suggested that we ask the bartender to surprise us with three different drinks that he considered to be his specialty drinks. They were so colorful and absolutely delicious! One drink was made with tequila, one with sparkling wine, and one with rum. They were all fantastic! But I have to admit that I returned to my classic margaritas the next day.
In fact, we even decided to take a margarita and mojito making class one night at the bar by the beach. We had so much fun going behind the bar and learning how to mix the ingredients into a perfect drink. Our bartender who gave the class was quite the character and he had his own way of doing tricks while concocting the cocktails. I tried coping his style by throwing the shaker over my head and spinning around, but I definitely didn’t have the flair that he did.
Later in the week, we decided to try drinking fresh coconut water straight from a coconut! We had seen a family enjoying one earlier, so we wanted to try one for ourselves. I’m not going to say that it was my favorite drink that I have ever had, but it was fun to drink from the coconut for the experience.
Tostadas
Mayakoba, the community that we were staying in, consists of three different resorts, Rosewood, Banyan Tree and Fairmont. So last year, the development group that owns Mayakoba decided to build a Pueblito in the middle of the community that people visiting each resort would have access to. The Pueblito has two cafes, a coffee shop, an art gallery, a boutique and a golf pro shop. My favorite place however, is “La Fondita” which is a tostadas café owned by the Rosewood.
Even though among the three hotels there are nine incredible restaurants, La Fondita may be my favorite because it is so casual, yet so authentic and delicious. During the week, my friends and I had lunch at this café two different times and I probably could have gone another time. My two favorite tostadas that they offer are the chicken tostada and the pulled pork tostada. My family has gone to this café probably 6 times in the past couple of visits, and I get the same thing every time. They are that delicious!
Color Everywhere
One of the things that I love the most about visiting Mexico, but Playa del Carmen in particular is that everywhere I look, there are bright, vibrant colors in the architecture, clothing, food and drinks.
Design wise, I typically like clean, cool colors such as white, blue and neutral. However, whenever I travel south of the border, I am immediately attracted to brighter colors and it makes me feel more connected to the culture. Of course it also helps that the ocean was a gorgeous shade of bright turquoise!
Now that I have returned from my Mexican adventure, I am still finding myself drawn to vivid colors both in my outfits, and in the meals that I prepare each day.
Ocean Activities
On our first morning of the trip, the ocean was so calm that there were no waves whatsoever. It was so turquoise and dreamlike, so we decided to try stand up paddle boarding. I had paddle boarded in a lake before, but I didn’t know how I would do trying to balance in the ocean, but it was surprisingly easier than I thought! Emilie and I had so much fun just goofing off on the boards out in the ocean, and even tried to do yoga poses like I often see on Pinterest, but let’s just say my form wasn’t up to par.
The next day when my friend Madi arrived, we decided to go out on a catamaran trip because the wind had picked up and we thought it would be fun to be in the ocean with the big waves. We had so much fun and were laughing the entire time! Our guide probably thought we were crazy girls but nonetheless, it was great.
Trying to be Taylor Swift on a Swan
I know that I posted about the pool floats in a previous post before I left for my trip, but I wanted to give an update. The doughnut and swan floats were a huge hit!
The doughnut float was super relaxing to lay in while in the pool, but the swan float on the other hand provided me with more of a workout. My friends will vouch for me here when I say that I have never been as uncoordinated in my life as I was trying to get onto that swan float! I kid you not that two of my friends had to hold the float still in the water and help to pull me up onto it. It’s not my fault though! I think that the float was a little bit over inflated, and I have faith that next time, I will be able to climb up onto my beloved swan float with ease and grace!
Now that I am back at Wake and settling into my daily routine, I am really missing Mayakoba. I miss the culture, the way of life, the ease of each day and the hours of uninterrupted time that I was able to spend with my closest friends on the beach. I had some of the best conversations there and I felt myself truly unwind and be myself.
This was one of my favorite vacations of all time, and I can’t wait to return to Rosewood, Mayakoba very soon!
XOXO,
Rachael Claire
