It’s winter in Pennsylvania right now, but in the Riviera Maya it’s peak season. People from all over the world fly into Cancun and Tulum International Airports to experience sun, vitamin sea, Mayan Culture, all inclusive abundance, world class spa resorts, cenotes and golf as if summer never ends. My first experience with Quintana Roo happened at a resort near the city of Puerto Morelos called El Dorado Maroma which at the time was a Karisma resort. It actually was two resorts in one with the newly opened Palafitos over water bungalows. We returned to this resort in February of 2024 after a week of concerts at Moon Palace and remembered why we have tried different resorts in the area.
We first discovered this location in 2019 for our official honeymoon. Five years later and after bouncing around other All Inclusive locations in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area we’ve learned a lot about how to holiday in the Riviera Maya. We have also learned a lot about the people who put so much effort into making our vacation experience so special from the time we touch down on the tarmac at CUN until we arrive at our resort of choice. The first time we landed at El Dorado Maroma we thought it was a large resort. In retrospect it’s pretty tiny with a shared public beach club. The beach is pretty good and had dodged the sargasm issue.
Ok, not to sound like a travel critic, but this was an amazing resort. This is not our most accessible resort however. This is also the resort where the island triggered my osteoarthritis. If you are going to stay here, be a Palafitos splurge. The food and the service at the Palafitos is on par with the service at LeBlanc in the Hotel Zone as the one restaurant for Palafitos rotates daily to give you different cuisines. The gym location is shared with the rest of the resort and is tiny by modern standards in the Cancun, Playa del Carmen area. This resort is around a 45 minute drive from CUN.
