We stayed at the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and Spa for a week in late November 2011. It was a last minute deal through Sunwing, and overall we were thoroughly pleased with Sunwing, and the resort we stayed at! Sandos Caracol is a 10 minute taxi ride from Playa Del Carmen on the Mayan Riviera. (see the bottom of the post for pictures)
The resort itself has nearly 1000 rooms, but sprawls over quite a large chunk of land as all the rooms are in 10 unit blocks. The rooms are spread out, because Sandos Caracol is an Eco Resort, meaning it has been built in the middle of a mangrove swamp, and seeks to fit in with the natural environment as much as possible. This adds to the privacy for the rooms, and means there are plenty of interesting creatures to be encountered! More on that later.
Sandos Caracol Services & Amenities
The resort is quite large, and has no less than four swimming pools. There’s a pool just for adults, there’s a children’s waterpark (very cool!), the main pool by the beach (this is the largest pool), and a pool for Select Club members only. There are pool bars at each pool, though only the main pool has a swim up bar.
The Spa has a large gym, a couple of saunas, an interesting pool with a few massage features (ever tried standing in a fire hose before? It’s fun!), and a not-so-hot hot tub. There are also various massage services available for extra cost.
There’s nightly entertainment including movies and dances at the amphitheater. There is also a sports bar with pool tables, air hockey, foos ball, a huge chess set, a massive Connect Four game, and many other fun ways to pass the time. There’s also a whole building that is a children’s play area. We never saw inside, but it looked like kids were having a good time!
There are on-site shops and vendors from outside as well. We found that in most hotels, the vendors charge ridiculous prices, working off the fact that most guests probably never make it to town to find out about the lower prices. However, while browsing we found something we liked, and although the starting price was 250 pesos, I countered at 100 and got it for 120. So the moral of the story is don’t be afraid to barter with the merchants, as if you know your prices you can get them down to what you’d pay elsewhere. Of course, this only applies to the local merchants who setup on-site; not to the official hotel store. As a basic rule of thumb, if it has a bar code stuck on the bottom, you’re not going to get far trying to barter!
There’s a cenote close to the front desk, which you can go swimming in if you want. We never did, but if we were there longer we might have given it a shot. It’s pretty deep, and clear, and apparently has fish in it.
We mentioned the Select Club a little earlier, and that basically is an upgrade option that you’ll be presented with when you arrive. We attended the timeshare presentation (which wasn’t that bad, considering others we’ve been to! Just be clear about saying no, and you can get out quicker!) and as a result were able to upgrade to the Select Club for $32 for the both of us. It was worth it. That gives you access to the other pool, and more importantly, the Select Club lounge on the beach, which has free wifi (normally you have to pay). You also get access to the Brazilian restaurant for breakfast and lunch options. The Select lounge on the beach is pretty cool, apart from being less crowded than other places, it has its own pool table, foosball table, snack bar, drinks bar, video games, concierge, and of course hammocks and those cool 4 post beach beds with curtains.
Speaking of the beach…
Sandos Caracol: The Beach
Sandos Caracol actually has a fairly good sized beach area. It is nice and broad as well as long, and has plenty of beach chairs and palapas for shade. The swimming area is protected by some large sandbags, which help cut down the waves and keep the sand on the beach. If you take bread out you can feed the fishes and have them swimming all around you. There are fish to see if you want to go snorkeling (gear provided for free), but there are better snorkeling opportunities elsewhere.
There are Scuba classes available (they have their own boats right there). Sandos Caracol has a well equipped water sports shack with boogie boards, catamarans, windsurfing boards, kayaks and more. Most of those can be used free, with the exception of the catamarans. If you know how to use them, you can pay a $10 insurance fee, and that covers you for as many times as you want to take out the boat while you’re there. We paid an extra $30, and got a lesson with one of the instructors who taught us the basics of sailing. After that, we took the catamaran out several times on our own, which was lots of fun.
The Sandos Caracol Rooms
We chose to stay in a Junior Suite (with King Bed) which was well worth the upgrade as it gave us a more spacious porch, bigger room, and vaulted ceilings. We never actually laid eyes on a basic room, but it was clearly apparent that they were about half the size of a junior suite which we found a good size for the two of us. The bed itself was a bit hard and the room did not come with a coffee maker as we had expected, but otherwise we were very pleased. Bathroom has a large walk-in tiled shower.
The Food at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort
We were on an all-inclusive plan which gave us access to 2 buffets, 1 snack bar, 3 a-la-cart restaurants, and of course, all the bars (some of which have espresso machines). The beverages were all very tasty – we highly recommend the mojitos. The main buffet is called the International and has a large spread of food from western and Mexican cultures. They had a different theme every night so sometimes there were special options like sushi. There was always an option to create your own pasta or choose from selections on a grill. Often there is live music here as well.
The Mexican buffet has an excellent variety of fresh juice in the mornings and a range of Mexican breakfast and supper foods. The snack bar has a small fast food buffet and a soft-serve ice cream machine. You can sit and enjoy your snack while sitting on a swing and looking out on the lush scenery surrounding the open-air building. This bar is open 21 hours a day for your convenience.
The choices for a-la-cart are Brazilian, Asian, Steakhouse, Italian, and Seafood. Make your reservations as early as possible to get the selections you want. The Italian restaurant was undergoing renovations so we were not able to check this out. The Seafood restaurant is right on the beach and has a nice little selection of foods (not just seafood). The Asian restaurant offered a choice of Japanese or Chinese entrees. The idea behind the Brazilian is a good one: as you enjoy your side dishes, waiters come around with skewers of meat (7 types in all from turkey, to New York steak) so you can sample a bit of each. The only problem was it took a grand total of 2 hours to eat, so while the food was tasty, we found the experience too drawn out.
You will not starve to death at the Sandos Caracol – but be careful of the opposite! There’s food at every corner, or a drink if you prefer!
Conclusions & Recommendations
We found Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and Spa was different than any other resort we’ve stayed at. It was way larger, being spread out over quite a bit of land, but that allowed it to really pack in a wide variety of things to do, and of course eat! One of the highlights for us was the presence of all kinds of critters. We saw donkeys, peacocks, cats, racoons, coatis (very cute), painted turtles, carp, monkeys, parrots, and a toucan.
The staff were all very friendly and helpful, and were always happy to help you learn some Spanish! Our Sunwing rep was also very helpful – a definite plus. It was nice to have a local Canadian perspective on the hotel and things to do in the area. They can help you figure out the best trips to fit your style.
We enjoyed the fact that we upgraded to the Select Club. We used it a lot, and just for the free internet access alone it was worth it (considering our discount).
Don’t forget to checkout excursions in the area – see our post on Xel-Ha and Tulum – as well as our other posts from the area (more coming!).
We had a great time at the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and Spa, and we recommend it!
