Resort: 3* Club Amigo Carisol Los Corales (7 nights all inclusive)

Departure Date:  December 09, 2011

Priced at: $274 + $294 tax

Source: Redtag.ca

Resort: 3* CLUB AMIGO COSTASUR (7 nights all inclusive)

Departure Date:  November 27, 2011

Priced at: $258 + $274 tax

Source: http://selloffvacations.com/

Hotel: Ocean Turquesa

Date Visited: November 7-14, 2010 (one week stay)

Price Paid: $688 + tax (booked 4 weeks before)

Room#: 17304  This room had an ocean view and was a good location to the beach, pool, bar and pool-side restaurant.     Room was very spacious.  Showers had plenty of hot water and excellent water pressure.    All rooms were located in three to four  story buildings on a property with plenty of large swimming pools.

Weather Conditions: Quite windy most of the time with a mix of sun and cloud and some percipitation.  Cool at night (required pants and a sweater most nights!!)

Snorkelling: My rating: 2.5   Only got out once and saw a huge blow fish.  Water was rough most of the week so limited the snorkelling opportunities.

Beach: Excellent Beach.   You can take walks as far as you want in either direction.  The ocean water was very warm, and there were plenty of palapas if you prefer shade.

Pool: Pools were huge; a little on the cool side.  No hot tubs for public use.

Food: I found the food very good with plenty of variety.

Opinions/Tips: Take a trip into Playa de Carmen.  Great shopping and definitely interesting to walk down 5th Avenue.

Would I return: Yes

Dive Shop: Dive it!  Ocean Turquesa  $50.00 per dive with your own equipment.  Very small dive boat at this shop.  Excellent dive shop, with a great dive master who speaks excellent English.

Dive Site: Reef right in front of the Ocean Turquesa Resort.  It is a protected National Park and there is a nominal entrance fee to dive.

Dive Date: November 9, 2010

Depths: 40 feet

Observations: Water conditions had 3 foot swells with approximately 50 feet of visibility.  The coral is in good to excellent shape.  Fish on reef were plentiful with great variety.  Saw many Morey eels, sting rays, as well as spotted rays.

Would I dive this site again: Yes, in minute!  For a shallow dive, this was excellent.

Location: Cayo Guillermo, Cuba

Hotel: Sol Cayo Guillermo

Date Visited: December 5-12, 2009 (one week stay)

Price Paid: $475 + tax (booked 2 days before!)

Room#: 301 This room had a partial ocean view and was a good location to the beach (far from the bar).     Rooms were spacious with plenty of storage.  Showers were hot and there was good water pressure.  Two story bungalows on large sprawling property considering there are only 312 rooms.  Good choice of rooms next time would be  in building 4 or 5.

Weather Conditions:Weather was very superb!

Snorkeling: My rating: 1  There was really no snorkeling to speak of at this hotel.

Beach:No swim shoes needed for this beach.  You can take walks as far as you want. The ocean water was very warm, and there were plenty of palapas if you prefer shade.

Pool:Very nice pool with a newly renovated hot tub (which was only luke warm),  The pool water was a good temperature and there were nice new lounge chairs.

Food: Could use improvement and definitely the bar drinks.  International restaurant had good food and they also served champagne.

Opinions/Tips:Definitely take a taxi to Pilar Beach ($5.00 return).  There is a restaurant/bar on site.  It would be worth checking out the snorkel trip that leaves from this beach.  Bug bites were very bad.  Be sure to take the Calamine lotion along with you.

Would I return: Yes to the Area, but not to this hotel.

Location:

Hotel: Mayan Princess (run by Henry Morgan)

Date Visited: March 1-15, 2010 (Two week stay)

Price Paid: $2,155.00 plus $130.00 tax per person

Room#: 221   Good location; overlook the pool, very spacious suites with full kitchen and sitting room.  Bottled water provided daily.

Weather Conditions: Weather was very good.

Snorkeling: My rating: 4 star.  There is actually better snorkeling down the beach.

Beach: The beach sitting area was a little crowded and area narrow at this Hotel.   No swim shoes required.  On cruise ship days the beach was very busy.  You can take long walks either way along the beach.

Food: Only buffet food is available at this resort.  Some days it was great, and other days only reasonable.  This was the first year this hotel/condo had been offered as an all inclusive destination, and they seemed to be still working out the kinks for the buffet.  The food and selection did get better towards the end of our vacation.

Opinions/Tips: Took the small (3 seater) plane ride around the island.  Well worth it!  Free internet located at the Real Estate office on the premise.

Would I return: Yes.