This an awesome place and my wife and I arrived at the best possible time for 12 days for our 28th wedding anniversary: just after Spring Break and before the Summer Rush. What can I say - generally only a few people on a mile or so of white powdery beach, water temperature fo 78 degrees and air temperature of 83 degrees- perfection! Seldom have I seen a resort that EXCEEDS my expectations from the photos. The range of free and included activities here is really impressive. There are courts for tennis and pickle ball, a small archery range and workout gyms at one end the resort, and kayaks, paddle boards and snorkeling equipment on the beach at the other end of the resort, and a staff person will personally take you out on their small (4-5 person) catamaran if you are not a skilled pilot). At poolside there are many games throughout the day (yoga and dance class, darts, bingo, sandbag toss, etc.) and a very large hot tub. Amazingly, also near the pool area is an actual full-sized trapeze (just like in a circus) for guests to use under careful supervision with safety harness and safety net. The onsite buffet restaurant has an excellent assortment and variety of food every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the quality – especially for soups and meat dishes a remarkably good. There is an option to order (at a modest...This an awesome place and my wife and I arrived at the best possible time for 12 days for our 28th wedding anniversary: just after Spring Break and before the Summer Rush.

What can I say - generally only a few people on a mile or so of white powdery beach, water temperature fo 78 degrees and air temperature of 83 degrees- perfection!

Seldom have I seen a resort that EXCEEDS my expectations from the photos.

The range of free and included activities here is really impressive. There are courts for tennis and pickle ball, a small archery range and workout gyms at one end the resort, and kayaks, paddle boards and snorkeling equipment on the beach at the other end of the resort, and a staff person will personally take you out on their small (4-5 person) catamaran if you are not a skilled pilot). At poolside there are many games throughout the day (yoga and dance class, darts, bingo, sandbag toss, etc.) and a very large hot tub. Amazingly, also near the pool area is an actual full-sized trapeze (just like in a circus) for guests to use under careful supervision with safety harness and safety net.

The onsite buffet restaurant has an excellent assortment and variety of food every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the quality – especially for soups and meat dishes a remarkably good. There is an option to order (at a modest $35 per person) a special steak and lobster tail dinner. There is also a good burger, hot dog and French fries shack open in the afternoon and late night right on the beach.

My wife and I both have experience in the restaurant business and were glad to see both good quality food and seeing that it did not go to waste. As with the activities and facilities,this seems to be a very well run resort.

There are also at no extra cost three fine dining restaurants also on site, though reservations should be made in advance. We recommend the tamarind steak, champagne chicken and vegetable lasagna at Viva Café, the four-cheese pizza and outstanding meat lasagna at Viva Pizza and the Sakana salmon and yakatori chicken skewers at the Asian restaurant named Bamboo. These restaurants have a multi-courses but overall limited menu, so this restaurant really is geared for the 5-8 day visitor, except that the buffet restaurant is always quite good.

The evening entertainment is very engaging and often participatory but also includes an impressive acrobatic and trapeze show, as well as variety shows all at the central theater which is sheltered from the weather but still with plenty of open-air ventilation.

The beach here is spotless but to avoid rocky areas and patches of sea grass near the shore, bathing and swimming are best done near the time of high tide, which can vary up to three feet in depth twice a day.
On the other hand, there is a small but excellent coral reef just about 150 yards offshore that is a must-see for beginning snorkelers. This resort also has a full scuba diving equipment center on site, with a free scuba orientation lesson at poolside. There are numerous organized beginner to advanced scuba trips that depart daily from the beach at the resort and they seem very reasonably priced.

Also take time out to walk about 30-40 minutes east of the resort at low tide to dine and visit the amazing world-famous Banana Bay Beach. Check out pictures from there as this is one of the most iconic beach vista we have ever seen. You can also walk 10 minutes west to check out the mellow Sand Bar restaurant with good food. In both cases, be sure to order something like conch soup, conch fritters or jerk chicken sandwiches that you cannot get at the resort restaurant; this is worth the splurge and the prices are reasonable.

Finally, here is a big thank-you to the wonderful staff who made this such a wonderful trip:

Thanks to Allesandro Ferrari, head of Guest Services, who ensured everything ran smoothly during this period of remodeling. Nelcy Romero for her cheerful and enthusiastic assistance with fine dining reservations, and dining supervisor Anthea, who always greeted us by name – all these folks really contributed to many fond memories.

We also deeply appreciated the many young people in charge of activities and participants in the evening entertainment programs; namely: Izzie, Sarah, Silver, KJ, Manu, Megs, Mar, Amoury, Adolfo, Ian, Blake, Irelda, Jack, Manuel, Frank, and Sara, as well as the resident musician Lucio. Their boundless energy from early morning to late at night was a real inspiration.

We highly recommend this excellent resort to all our friends.More