Mayan Riviera Resorts

Are the resort hotel restaurants/facilities open to the public? Like, if I
want to swim in the big pool, can I just walk right up? What if I want to
eat in the restaurants?

No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all Mexican
beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay at
lot more than if you ate elsewhere.

"Bob Smith" <bobesmith@> wrote in message
news:1303-4208E1B4-192@storefull-3138.bay....
> No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all Mexican
> beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
> money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay at
> lot more than if you ate elsewhere.

On paper Mexican beaches are public. In practice this in not true. In
many places the resort's security people deny access to people who are not
guests of the resort. I have experienced this first hand on more than one
beach and seen it in action on others. You might be able to swim in their
sea, but you'll have to do it without walking on "their" beach.

TB

Technobarbarian wrote:
> "Bob Smith" <bobesmith@> wrote in message
> news:1303-4208E1B4-192@storefull-3138.bay....
>>No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all Mexican
>>beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
>>money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay at
>>lot more than if you ate elsewhere.
> On paper Mexican beaches are public. In practice this in not true. In
> many places the resort's security people deny access to people who are not
> guests of the resort. I have experienced this first hand on more than one
> beach and seen it in action on others. You might be able to swim in their
> sea, but you'll have to do it without walking on "their" beach.

I've never had any problem going to a hotel pool, ordering drinks and
swimming. I've done it almost everywhere. All they *typically* care
about is whether you're there to spend money and the price of drinks and
lunch is usually worth it.
Same goes with all but I would imagine the very most exclusive beach
resorts.
Then again, I look very North American, and in Latin America, that
usually means a tourist. Perhaps they just assume that I'm a guest.
YMMV.

Mike McKinley wrote:
> Technobarbarian wrote:
>
>> "Bob Smith" <bobesmith@> wrote in message
>> news:1303-4208E1B4-192@storefull-3138.bay....
>>
>>> No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all Mexican
>>> beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
>>> money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay at
>>> lot more than if you ate elsewhere.
>>
>> On paper Mexican beaches are public. In practice this in not
>> true. In many places the resort's security people deny access to
>> people who are not guests of the resort. I have experienced this first
>> hand on more than one beach and seen it in action on others. You might
>> be able to swim in their sea, but you'll have to do it without walking
>> on "their" beach.
>
>
> I've never had any problem going to a hotel pool, ordering drinks
> and swimming. I've done it almost everywhere. All they *typically*
> care about is whether you're there to spend money and the price of
> drinks and lunch is usually worth it.
> Same goes with all but I would imagine the very most exclusive beach
> resorts.
> Then again, I look very North American, and in Latin America, that
> usually means a tourist. Perhaps they just assume that I'm a guest.
> YMMV.
>

It probably depends how much chutzpah you display. At Playa del Carmen
we walked into one smart all-inclusive place off the beach and used
their bathrooms (very nice), although it felt a little like being in
Invasion of the Body Snatchers II with the regular guests displaying
their dinky little wristbands. Apart from that, with 200 miles of public
beaches, why bother?

T.

"Tom Peel" <notreallytandp@freenet.de> wrote in message
news:37bkoaF5b2m5eU1@...
> Mike McKinley wrote:
>> Technobarbarian wrote:
>>
>>> "Bob Smith" <bobesmith@> wrote in message
>>> news:1303-4208E1B4-192@storefull-3138.bay....
>>>
>>>> No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all
>>>> Mexican
>>>> beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
>>>> money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay
>>>> at
>>>> lot more than if you ate elsewhere.
>>>
>>> On paper Mexican beaches are public. In practice this in not true.
>>> In many places the resort's security people deny access to people who
>>> are not guests of the resort. I have experienced this first hand on more
>>> than one beach and seen it in action on others. You might be able to
>>> swim in their sea, but you'll have to do it without walking on "their"
>>> beach.
>>
>>
>> I've never had any problem going to a hotel pool, ordering drinks and
>> swimming. I've done it almost everywhere. All they *typically* care
>> about is whether you're there to spend money and the price of drinks and
>> lunch is usually worth it.
>> Same goes with all but I would imagine the very most exclusive beach
>> resorts.
>> Then again, I look very North American, and in Latin America, that
>> usually means a tourist. Perhaps they just assume that I'm a guest.
>> YMMV.
>>
>
> It probably depends how much chutzpah you display. At Playa del Carmen we
> walked into one smart all-inclusive place off the beach and used their
> bathrooms (very nice), although it felt a little like being in Invasion of
> the Body Snatchers II with the regular guests displaying their dinky
> little wristbands. Apart from that, with 200 miles of public beaches, why
> bother?

You apparently didn't wander far from Playa and your measurement of the
Mayan Riviera is exaggerated. Many of the beaches in the area have no public
access. The beach itself may be public property, but if you can't get to it
your rights have very little real meaning. In other cases private security
guards employed by the resorts will stop anyone regardless of race or
nationality from walking on "their" beach without one of those idiotic
wristbands. Xpu ha, for example, is actually one of the more accessable
beaches in the area with a couple of sort of public access roads (they're
actually private roads but the public has traditionally been allowed to use
them--it's a long story), but security guards prevent non-guests from
walking on either end of that beach. I've actually walked on a deserted
beach south of Playa del Carmen, because I'm one of a relatively small
number of people who know how to access it. In many cases access to the
beach is blocked by a large resort or gated community that only allows
access to tourists, residents or workers. From what I've seen the workers
aren't allowed to use the beach at any time. Puerto Aventuras and Akumal are
classic examples of this. Ordinary Mexicans don't just walk in and use the
beaches there. In Akumal there's a portion of the beach where even tourists
are chased off by security guards. I sat on that beach for awhile just to
make the guard crazy.

TB

Technobarbarian wrote:
> "Tom Peel" <notreallytandp@freenet.de> wrote in message
> news:37bkoaF5b2m5eU1@...
>
>>Mike McKinley wrote:
>>
>>>Technobarbarian wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>"Bob Smith" <bobesmith@> wrote in message
>>>>news:1303-4208E1B4-192@storefull-3138.bay....
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>No you can't just walk up and swim in their pools, but since all
>>>>>Mexican
>>>>>beaches are public you can probably swim in their seas. If you got the
>>>>>money you can likely eat at their restaurants, but you'd probably pay
>>>>>at
>>>>>lot more than if you ate elsewhere.
>>>>
>>>> On paper Mexican beaches are public. In practice this in not true.
>>>>In many places the resort's security people deny access to people who
>>>>are not guests of the resort. I have experienced this first hand on more
>>>>than one beach and seen it in action on others. You might be able to
>>>>swim in their sea, but you'll have to do it without walking on "their"
>>>>beach.
>>>
>>>
>>> I've never had any problem going to a hotel pool, ordering drinks and
>>>swimming. I've done it almost everywhere. All they *typically* care
>>>about is whether you're there to spend money and the price of drinks and
>>>lunch is usually worth it.
>>> Same goes with all but I would imagine the very most exclusive beach
>>>resorts.
>>> Then again, I look very North American, and in Latin America, that
>>>usually means a tourist. Perhaps they just assume that I'm a guest.
>>> YMMV.
>>>
>>
>>It probably depends how much chutzpah you display. At Playa del Carmen we
>>walked into one smart all-inclusive place off the beach and used their
>>bathrooms (very nice), although it felt a little like being in Invasion of
>>the Body Snatchers II with the regular guests displaying their dinky
>>little wristbands. Apart from that, with 200 miles of public beaches, why
>>bother?
>
>
> You apparently didn't wander far from Playa and your measurement of the
> Mayan Riviera is exaggerated. Many of the beaches in the area have no public
> access. The beach itself may be public property, but if you can't get to it
> your rights have very little real meaning. In other cases private security
> guards employed by the resorts will stop anyone regardless of race or
> nationality from walking on "their" beach without one of those idiotic
> wristbands. Xpu ha, for example, is actually one of the more accessable
> beaches in the area with a couple of sort of public access roads (they're
> actually private roads but the public has traditionally been allowed to use
> them--it's a long story), but security guards prevent non-guests from
> walking on either end of that beach. I've actually walked on a deserted
> beach south of Playa del Carmen, because I'm one of a relatively small
> number of people who know how to access it. In many cases access to the
> beach is blocked by a large resort or gated community that only allows
> access to tourists, residents or workers.
The Playacar resort, right? A good example of the way the Mayan Riviera
is being exploited for money. If you walk north from Playa del C you can
walk along the beach for miles with no problems.

From what I've seen the workers
> aren't allowed to use the beach at any time. Puerto Aventuras and Akumal are
> classic examples of this. Ordinary Mexicans don't just walk in and use the
> beaches there. In Akumal there's a portion of the beach where even tourists
> are chased off by security guards. I sat on that beach for awhile just to
> make the guard crazy.
The day we were at the beach in Akumal a whole group of Mexican
schoolkids arrived and started playing round in the water. Nobody
stopped them.
T.

>
> TB
>
>

"Tom Peel" <notreallytandp@freenet.de> wrote in message
news:37f3pdF5bi7spU1@...
> Technobarbarian wrote:

>> You apparently didn't wander far from Playa and your measurement of
>> the Mayan Riviera is exaggerated. Many of the beaches in the area have no
>> public access. The beach itself may be public property, but if you can't
>> get to it your rights have very little real meaning. In other cases
>> private security guards employed by the resorts will stop anyone
>> regardless of race or nationality from walking on "their" beach without
>> one of those idiotic wristbands. Xpu ha, for example, is actually one of
>> the more accessable beaches in the area with a couple of sort of public
>> access roads (they're actually private roads but the public has
>> traditionally been allowed to use them--it's a long story), but security
>> guards prevent non-guests from walking on either end of that beach. I've
>> actually walked on a deserted beach south of Playa del Carmen, because
>> I'm one of a relatively small number of people who know how to access it.
>> In many cases access to the beach is blocked by a large resort or gated
>> community that only allows access to tourists, residents or workers.

> The Playacar resort, right? A good example of the way the Mayan Riviera is
> being exploited for money. If you walk north from Playa del C you can walk
> along the beach for miles with no problem.

Nope, not Playacar, further south. I mostly go into Playa del Carmen
for supplies or passing through to Cozumel. I like the Mayan Riviera for the
snorkeling and diving, but it makes me crazy and beach access is a big part
of it. I'm from Oregon where anyone can get on almost any beach. Everywhere
else I see lots of ordinary Mexicans on the beach. In that area it's much
more difficult for the regular folks to get to the beach.
>
> From what I've seen the workers
>> aren't allowed to use the beach at any time. Puerto Aventuras and Akumal
>> are classic examples of this. Ordinary Mexicans don't just walk in and
>> use the beaches there. In Akumal there's a portion of the beach where
>> even tourists are chased off by security guards. I sat on that beach for
>> awhile just to make the guard crazy.

> The day we were at the beach in Akumal a whole group of Mexican schoolkids
> arrived and started playing round in the water. Nobody stopped them.

Probably the kids from the day care center behind the dive shop. There
are plenty of upper class Mexicans with residences at Akumal.

TB