Drew’s Daily Deliberations

My new wife and I stayed at the Kantenah Palladium for our honeymoon. When we were researching possible destinations (using sites like tripadvisor.com), we tried our best to filter out the reviews that really did not represent the true nature of the resorts. In doing so, this resort came out on top. So we booked and waited anxiously.

Note: this may be a bit of a long review. Hope some find it useful.

We made a great choice.

I doubt any resort, for any price, is perfect for every person. That said, this resort was certainly near perfect for us, and I would estimate that most people will love it here.
We booked with Transat Holidays, and upon arriving at the Cancun airport, were a little unsure where to go next. Basically, we just followed the crowd outside, where we met up with our bus to the resort. It only stopped at 4 resorts, with ours being the first. While the bus ride was on the long side (over an hour), it was a comfortable ride. A note: the guide on the bus got everyone excited for beer/water, taking orders, and then asking people for money as he handed them the beer. It seemed that most people on the bus thought these drinks were included, and were a little upset about having to pay. We simply waited the hour until the resort.

Check-in was quick and we were greated by a nice and friendly lady. We received the proper honeymoon package that I requested when booking (this includes a room upgrade, a king bed, a fruit basket, and a couples dinner). They did not ask to see any proof of a recent wedding, so you may be able to take advantage of them and get that package at any time. We heard from many many people that they only got double beds, not king, and it seems there is only a few kings in the resort, and they are given to honeymooners as a priority.

My wife knows Italian, and thus can recognize many spanish words. She kept asking the staff how to say various things in spanish, and you could see them perk up with our interest in their language. The staff was usually pleasent or better, but there were a few that seemed to just do there job. No matter, did not affect us in any way.

We arrived late, and in the dark this large resort is next to impossible to navigate. But it was nice just walking around, getting lost, and just taking it easy. The size of this resort is certainly a pro/con. You will like it best if you like walking. It also means that things like the salt water pool and the spa, which are not located in central areas, are not very busy, which for us was a nice plus. If you want crowds and energy (music, noise, activities), stay near the main pools and the main beach. If you want to slow down and relax, there are also many places to do that.

We did not partake in any of the activities offered, but always saw a volleyball game running, as well as people playing soccer and basketball, so it would seem to be a good place to take kids, or if you yourself wanted such activities.
We simply relaxed by the beach or a pool. Getting a chair was not difficult, even finding shade was usally not a problem, no matter the time. Sometimes the staff would take drink orders and bring them to you, but this was the exception, and was most likely near the adult pools. The main pools are deep, as other reviews mention. I saw many a person trying to transport drinks to thru the water, and I can only imagine how they would taste after getting all the pool water splashed in!

All the pools were nice, the grounds spectacular, and everything was clean and maintained. Staff was always visible landscaping or cleaning or picking up garbage.

My wife had just learned to swim, and the salt water pool made for a perfect spot to get comfortable snorkling (there are a few fish and some crabs to look for, nothing to amazing, but for a first time snorkler, still pretty neat). The reef area of the beach was a nice step up for snorkling, with many more varied fish. There were a few spots with hundreds of fish clustered together, definately worth a look.

We did two excursions during our stay, both booked with our Transat rep. As he was often quite busy, we decided to sit and wait for him as he was doing a presentation one day. When done, he came over to his desk, and we got our trips booked. Xel-ha and a dolphin swim, and a swim with whale sharks. Both were very busy, and it took some planning to get both on days we wanted to take them. We then paid and left. I want to point out that he did NOT book either activity while we sat with him, mearly confirmed what times would work, and took our money. I realized this after, and it had me worried that he would forget, as the moment we got up, he started in on the next people in line (and the line was very big).

The whale shark excursion was first. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! But only for certain people. We were picked up at 4am. Rather early!!! And then we had to drive 3 hours. And this was not a fun 3 hours. The roads in mexico, when off the main highways, are horrible. It was a very very rough drive. There was coffee offered, but neither my wife nor I drink it, and there was no water or juice. We were then put on a boat, where then went 2 hours out into the ocean. Yes thats right, about 5 hours of travel!! The boat ride at least was fun and enjoyable. The boat guide we had was great. Very friendly and talkative. He took the time to speak to each group in their language (french, english, italian, spanish). Enroute, he gave information and just chatted, helping to kill the time. We stopped and watched some dolphins, which was an extra bonus. Then we go to the whale sharks. The first one we saw was a baby, which was pretty neat. It did not take long to find MANY full grown whale sharks. For those that do not know, a whale shark is basically a harmless, but HUGE shark that eats plankton (sp). In groups of two (plus a guide) you get in the water and swim with it as long as you can. Once it swims away, the next group gets a turn. I made sure they new my wife was a very weak swimmer. She got a life jacket, and once in the water, the guide actually dragged her along, so she did not have to swim or do anything other then watch the shark. We got about a minute side by side with the animal, then it moved along. Upon getting back on the boat, she told me it was the most exciting, and the scariest thing she ever did. I had a blast. When we got our second turn in the water, we actually landed on top of the shark from the boat. This was super neat. I got hit by the tail, but it only increased the fun. We were guaranteed two swims, but were good on time, so I got a third swim. I stayed out with the shark for a long time, until I got tired from keeping up to it. They offered a forth swim, but we were all tired and passed. We then went to lunch at a mexician fishing village. Food was good, but the bathroom was, well lets just say not up to tourist standards. Then it was off back to our van. We were told it was a straight drive back, no bathroom stops, so most of us went to the nearest bathroom… only to find they charged money. None of us had change, so the tour guide actually paid for us. Had it been on the checklist of things for us to bring, I wouldn’t have mentioned it. So, summing up, it is an expensive trip, lots of travel, much of it uncomfortable, and you are only promised 2 dives in the water, equalling most likely less then 10 minutes with the shark. Yet it was totally worth it for us. Others might well find it a waste of time.

Next day was Xel-ha. Much has been written about it already, so I won’t repeat, other then to say we loved it. However, our dolphin booking almost was lost. You see, our Transat rep at the hotel wrote down 11am on our ticket, but booked it for 10am. So when we got to the dolphins at 11, they told us we were not booked. It took some time, and some kind words to them, to find out that we had been booked at the wrong time. They were happy to rebook us, but all the shows were booked up for the day. I very kindly kept talking to them, and found out that the show we were booked for, with the dolphin foot push where they life you out of the water, was all taken, but there was another type of show, without the foot push, that they could squeeze us into. Since the mistake was not theirs, and since we wanted to swim with dolphins and not go home without it, I accepted that. It was still great, but we were a little upset at our Transat rep.

Excusions aside, the only complaint we had was that the wooden walkways and bridges, with just a little moisture, get crazy slippery. My wife actually fell down the bridge one day, significantly injuring her arms. We let the hotel know about this (they said they were aware of it), so hopefully something gets done to fix the problem down the road.

Food was good, resort was good. We saw lots of animals and creatures during the week, including an ant eater (YAY!), lots of lizards, and some neat blue crabs. I did over hear a number of different Americans complaining about the resort. Comments like it takes too long to walk to the beach, or they did not have king beds, or the service for drinks took too long. But I did not think these were problem areas, so I leave it up to you. If you do NOT want to walk, and if you want INSTANT service getting drinks/food, perhaps this resort is not where you should stay. But for everyone else, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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