Next Pool for the Grand Mayan?

The Grand Mayan Resort at Nuevo Vallarta claims to have a large sized pool area.

Well it is true. But maybe not by Chilean standards. Take a look at the following article:

Try making a splash in the world's largest swimming pool... it's 1,000 yards long

Last updated at 08:38 23 January 2008

If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one.

It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, had a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water.

Yesterday the Guinness Book of Records named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world.

Acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest swimming pool, the lagoon measures 1,013 metres in length and covers an area of eight hectares.

But if you fancy splashing out on one of your own and you have the space to accommodate it then beware:

This one took five years to build, cost nearly £1billion and the annual maintenance bill will be £2million.

The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile's southern coast, since it opened last month. Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end. It dwarfs the world's second biggest pool, the Orthlieb - nicknamed the Big Splash - in Morocco, which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympic size pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards.

The saltwater pool contains 250,000 cubic metres of water and is navigable in small boats.

Children play in the clear waters of the 3,323 ft long pool.

Chile's monster pool uses a computer- controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other.

The sun warms the water to 26c, nine degrees warmer than the adjoining sea.

Chilean biochemist Fernando Fischmann, whose Crystal Lagoons Corporation designed the pool, said advanced engineering meant his company could build "an impressive artificial paradise" even in inhospitable areas.

"As long as we have access to unlimited seawater, we can make it work, and it causes no damage to the ocean."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-509718/Try-making-splash-worlds-largest-swimming-pool--1-000-yards-long.html#ixzz0W1CoS4JW

Wow!

Thanks to Mail Online, Thursday November 5, 2009 edition for the article and Reuters for the photos.

If you would like compare the Grand Mayan pool with this one, follow this link.

Travel Time Is Here Again!

Mexico has been hit hard!

In May, 2009, International flights in May to and from airports serviced by one of the Mexican airport service companies (Grupo Aeroporutario Pacifico) reported in June that May traffic was down by 44% from the previous May. Wow!

Traffic overall was down 37%. So, for the first time in several months, International travel declined more rapidly than domestic travel.

So, why? We all know the biggest scare is the Swine Flu. But, the number of cases of the Swine Flu is far less than the number of cases of regular old flu flu!

Also, the drug cartels are trying their hardest to make travel to Mexico seem unsafe by terrorizing rival gangs/cartels. The media is having a field day with all this stuff. You Tube and other on-line services have been having a field day as well!

Finally, the economic downturn has created havoc on jobs and other income generating sources.

Just think of all the financial types who were traveling all over in the old days and who now do not have jobs.

Overlay the obvious on the drop in the stock market and the heretofore untouchable companies that have traveled through bankruptcy and you have increased the number of travelers who decided not to go anywhere enormously.

Well that was then and this is now.

We are not out of the woods by any stretch, but we can start planning with more confidence than in the recent past.

If you want to feel special, travel to some of the beautiful resorts in Mexico, specifically, and through out the world, more generally. Resorts that we are more familiar with include the Grupo Mayan / Grupo Vidanta resorts, which own the Grand Mayan and Mayan Palace resorts in Acapulco, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Penasco or Riviera Maya. Crowds are down and you have the whole beautifully manicured place to yourselves.

Our trip in November 2008 exposed us to the pleasure of reduced crowds. Although the resort seemed to have lots of guests, it did not seemed crowded. Beautiful place all to ourselves.

Look to the future. Plan now and let's get back to feeling positive about where we can go and what we can do!

View from the Top

Sunrise or sunset. Which is better? By that we mean, vacations are for relaxation, which implies sleeping late sometimes. In that case, sunsets are best.

Getting the right vantage point for a sunset or sunrise takes patience. Also, it takes imagination.

For example, the view of the pools in the left photo was taken in November 2008 at 6:45 AM (about) from the 9th floor of the Grand Mayan resort in Nuevo Vallarta. This resort is about a half mile south of the entrance to the Paradise Village marina in Nuevo Vallarta.

Alternatively, the photo to the right was taken at about 6:30 AM during Christmas week, 2005 at the end of the breakwater at the entrance to the Paradise Village marina. We took this photo in the small pagoda like structure at the end of the breakwater. It tuns out the beach with waves crashing is the same beach Grand Mayan beach. Just a very different vantage point.

The sunset is also taken from the same Grand Mayan deck as the pool shot. It is 9 floors up, and we think the view is beautiful. Of course all ocean views from elevated decks in resorts located along the shores of Bahia de Banderas are beautiful.

Regardless of your preference, you don't want to miss either. It is especially gratifying when you see something that surprises you when you review your photo for the first time. The pictures in this post surprised us because of the content and colors, each photo presenting a different view of the same place.

Travel Ideas in Riviera Nayarit

Our objective was to see as many sites as we could while we visited Riviera Nayarit. Our base was the Grand Mayan Resort at Nuevo Vallarta, so we decided to see how far north we could get.

Originally, we checked out www.homeandabroad.com to get some ideas about specific interesting sites in the area. The website offers a great tool that allows you to personallize your interests and keep track of your trip. Changes are not a problem. There is an estimate of the amount of time the adventure will take. And there are lots of other tips and photos. Seems to be growing.

We created list of of things to see. Very ambitious list, I might add. But, as is the case with all best laid plans, we made changes. Instead of renting a car for the week, we decided to rent for a day. Instead of tackling all the projects we planned, we tackled one.

Our drive north included Rincon de Guayabitos (on the left, above), Los Ayala (on the right, above), San Francisco, Sayulita, and Punta Mita. We found each location to be quaint, quiet, beautiful and available.

Rincon de Guayabitos, for example is a phenomenal beach area, and it is beautiful in its simplicity. Los Ayala is just around the corner from the Guayabitos beach, and is very quiet, comfortable and unspoiled by the rest of the world.

For more photos, check out www.aimfair.com and click on "Excursions".

Not only are there additional photos of Guayabitos and Los Ayala, but there are pictures of San Francisco and Sayulita as well.

The beauty of this area is attracting hotel owners and other investors. We were told by a couple of Canadians, who are in the process of buying a home nearby, that plans to build large resorts are being made. Big resorts. So our suggestion is to get in your car and spend some time exploring the Riviera Nayarit now. You can tell your grand kids that you were there when is was beautiful and quiet.

Enjoy and hasta luego!

Belated Happy New Year

Our Holidays were great! Kids in town, grand kids all over the place and plenty of good wine!

In the meantime, we have added to our passion, which is traveling in Mexico. The only challenge we have now is to understand all of this "new" technology. You know, blogging, websites, posting interesting content, images that stimulate the thought process. All that stuff.

Well, since our last update, we did travel to Nuevo Vallarta and spent 2 weeks at the Grand Mayan Resort. Since this was our first visit without any children, we had great visions of accomplishments.

So, what did we do? We got the lay of the land. We checked out the new building called the Grand Luxxe, which is a new offering by the Grupo Mayan, now Vedanta Capital. We had seen pictures but had not visited. We own so we wanted to see what it was all about.

Take a look at the Grand Luxxe tower. Five stories when we arrived grew to 7 with the 8th on the way. Looks like it will be a 9 story tower.

Grand Mayan Facilities

We are off to the Grand Mayan in Puerto Vallarta for the first time. Our normal process is to bring some frozen food so we can have a meal or three "in house." Since we have not stayed at a Grand Mayan unit before, we do not know how large the refer is. We usually take along frozen salmon and different types of steaks. It occurred to us that we do not know if the refer in the Grand Mayan is large enough to hold anything that has been prefrozen and could keep the freeze in the food.

Any help would be appreciated.

New Acquaintance

Can you believe it? We will be in Nuevo Vallarta on the first of the month. Be there for two weeks, staying at the Grand Mayan. Our excitement is high not only because it will be the first time in many years that we will be away for more than a week, but also because we will stay at a Gran Mayan resort for the first time.

We have seen the evolution of the brands within the Grupo Mayan organization. Now we have Bliss, Grand Bliss, Bliss Jungle, and Grand Mayan Jungle. What the heck ARE these?

Its interesting to see how a timeshare group evolves. Sea Garden was the first type of unit. Then came the Mayan Palace. Later the Grand Mayan and now the Bliss.

Now don't forget the condos that have been sold and the new luxury format called the Grand Luxxe.

So, from what we see in the various forums, GrandMayan owners are upgrading to the Bliss and Luxxe brands. We think this is a great progression because it assures owners that there will be ways to stay current with the times. Can you imagine how you would feel if you were a Sea Garden owner and did not have options to upgrade? That would be a dead end street, in our view.

So, anyway, any thoughts about the size of the refrigerator in the Grand Mayan units?

Grand Luxxe Villa

More and more pictures and comments are coming from Puerto Vallarta about the new Grand Luxxe Villas. We expect these accommodations will be beautiful and luxurious, but don't know yet because they have not been built.

This is the first time we have stepped out to make a pre-construction purchase. On the surface, so far so good. We are traveling in November to take a first hand look at all the progress being made.

Lots of uncertainty and faith here. But, what the heck, isn't that what life is for.....taking a chance at something that appears to fit your interests and going with it? Of course, taking the chance assumes you know full well what you want and whether the chances of success are in your favor.

This is our first blog of what we hope to be many. Stay tuned and welcome to our world!