All the Details Regarding our Trips to Mexico

Our family recently went to Mexico and since I shared our trip on Instagram, I thought it would be helpful to answer the most-asked questions here for future reference. So, below is just that; allllll the info!

We planned the trip as everyone’s main Christmas gift, and even though my husband and I already had our passports, we still needed to get one for the kids. It was cutting it a little close, so we decided to expedite the passports, which you can take care of while turning in all of your paperwork (we did ours at the post office.)

How I booked:

I booked through Costco travel. I believe you have to be a member to do this, but all I did was go to the “travel” tab on the Costco website, choose our location, and a handful of deals popped up. I looked at a few options, but ended up choosing the one that appeared to be the most kid-friendly, was in a good location, and this one also happened to be the least expensive.

We stayed at the Villas Del Palmar in Cabo and with our package we received:

• 5 (good) round trip flights on Alaska Airlines – these were also the shortest flights
• 7 nights in a 2 bedroom suite (slept 6)
• Transportation to and from the airport
• $200 resort credit
• $100 Costco credit
• Kids were all-inclusive (breakfast, lunch, dinner, all drinks, etc.)
• Kids and adults breakfast included

 

 

Activities the resort included that our family loved: 

-Daily Bingo. This was a HIGHLIGHT for our son, Cal, who really wanted to be back at the hotel every day by 2:00 for the kids Bingo. There were prizes of ice cream cones and even cash, so this was a big deal to him.

– Pottery painting. This was purchased separately but was a nice activity to do to get out of the sun every once and a while.

– Afternoon water volleyball- We all got in on this a few times

– Nightly shows. The dinner shows are sold separately, but our kids LOVED them and the dinner buffet was absolutely delicious.

-Every day there were also other activities and games the staff put on daily that our kids looked forward to- water balloon toss, dance class, cooking class, etc.

Requirements for U.S. Return

To get back into the US, we needed to provide a negative Covid test. This was nerve-wracking for me, but the hotel did everything they could to make the process as easy as they could. When we arrived, we scheduled our tests for 48 hours before our return flight home. It cost $25 per person, but that was given back to us in resort credit.

The tests weren’t pleasant, but not a single kid cried or complained. We were so impressed. We received our results in 24 hours and were good to go. I am sure protocols are going to change over time, so check your hotel’s website for updated info on this.

Items I packed that I am so glad we had: 

-Snorkels- we used these in the ocean and in the pool. We’ve had these for two years now and they adjusted small enough to fit the kids, too. They’re so nice not having to fuss with goggles and a separate snorkel.

-Underwater phone case- we got some great footage while snorkeling with these!

-Wikki Stix– We used these every single day! These were perfect for the kids to play with on the plane, at restaurants, sitting by the pool, and just about any time there was downtime.

Kids water shoes– These were easy to slip on and worked going to the beach or walking around.

Waterproof Birkenstocks– These are the PERFECT pool/water shoe for adults. I wore these the entire week.

Walkie Talkies– We have never packed these before but used them daily! If one of the kids wanted to go back to the room to grab something, they took a walkie-talkie. If we split up for any reason, we each had one. It just made communicating very easy! And they worked FAR!

Items we brought that we didn’t need:

-Jeans- I brought one pair of jeans and didn’t wear them once.

– Adult water shoes- we never needed ours, but the kids wore theirs often.

-A book. Ha! I know this sounds silly to add, but I bought one in the airport, thought I would have all this time to lounge and read, but with three kiddos that was not the case. But, that’s okay! I preferred to be “busy” with them.

Activities

The only activity we booked in advance was the Dolphin experience, and we booked through here. It was the highlight of the trip for our daughter as it has been on her Bucket List for quite a while. It was very fun for the whole family and the prices were reasonable. The pictures, though, are what cost quite a bit. They’re not required to get, but how could we not? There was even a bonus camel viewing and elephant ride that we didn’t even know about that came included!

One day we also took a glass-bottom boat to Pelican Island, where we first got a tour around the island which I thought was fun in itself since you are able to see so many colorful fish, sea lions, a ton of different birds, and the infamous arch. But we were then dropped off for an hour to do some snorkeling which my daughter and husband LOVED. You can book these boats right on the main beach there in Cabo.

 

We got lucky one afternoon and saw a whale in the distance, so last minute we hopped on a boat and headed in that direction and got the show of a lifetime. A mama and baby whale were jumping out of the water and it was just incredible. You can pretty much rent a boat whenever you’d like on the main beach, so keep your eyes peeled!

I THINK this sums up the most-asked questions from our trip. I hope you found this helpful and we will definitely be booking through Costco again!

As always, thank you for stopping by!

<3 Shannon

Mexico- Part 2!

Booking last-minute accommodations: 

We decided to book a last-minute trip to Mexico over the Thanksgiving holiday since we didn’t have any family in town and had no real reason to stay. We only booked this trip 10 days in advance, and I really wasn’t sure we would be able to pull it off!

My usual go-to of booking through Costco wasn’t an option this time because we were booking so last minute and everything was either astronomically expensive or not available at all.  Our go-to resort in Mexico was showing unavailable, but just to be sure, I contacted the hotel directly and they had a king suite available!! It was showing unavailable online because the room occupancy is for 4 people, but they said we can just pay for one extra person and they will have a rollaway bed waiting for us. They also said they would match Costco’s current offer, so we got some great perks!

• Kids stay free + are all-inclusive (we did pay an extra $100 and something to have the extra kiddo in the bedroom)
• $125 spa credit

We decided to add the adults to the all-inclusive option as well, as this meant every restaurant, bar, and poolside eating option, as well as the dinner shows, were all included.

Flights

Because we booked so last minute, flight prices were through the roof, BUT, we found a bit of a loophole. We realized there were two flights leaving Spokane to Seattle (the first leg of the flight) within about 5 minutes of each other, but these flights only had 3 seats left on each of them. The flight that had 5+ seats available was double the price, making the flight portion of the vacation really expensive. So, we decided to book the flights separately, with Franklin flying with me on the way to Seattle, and the older kids flying with J, and we’d both land in Seattle about the same time, and then we’d all be on the same flight to Mexico, the longest leg. AND, we were able to use two companion fares (which is pretty much buy one get one free) which we get two of each year being that we have Alaska credit cards.

Items we are bringing that are different than the last time: 

Kids Snorkel Masks– Because we only had two snorkel masks the last time (adult sizes), they were a hot commodity, so we went ahead and got the kids their own this time.

Large beach blanket– We bought ours for $20 on the beach in Mexico and it has been one of our FAVORITE things to bring to the beach since it rolls up so small, yet is so big! I’m pretty sure this is the same one.

Franklin’s Life Jacket- I thought the resort would have these there, but they didn’t, and we were able to get by with little arm floaties that we bought at the little store the first time, but I love the assurance a life jacket gives me when near the pool and ocean since he isn’t a strong swimmer yet.

 

After we get back, I will update this Part 2 even more!

As always, thank you for stopping by!

<3 Shannon