Sandos Caracol Nature Resort & Water Park

We stopped at Sandos Caracol In March 2026, and honestly, I struggle to find anything negative to say about it. We opted for the adults-only choice, and with that came access to an excellent adults-only pool with club room (snacks, mini bar with beers and soft drinks, serve yourself sprits and a coffee machine), along with a similar arrangement at the beach, with the added bonus of an excellent barman. The complex itself is pretty sizeable, with ample wildlife (monkeys, coatis, agoutis, Raccoons, iguanas; some friends even got a video of a good-sized python that they saw one evening), so it's perfect for nature lovers. I did a few 5km runs around the grounds and very rarely had to repeat paths. On the nature front - the snorkelling was brilliant off the beach, but the boat trip that leaves from the hotel's dock is easily the best snorkelling I've done in Mexico - absolutely do give it a try if you're interested in seeing the local marine life. Food and drink, in my mind, were brilliant. I like good food and the selection of authentic Mexican food was endless - though if you'd rather a more beige type of food, you might find it limited. I eat every bit of see food and different meat products I saw, and both my partner and I had no issues, I don't know what people who have reported bad bellies eat, but I can assure you ours were fine. Drinks, like all good Mexican resorts, were plentiful; no menus outside the specials at the beach club, they will make you anything you like, you're also not limited to non-brand spirits; if you want a margarita made with 1800, they will happily oblige. Rooms - now this is the only bit that Sandos falls down on, though its worth mentioning we did book a week before departure - so we must have got the last of the bunch of the rooms. It was clean, tidy and spacious enough, it could have just done with a little bit of a refresh and modernisation. One evening, one of our bathroom taps started leaking quite significantly, we reported it and with in around 20 minutes maintenance was in, sorting it (around 8pm), and while they worked, the concierge arranged a place for us at one of the al a carte restaurants that was otherwise fully booked. We returned to a message saying a new tap system would be installed in the morning, which it was, so full marks to the swfitness in solving any and all issues. Booking à la carte - lots of people complain about booking a restaurant, and to an extend it can be a bit of a pain to figure out. Yes, waking up at midnight to get a slot is a surefire way to get a place in somewhere you want (its all done via an app), but spaces do become available throughout the day, and we managed to try everywhere we wanted to (sometimes multiple visits) Location - while being a resort set in a good patch of jungle, Sandos is also easily connected to PDC town. You can either take the shuttle bus that runs from the hotel for a small fee, or its about a 5km walk, through the gated complex the hotel is set and then along 5th Avenue right into the heart of the town - super safe and easy, and you go past a few stunning public beaches. All in all, I would happily return to Sandos; it's a stunning resort with fantastic staff and excellent value for money. One final thing - you will be invited to a one-and-a-half-hour presentation about buying into the "holiday club" (new era timeshares). We did it to get a couple of Thermos cups and a beach bag, because they said that if at the end it wasn't for you - that's fine. However, when I started trying to dig deeper into the flawed maths of it being "affordable" the sales guy quickly became frosty - so if you do go to the presentation, prepare to be strong-willed and stand your ground.

Great service, friendly staff, food was delicious

Such good service!! I really enjoyed our meal

We stayed here for two weeks as a family of five and overall I’d say this is a solid 4-star resort. There’s a lot to like, but quite a few things that stop it from being somewhere we’d rush back to. First off, the setting is stunning. The hotel being built into the jungle is what really makes it special and the amount of wildlife around the resort is incredible. We saw iguanas, monkeys, coatis, lizards, fish and all sorts throughout our stay. For us, that was probably the hotel’s biggest selling point and definitely one of the things the kids will remember most. The beach itself is also beautiful and generally well maintained. We were here in September, so there was quite a lot of sargassum which made the sea look brown and caused a bit of a smell at times, but that’s obviously seasonal and not really something you can blame the hotel for. The main issue for us was consistency, especially when it came to cleanliness. Outside areas were quite often left with cups and rubbish lying around and the main pool simply wasn’t cleaned enough. On more than one occasion we were having to fish cups, discarded plasters and other bits out of the water ourselves first thing in the morning. Sunbeds were also regularly covered in bird mess. The pool itself could really do with some work too. The bottom and sides are extremely rough and by the end of the holiday our kids’ swimming costumes looked noticeably worn compared with when we arrived. Housekeeping was much the same story. It was okay, but inconsistent. Some days we had enough towels, some days we didn’t. Some days the minibar was refilled, other days it wasn’t. Our first balcony actually had to be cleaned five times before it was properly clean, eventually with Guest Relations getting involved. To be fair, that leads on to one of the positives. Guest Relations were excellent. Whenever we raised a problem, it generally got sorted. The frustration was that you often had to raise it in the first place. Arrival and check-in were smooth, friendly and welcoming. The rooms are spacious, comfortable and have everything you need. They’re nothing particularly special visually, but perfectly fine to stay in. Air conditioning was very good, although the shower temperature seemed to have a mind of its own at times. Food was probably our biggest disappointment over a two-week stay. There’s plenty of it, but it becomes very repetitive very quickly. A lot of the food seemed to be slow-cooked, quite bland and a bit uninspiring, while grilled meats, especially the steaks, were often extremely tough. After about a week we were pretty much done with it. The taco bar was good, but there are only so many tacos you can eat in two weeks. The Friday evening food market was a real highlight though and something we genuinely enjoyed. We actually ended up using Uber Eats a few times just for a change. If anyone else does the same, we can highly recommend Don Mario Ristorante Pizzeria. Both the pizza and pasta were excellent and arrived piping hot. Service around the hotel could be brilliant, but again it was inconsistent. A special mention has to go to Karina in the buffet restaurant, who was absolutely lovely and spent most of the holiday trying to get a hello out of our stubborn 2-year-old! Cristina in the buffet was also excellent. The water park is good, but not amazing. There are plenty of slides and the kids enjoyed it, but again some of the surfaces are very rough. We also had an uncomfortable moment where some comments made by the slide attendants towards our 13-year-old daughter felt inappropriate, which naturally didn’t sit well with us as parents. The little bar at the water park only serves soft drinks and only at certain times, so if you fancy a beer while the kids are playing you’ve got a fair old walk. We also tried the kids’ club once, but our 13-year-old was told she was too old to use the soft play with her younger sister. That pretty much put us off going back, which was a shame when travelling with children of different ages. Bars around the resort have a mix of branded and non-branded spirits. Dos Equis is the draught beer and is perfectly fine. You do need to get used to drinking out of plastic cups for pretty much the whole holiday unless you’re in a restaurant. We visited in low season, so overcrowding wasn’t an issue at all, which was nice. The flip side was that several restaurants and bars were closed during our stay, which wasn’t something we were aware of when we booked. Getting around the resort is generally easy enough, although because of the jungle layout you can definitely find yourself wandering around wondering where on earth you are for the first few days. Wi-Fi deserves a mention because it was genuinely phenomenal. It worked brilliantly pretty much everywhere across the resort. We didn’t really use the organised entertainment, but there always seemed to be plenty going on and the evening shows looked like they were of a good standard. Overall, we had a good holiday and there are some genuinely lovely things about Sandos Caracol. The wildlife, jungle setting and beach are fantastic, the rooms are comfortable and when the service is good, it’s very good. But for us there were just too many little inconsistencies with cleanliness, maintenance, food and service. Nothing was disastrous, and problems were normally fixed when we raised them, but for a resort at this level we felt we were having to point things out far too often. Would we return? Probably not. We’re glad we experienced it and the wildlife side of the resort is genuinely special, but there are too many other resorts in Mexico we’d rather try next time.

10/10 fantastic resort. Just having so much wildlife roaming freely is a breath of fresh air The resort itself is second to none, it's clean, spacious and the staff are so attentive, nothing is too much for them I stayed in the adult only section that has a lovely swimming pool close by with a bar and restaurant located just by the pool. The whole experience is so fantastic with plenty to do or not do if you're looking for a relaxing time The swimming in the Cenote was a great experience, I'd recommend taking your snorkeling kit if you have one. I'd read that the beaches are a bit rocky and covered with seaweed but it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. A plus note, if you walk up the beach a little further, the water is far clearer than right outside the resort The food in all of the restaurants was excellent, you need to book the day before, at 4pm, if you want to go to the Teppanyaki restaurant; this was exceptional so would definitely recommend it. All other restaurants are available on the day We hired a car for 3 days to travel to see the Myan Ruins in Tulum and then to go to Cancun for the ferry to Isla Mujeres, which was was amazing and we stayed to watch the sunset which was amazing too Overall, I love this resort and for the price, it was excellent value for money and I hope to go again