Sandos Caracol Nature Resort & Water Park

Be open minded, be fair when reviewing this resort. I've read a few reviews on here that are simply harsh. I don't have a financial stake in this resort, but giving 1 star reviews because of hard beds and wishing you could leave is a bit much. It's a vacation in a foreign country, keep an open mind, understand that you've booked a vacation at a 4, possibly 3 star resort, it's not the Four Seasons, it's a family resort geared to offering a close to nature experience. Is it perfect, no, but I think a little less drama and a bit more focus on being on vacation is what's needed for the negative people. Want a 5 star luxury experience, book a resort that is 5 star

I’m here now and, for the first time ever on a vacation, wishing I could just leave (and it’s just even been a full 48 hours. The staff are nice and the grounds are fine with critters here and there, however what’s unforgivable is the state of the select rooms (adults-only side). The beds and pillows are so brutally uncomfortable… They make the Tower of London sound lux! I honestly had no clue they made mattresses this uncomfortable. I asked multiple times and multiple people for a topper which they said was coming but never did. The pillows are lumpy and thick. These are the double rooms. My friends have king rooms and the beds are much better (we compared). I legit can’t wait for this “vacation” to end.

We had a wonderful time as a family of 3 (including a 2 year old) at Sandos Caracol. We visited Nov 15-22 which was considered a low season for them but even some of the staff still said it was really busy for "low season". Because of the "low season", some things were closed for maintenance (the water park on a few of the days, the Mexican Buffet for lunch/dinners, and the main cenote for swimming: mostly when there were to be weddings taking place). The resort could have been better at communicating the closings - like putting signs for when things were to reopen. Here is our take on our stay: ROOM - Our room was great (we stayed in a Eco Family Penthouse) and it was perfect for us. Our toddler was able to go to sleep early in the living room and we were still able to stay up and watch TV in our room without any issues. The AC is the one room began to leak but the resort has a good service request system on the website/app, so we submitted it and they had a maintenance crew to our room within the hour to fix it. The hot water in the showers weren’t great: they didn’t get actually get hot, it was more lukewarm, but it’s an eco-resort so we’re not complaining. STAFF - our house cleaning lady was super friendly and accommodating (some days we just needed new towels and garbage's changed, other days a full clean). The service staff everywhere for the most part were wonderful. They had some understaffing issues in the restaurants while were there: in the buffet, the servers had too many tables to take care of and/or there wasn't always a hostess/host so guests would sit wherever and the servers ended up getting more tables than they should have. At the Steak & Fish Restaurant (Los Lirious): the servers/kitchen staff were doing their best but our entrees took almost an hour to come out. That was tough with a toddler who had lost all patience by then. Also the hostess was not a warm/welcoming person at all, otherwise everyone was very friendly. I wish the management would have properly staffed for the amount of guests at the resort. WILDLIFE and GROUNDS – the wildlife at the resort is amazing: Monkeys, Coaties, Peacocks and Birds around the grounds of the resort were really wonderful to see and experience. Our toddler absolutely loved to see them all. Coaties are almost everywhere: if you have food near a pool or the beach, the coatis are not shy and will come right up for your food. The monkeys mostly hang around the Brazilian Steakhouse (Fogo De Brazil) and Select Club pool/elevated area because they have a buffet close to the area. We visited the area to see the monkeys and they were adorable. We also saw some monkeys high up in the tress near the Tortuga Pool. Be careful though, we witnessed one monkey peeing from a high tree and it was in a walking path, so beware! The grounds are great, it’s a quite a large resort. Some areas of the grounds had a bad smell but that is just the jungle! It was a small portion of the grounds that smelled too, not much at all. ROYAL ELITE CLUB SELL – Before and After Check in, there will be a staff member who will greet you to give you a map of the resort and information about the app/website and A La Carte’s. Very helpful, but they are also there to try to get you to go to a presentation for the Royal Elite Club/Timeshare. They offer $150 USD to you if you attend the whole presentation and other gifts (Tumblers, Beach bag, Beach Toys, T-Shirts). We told our guy (extremely friendly man!) that no matter what, we know we wouldn’t be purchasing it, he was very friendly and said it’s okay - He gets points for you just to go and attend. So we attended to get the guy his points, the USD and the gifts. We felt bad though because the rep we met with on the day was very friendly and it didn’t help him in anyway that we went because we didn’t purchase. They weren’t too pushy (apparently there have been laws enacted to stop these resorts from harassing customers) and we ended up receiving the USD and gifts even though we didn’t purchase. It’s a good price/deal for people who can afford it and if it fits your lifestyle. RESTAURANTS – Book the a la carte’s as soon as you can/midnight when they open more spots. The midnight timeline doesn’t open for the next day, it’s the next several days so book all you’re a la cartes the first night your there. If you can’t get a reservation, you can show up early to the a la carte (maybe 15 minutes before it opens) and tell the host your nearby for any no-shows (they only hold reservations for 10 minutes). We were able to get into Los Lirious that way (Steak & Fish A La Carte). - The international Buffet (la Laguna) was typical for an all inclusive buffet. Just wish they had a better set up/area for the ice cream because it gets backed up with a line (especially of kids) so it blocks a lot of the space in there. - The Mexican buffet was only open for breakfast when we were there and it was amazing. It actually felt like you were in Mexico and the service staff were amazing. Once we found out about that place, we went there everyday for breakfast. - The Italian restaurant Buffet was really good and the décor made it feel like you were in Italy. - Teppanyaki/Japanese restaurant was great. - The Mediterranean a la carte was disappointing – just very bland food. We had our last dinner/meal there and we agreed it was a disappointment. The service staff did an amazing job though and it was nice to be by the ocean. - We wish they would’ve have a snack stand or food by the main pool and ocean area. The only areas we could get food in between meal times was the central Mexican place which isn’t very close to any accommodations (Its in the middle of most of the restaurants) or the waterpark area which only has food for a short period. BEACH/POOLS/WATERPARK – The pools were fine, just like anywhere else. Our room overlooked the Tortuga pool, which was convenient. The beach was where we ended up spending most of our time. The only good area we found to swim in was adjacent to the main pool. It was really nice and had good levels of water depth especially with a kiddo. The rest of the water accessible on the resort grounds were quite rocky and had a lot of seaweed (Which we know is not their fault, just a reality of the Caribbean). The sand was nice and nearly white. It was nice with having a toddler that it's not a wavy part of the ocean, it's more like bay so we didn't have to worry about waves. A Large part of the reason we booked this resort was the waterpark. 1 day before flying there, the resort told our travel agent the waterpark was closed for maintenance and didn’t know when it was going to be re-opened. We were offered a full refund or keep our stay as is. We kept the stay and still went because it was so close and we couldn’t find our room option at any other hotels. We asked our travel agent when the resort knew this information and all she could say was they just told them. When we arrived at the resort, we asked the guy who helped us through check in and the map and he said it had been closed for a week already and they weren’t expected to reopen for another week. They should have shared this information sooner. It was closed for the 2-3 days we were there, open for a day, then closed again for a day. When it was open, it was a great time for us and our toddler. Although two of the large adult size slides remained closed for our entire stay. KID FRIENDLY – the resort is great for kids. Ramps everywhere, kids meal options/menus. We had requested a playpen/crib for our toddler but it wasn’t on our reservation, I had to ask twice to have one delivered to our room. They finally delivered one and then an hour later another one was delivered but instead of the bottom mattress thing – it just had a bunch of blankets as the base. They need to upgrade those. The kids club was great, but was only open to kids 4 and under for 1 hour a day (10-11am). Unfortunately, our daughter caught hand foot mouth from this resort: either the kids club (we were there most days for that one hour), the playpen, or who knows where else. I ended up catching it too, it was not pleasant and not how we wanted to end our vacation. ECO- RESORT WISE – They used reusable cups everywhere: which we liked. There was one big water jug in room and cups to use. There were no ice machines at the resort for guests to use but we didn’t mind: it’s an eco resort so it made sense! I would just have my yeti filled with Ice at one of the bars whenever I needed any. ENTERTAINMENT – The daytime entertainment was good and the entertainment staff were great. We just wishes the night time shows didn’t start so late. They started at 9pm. With a kiddo, we missed them all because it was too late. However they did a “Mini-Disco” every 2-3 days on the main stage before the main show which was good for the kiddos. Overall, I would come to Sandos Caracol if it could be cleaner for my daughter and us. Leaving with Hand Foot Mouth left a sour taste but before that, we enjoyed our stay a lot.

Although the hotel grounds and wildlife are amazing. This hotel is definitely not 4 star as advertised by TUI. Toilets throughout the hotel are dirty and smelly and some never even had hand wash. Everywhere is too busy with guests and the hotel clearly can’t manage the amount of guests. We were only here a week and unfortunately spent 3 days in the room - never been so ill in our lives after eating at the Brazillian Restaurant. Numerous other people had either told us they were ill, or we heard people speaking in resort about sickness. It is very concerning that TUI are still sending guests to this hotel when they are aware of how many people are getting sick!! Tried to contact reception whilst we were ill and they just don’t answer the phone. Communication is terrible. If you have this hotel booked and are worried about coming here, please change! It totally ruined our holiday and sickness could have been avoided if meat was cooked correctly and areas were clean.

We stayed at this resort January 7-13, 2026 in a one bedroom pool view room category. The location of these rooms was very convenient and in an accessible area of the resort, Close to the pool, beach and restaurants. The room is very large , with 2 full bathrooms , we were on the second floor so had a nice ocean view . The rooms are very clean, lots of towels provided , mini fridge well stocked daily with beer and a variety of soft drinks. Housekeeping was great and done in a very timely manner. The pool and beach had plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas. Great pool side drink service as well. The pool towels are provided and when you check in you are given a towel card , one for each person in your room. At the end of each day, we just exchanged our used towels for clean towels so we had them for the next day and on our last day, we turned our towels in for our cards as you must return the cards at check out. The food was good, very fresh and a wide variety of choices . We mostly ate at the buffets as we had our grandchildren with us, ages 5 and 2, they are fussy eaters, but always managed to find something they liked. For the coffee lovers….. the coffee was decent in the buffets and they also make specialty coffees at the Sports bar and lobby bar. Sadly the Aqua Park was closed when we were there, so that was a huge disappointment as that was why we picked this resort, so the little ones never got to experience the water park. One HUGE NEGATIVE is the check in process. We arrived at the hotel at 1600 hrs after a 10 hr travel day with our family and waited near 2 hours to check in. The line up was long, the staff were unfriendly and the process was very slow. We were given NO information upon check in about the hotel other than not to loose you towel card, 50$ charge and your bracelet , 100$ charge , so as a first timer at this resort, we were left with a bad first impression. We have been to Playa Del Carmen many times and have never experienced a check in process to be this poor. Almost all the guests we spoke to, experienced the same issue with checking in. . When it was time to check out…..they asked for the towel card and cut off our bracelets and that was it. Would I stay at this resort again…….yes we would , but the resort needs to get their check in process revised and organized. You can’t let your guests wait in a line up for 2 hours after travelling many hours to get there. On a positive note, the resort was very accommodating with our families, as far as having our rooms close together and we were very appreciative of that. In closing……overall the resort was great in many aspects with the exception of the long wait to check in. .