Post by YV Traveler Jasmine Hailu.

Rivera Maya was one of the best getaways for me so far.  My husband surprised me for my 40^th birthday and I was soooo not disappointed.  From the time I touched down it was relaxing memories on top of memories. 

Pulling up to Iberostar was like pulling up to Fantasy Island.  It was bright, beautiful and felt like vacation. I instantly felt relaxed upon my arrival and even more so when they greeted me with my first drink of that stay.  While checking in I sipped my slushy drink and took in the grand entrance.  It was amazing how they incorporated the lush tropics in the main seating area it literally felt like we were outside and we weren’t.

The sun shined right in over our heads and mentally I was on break.  With so much to experience on the resort grounds we could not figure out what to do first.  Our luggage met us at our room and once we saw our room it was clear what needed to happen next.  Directly off my patio was a beautiful pool with plenty of seating ready for me to put my feet up.  Bathing suits went on like superman changing to save to the world.  In a nano-second I was laid back sipping my first of many mojitos.

After sitting for a while we realized that this pool was the quiet pool, so relaxing but from afar we could hear music. So, like any one we went to investigate.  My friends, I had seen the light—the main pool of the adults only portion of the resort (oh, did I forget to mention ADULTS ONLY) was huge and spilled over onto the beach.  It was perfect. I didn’t even need to leave that area, but of course my husband wouldn’t let that be so. 

The swim up bar, a sea of lounge chairs and cabanas, the beach just off my shoulder, and the buffet steps away, I had in fact died and gone to vacay heaven.  Not a cloud in sight, and with nothing but time, we rotated the three areas for the rest of that day. Perfect way to turn 40 and this was just day one. 

Each day was different, but I had to make my husband give me pool and beach time before we took in other sites.  So much food, so much to see, and so easy to navigate.  I have been to St. Thomas, Hawaii, and Australia, and these were some of my favorite spots that I have visited. Rivera Maya is a MUST return.  I could go on about the people, about the ATV excursion, jets skis, and did I say food? But by far my favorite spot was pool side with my BFF and my mojito.  If turning 40 looked like that all the time I would do it again.