Ten Days in the Yucatan and Cancun ( w/ Adam Sandavol) | PART 1

Several months ago, we became aware of a tour company in our stomping grounds south of the border that does guided tours.  I was completely obvilious it existed until I'd noticed it on Adam Sandavol's FB Page.  Spoke with Mama... she was in (which surprised me).  Spoke with my Cuz and he was in.  Now the interesting tidbit here is we'd decided to go sometime in the winter but then realized the ride Adam was on still had some openings so ...  thought WTF ... lets do that one.  We'd have done it anyways, but since it was just the 3 of us, thought it'd change things up a bit.  We were correct.  Great time to be had. Hey, I'm not a groupie but I am a fan.

The tour companys' name seemed familiar to me, but I didn't connect the dots right away.  Turns out they rent HDs on the island of Cozumel which is where they are physically located and run the business.  That's where'd I seen their ads.  They ship their bikes via Ferry to Playa Del Carmen and ride them up to Cancun as the start point for the weekly tour as necessary.  I've seen them over the years but never convinced mama to do a ride on the island.  The days drug on as we got closer to the start date but finally, it was here. Now... we're a go.  Cuz is flying in from Puerto Rico, we've rolling in from DFW and we're soon at the airport in the hotel shuttle headed a few miles to check in, and it's game on!   Wasn't but a ten or fifteen minute drive, get checked in, bags to the room and down to the lobby to meet a great bunch of folks.  It obvious we're all there for the same things.  Gringos wearing HD shirts, all smiling and seeing who's next to roll in through the front door.  We meeting up with Big Papa (Greg) from literally up the road from us in Texas.  Jay and Pam from OK.  Jim and Kelly from KC, Richard/Carla from the East Coast, Adam Sandavol in from OK, and our hosts Curt, Manny and Ricardo out of Cozumel.  Curt is an expat whom runs the company, Manny and Ricardo are the aweome Road Captains, local and speak fluent English.  

We get the pre brief done, sign our lives away for the bikes, grab some snacks then down to the basement to pick out our bikes.  Most are Road Kings, a Street Glide, Ultra, Heritige and a Slim.  I've owned a Road King before and that was our choice, cuz gets one as well and everyone gets a pick.  Funny thing is ... the Street Glide stands out and most really want that one, but it all works out.  IMHO, the Road King, Street Glide, Road Glide (and ultras) are all the same bike.  Same frame, etc... just different windshied/fairing setups.   Well, back upstairs, few more drinks .. and .... zzzzzzzzzz

We're soon up, everyone grabbing breakfast, recognize faces but as always I can't remember names for shit.  As on most days, it'll be breakfast at 9am (though most show up earlier) and on the bikes at 10am and heading out.  Nice thing we discover is that Curt is driving an SUV where he loads all the bags in, usually there from stop to stop and meets us at all the main stops, always ready with ice cold waters. He's not always in tow, but always near.  They've got tool kits, etc in the SUV for fixes as needed.   

Day one we head south of Playa Del Carment to Rio Secreto, a cave system that has five or so main areas to tour.  We get there on the bikes, put on some wet suits and water shoes and we're hiking off into the jungle.  To be honest, I don't know what I expected.  Hell, I had almost zero expectations before heading to Mexico.  I was simply psyched to do a week long motorcycle trip with a few stops in the mix and just have a good time.  Neither mama and I had talked about any of the excursions.  We rarely do them on our trips down south. Had we, she might not have come.... so .. that's a good thing?  Anyways, we're headed off a few hundred yards into the jungle and a rocky path, finally on a deline path and up ahead the hole of a cave entrance.  Have to admit, I was dragging ass a little. I really need to get in shape.  But, the wort part is .... my wet suit doesn't fit me and it's literally chocking me out.  It's the largest they had and it's glued to me and at some point I find I find myself breathing a lil heavy and had to stop as most others progressed.   Got Manny to help me get the wetsuit off my upper body(their biggest size was too small for me).  Finally!   I can fucking breath!   Takes me about 5-10 min to get my shit together and ... we're back in the game.  I never should have worn the suit.  Most thought the water was cold, but it didn't bother me.  So .. we're pressing on within the beautiful caverns.   Beautiful sight.  Towards the end, Lucy slipped going down into a lower pool and scratched the front of her shin (more like ripped the skin off) and is still healing from it. But, she was a trooper and did better overall than I did!  After about 90 minutes we popped out the other end and we're climbing stairs back into the jungle.  The route back was about a fourth the distance so we're soon cleaning up, checking out the pics the photographer took (of course they want to sell them to you, but $$$$) and having lunch that was included.  Everyone is raving about how beautiful the caverns were....   Sooooo worth it!  After lunch, we're back on the bikes and headed to our stop, an All Inclusive (AI) resort in Playa Del Carmen ; Coco Reef.  Get all checked in, grab a drink and headed to the pool!  Our room is literally 50' from the pool area where we'll hang out; perfect!  Everyone joins in and we're finally getting to know everyone.... Sun is up, breakfast with everyone at the same place we all had dinner and we're soon packing up, bags picked up and headed to the bikes.  Sure enough, 10am sharp we are rolling East towards the Yucatan!   

Riding from Cancun into Playa Del Caremen to Rio Secreto wasn't too bad; I remember the traffic being worse from the inside of a Van.  Now we're headed East and within fifteen minutes or so we're finally rolling out of town towards the tollway .. and onto the tollway.  Now, minimal traffic, we rolling at about 120kph and ...   this ... is what I'd been waiting for.  We're all getting to know each others riding styles.  Manny is up front as lead, I'm #2 and my cuz is #3.  This will be the positioning for 95% of the trip for the two of us.  Adam has his two friends that are actually Road Captains on his annual convoy ride (Jay/Pam) back with him as well as Big Papa whom they've rode often with.  Jim and Kelly are back there having met / rode with Adam at a Baja event previously.  Richard is back there, sort of the odd man out early on until everyone gets to know him and his travel partner, Carla.  So, we're all staggerded up, up front our disntanceces are 1-2 bike lenghths .. and ... alll good. Turns out my cuz hasn't been on a bike in upwards of five years but you'd never know it....  he's on his game, I've finally got my bike adjusted (bars, pegs, etc) so I'm on my game ....  feels good.  The intersting part to the tollway is there are no toll tags.  The tour company is handling the tolls so Ricardo rolls to the front as Manny pulls up.  Then Ricardo has to pay for each bike seperately.  We have to roll through the toll gate seperately (they raise gate up then down then repeat).  They will not let him pay for all the bikes and let us run through as a single entity.  Brutal.  Still, not much traffic, we're scooting along well as a group and our excursion of the day is a cenotes and lunch.  Access to this is much easier than the day before.  We're soon parked under some trees in the shade, short walk to the entrance, change up into swim suits grab a life vest and we're descending into the cenotes. When I say it's was amazingly beautiful, that's an understatement.  Water is clear, chilly/crisp/nippy, and clean.  Had a blast in there BSing with everyone, few of us jumping/diving in off the platform.  Mostly, just realaxing. Hour or so, most are getting out.  We're all soon dressed and ready for lunch.  Buffet is provided again as part of the exucursion and we're all seated together.  I'm noticing we tend to have two distinct groups within us, with Manny and Ricardo rotating around between us.  It's simply due to comfort levels I guess.  Three in one know each other, 3 in another and few others migrate back and forth.  We are all a single group and mesh well... just something you become aware of when picking seats at a large table.  I was concerned it might become and issue but of course never was.  People have their comfort levels.  As the trip goes on we mixed it up a notch .. but still it's funny how folks pick and choose and I'm no different.   Well, we're back on the bikes and rolling out and we arrive in an older large town; Vallodolid.  Hotel has an older cool factor, got a pool, bar by the pool....  and .. we're all eventually congregating.  We don't arrive until 3 or 4 so we've missed most of the sun, but soon dinner time.  Hotel has it's own restaraunt but we opt to head to the square across the seat to a place they frequent and we're having a group dinner.  Afterwards, Adam and his closer friends head off in one direction and a few of us others head to the top floor of our hotel to nice restaraunt-bar for some after dinner drinks.  It's our third night here and we're finally getting to know a lot of the folks a lil' better.  

Breakfast for me is a notch 'funny.' I'm constantly asking Curt 'what time?' and always get "9 am." But, most roll in well before with my cuz at 9am (on time!) daily and well.. most have already eaten.  Then I'm always trying to determine is this on us cost wise or provided by the company.  Every breakfast is provided at no addtional cost to us.  Duh.   By the end of trip I'll have Curt spun up with that question; "what time?" .. funny shit. Well, we're back on the bikes, another beautiful day with no rain.  The roads in and out of these towns and small cities are filled with 'Topas" which is spanish for speed bumps and they are everywhere.  They were my only pet peeve and complaint the entire trip, but by the last day you get used to them and it's part of the whole experience. More than once Manny missed the cues (street signs and/or lack of paint on them)  and we flew through the air a notch.  No harm no foul but made you pucker! We've got a nice ride to Chichen Itza this day.  This is the first large Mayan Temple I've ever been to. Lot of friends over the years have done the excursions, but we always passed them up.  Place is huge and impressive.  Our tour guide is provided by the Tour Company and we get about 90 minutes of info while walking around.  Soon, we're back on the bikes and riding towards Meridan which is very impressive.  Within the city are blocks and blocks of 'city squares'.  I'd love to come back here in the future and spend an entire weekend exploring. Our hotel is old, impressive and beautiful.  Nothing modern in any way but ... loved it.  We had a blast that night with Ricardo basically hijacking a double decker bus and driving us around the block, right past the Policia with us all waving.  Funny Shit. This is one of the few stops without a Pool but we're here for the nightlife and the sights.  

After an awesome breakfast at a Cuban Cafe that dates back to the 50s, we're back on the bikes and rolling towards Progresso.  We'll stop beachside, park the bikes, change into beach clothes and relax in the sand sipping drinks, nibbling on lunch and soaking up the sun. Then its back on the bikes and off to the next AI Resort, Reef Yucatan.   Cool part about this stop is it's fairly empty and we have the place almost to ourselves!  Had an awesome few games of volleyball in the pool and feels like everyone is synced as a single group.  Then off to dinner, and then most head to the the lobby bar for ... Karaoke!   Curt and Ricardo are tearing it up!   I snuck in a few songs and Kelly belted out a few.  Truly had a blast.  

Damned...   It's 9am for breakfast, 10am on them bikes and we're rolling to Rio Largatos.  Basically, a seaside community on the edge of a waterway between the land and the ocean.  In this waterway are Flamingos, Eagles, and .... Crocidiles.   We'd spend about 2 hours in two boats crusing the waterways, literally up next to the croc's and feeding them.  At the 1/2 point we're off the boat and several of us choose to do the Mayan Mud Baths...   Mama wanted nothing to do with it, but I was all in as were a few others.  Then, to the beach to rinse off and back to the resort pool time, drinks and dinner.  Few of us would wander down the road for drinks that night as well.  Really dug the vibe here.  Again, not a place I would normally find myself which made it even better.

Damned....  It's Friday morning and we're rolling down the road again but a lil later (11?).  We've got about 150 miles to go to Cancun.  Great day of riding and one of my favorites in some true jungle areas.  After several hours and stops, we're back to our starting point.  Bikes are parked, gear is back in our rooms, and we head to the lobby bar we all know well from Day one. Lots of shots, lots of chatting ... but ....  

Saturday morning and most of us are gathered at Breakfast and heading out.  Myself, Lucy and my counsin are headed out to Secrets The Vine via taxi, just a quick 20 min towards the Cancun Hotel Zone.  Adam, Jay and Pam were invited to help ferry HDs back over to Cozumel and spending 3 days there with Curt and his crew.   Overall A great week.  Got to know Adam fairly well and truly respect what he's been doing the last ten years or so. He's really gained a lot of steam as an influencer in the HD world with all his videos and K River Campground in Oklahoma.  I was aware of him before, meeting him a couple of times and seen him in the mix for over 6 years helping raise funds for the CVMA and continues to do so.  Hope to see Big Papa in the near future since we live literally 35 miles away from each other.  No doubt we'll see Jay and Pam in the future at some of Adam's events.  Jim and Kelly have invited us to KC in the future so looking forward to that and maybe them headed our way.  

Next year Curt is creating another ride down the coast towards Belize and back.  Yep....  it's on my radar and has my attention!!


Headed South to Mexico!

Them "other Bikers" at the bar 

 Most of the crew : Pre Brief

Kelly's Bday on night one!

The Bikes!

Picking out our rides

Here we go!


First stop at Rio Secreto





First Excursion / Rio Secretos





Lucy and I

My Cuz, Michael Dreikorn




Curt, Ricardo and Manny



Cenotes!


Adam Sandavol and I



Ricardo hijacking the Bus!


Roof Top bar for night caps


Cuz and I


Family~




The Crew





Beach time in Progresso




Ricardo and I


Jimmy and Kelly

Mic less Karaoke!


GAME ON!  Ended in a tie




Beautiful Church





Adam Sandavol and I



Big Papa!


Tiny Doorways!







RUH ROH .... 


Beautiful architecture




















Making me look purdy

YES .. he was that close


Looking Good!  LOL



Overview  

  • Duration: 7 days / 6 riding days

  • Start/End: Avani Cancun Airport Hotel, Cancun

  • Style: Guided Harley tour with support vehicle, daily luggage transfer, mix of jungle, colonial towns, and beach resorts.

Day 1 – Saturday – Arrival & Orientation (Cancun)

Day 2 – Sunday – Cancun → Playa del Carmen & Rio Secreto

  • Breakfast at Avani (provided)

  • Ride ~75 km / 50 mi south through Riviera Maya to Playa del Carmen (about 1.5–2 hours).

  • Jungle excursion to Rio Secreto caves (hike & swim underground river). Lunch & non-alcoholic drinks included.  

  • Short ride (~20 min) to Reef Coco Beach all-inclusive resort. Pool Time!

  • Need to be ready to ride by 10:00 am next morning.

Day 3 – Monday – Playa del Carmen → Valladolid & Cenote Saamal

  • Ride ~128 km / 80 mi through jungle to Valladolid; watch for wildlife.

  • Check into El Mesón del Marqués on the main square.

  • Included tour to Cenote Saamal with lunch; time for swimming.  

  • Evening free to explore Valladolid: cathedrals, haciendas, restaurants around the square.

Day 4 – Tuesday – Chichen Itza (Mandatory) → Mérida

  • Breakfast Provided

  • Mandatory excursion to Chichen Itza Mayan ruins with guide 

  • Ride ~1h45 to downtown Mérida, check into Gran Hotel on the main square.

  • Evening options: nightlife, restaurants, activities on the square, horse-drawn carriage tours, etc.

Day 5 – Wednesday – Mérida → Progreso → Reef Yucatán

  • Short ride (about 1 hour) north to Progreso beach. 

  • Free time: beach, boardwalk, shops, restaurants, souvenir shopping.

  • Afternoon ride west along coastal Route 27, key-to-key, to Reef Yucatán all-inclusive beach resort. 

  • Dinner and drinks included at the resort.  Karaoke!

Day 6 – Thursday – Reef Yucatán → Rio Lagartos

  • Full riding day back through jungle to Rio Lagartos (~130 miles), with brief stops in small towns along the way.  

  • Check into Hotel Rio Lagartos, all rooms overlooking the bay.

  • Afternoon/evening free to relax; prep for next day’s boat tour.

  • Tomorrow’s tour (Day 7) is a 2-hour boat ride through the “Alligator River,” pink beaches, mud baths, bird sanctuary, and crocodile farm.

Day 7 – Friday – Rio Lagartos → Cancun (Farewell)

  • Morning: Boat tour from Rio Lagartos through the estuary:

    • Pink-hued beaches & mud baths

    • Bird sanctuary with flamingos and other species

    • Visit to crocodile farm 

  • Long final ride: ~266 km / 160 mi from Rio Lagartos back to Cancun with pit stops along the way. Return to Avani Cancun Airport Hotel.

  • Evening: Final group dinner (provided) 

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