Mayakoba Magic

Forty minutes south of Cancun and ten minutes north of Playa Del Carmen, Mayakoba is several hundred acres of jungle, mangrove swamps, man made canals, a golf course and three (soon to be four) gorgeous resorts. A gorgeous beach with turquoise waters tops it off.

Fairmont was the first and was soon followed by Rosewood (pictured above) and then Banyan tree. Hyatt Andaz is scheduled to open by the end of 2016.

This was my third time in nine years and it's as good as the first day I laid eyes on it. Owned by Spanish developer OHL, who have sensitively developed the land, with the addition of the canals and little streams, all of which are man made, they have created a nature preserve among the wetlands of the mangroves. Myriads of birds - you should see the size of the Great Blue Heron - deer, coati, raccoons, crocodiles, iguanas and mammals of all kinds are to be seen throughout the day.

The larger canals connect the three resorts, while the numerous streams are within each resort and allow one to watch the cormorants dive for fish while sitting on your patio or terrace. It's a great way to have morning coffee and watch the sun slowly rise over the trees.

Electric powered boats, like the one above, ply visitors to and fro and many of the casitas have their own private dock for water taxi service if you prefer it to the golf cart shuttle service available at all of the resorts.

Highly recommended and don't forget to bring a camera!

Grand Hyatt, Playa Del Carmen.

The recently opened Grand Hyatt is right in the middle of the bustle on 5th Avenue, the main shopping, dining and place to be seen street in Playa.

It's also a block long and stretches out to the beach. Distinctive, modern architecture set it apart and certainly raise the bar in the area known for its local boutiques, cafes and shops. From cheap T shirt shops to Cartier and Mont Blanc, they're all there on Avenida Cinco.

I work in the Riviera Maya and around Playa about three or four times a year and have developed a taste for Playa, which I first of all quite disliked. Resorts on the Riviera Maya are relaxing and tranquil while Playa is busy, very busy. Traffic is a hodgepodge of everything imaginable and no one seems to know what a stop sign is. Parking is almost impossible - unless you know of my secret spot. It took a long time to find so I'm not telling.

Aside from that, it's full of real characters, both tourist and local and there's never a dull moment.

Thanks to Braulio and the rest of the folks at Hyatt who made it a pleasure. The above is sunrise at the infinity pool, overlooking the ocean.

Cancun

I know, I know.

Cancun, Riviera Maya. Riviera Maya, Cancun. What can I say? It's a very busy place. Tourist arrivals and new resort building keep going up and up.

This was brand new - Excellence in Playa Mujeres, north of Cancun and the hotel zone, directly facing it's namesake, Isla Mujeres.

Before all of this development started, I was in Isla Mujeres. No ferries in those days, just fishermen who would take you over for a few pesos. There was only one hotel and a lot of smuggling of electronics it seemed. Late at night I watched fishing boats swinging their booms and big nets over the dock to unload the day's catch . . . . . . large boxes labeled Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic etc. The Honda motorcycles weren't in boxes!

I switched to Sony many years ago because of their lovely Zeiss lenses, but this was the first time I had used an E mount mirrorless for a job. While they produce lovely files, I miss a bright, optical viewfinder. Electronic viewfinders just aren't up to snuff. Especially for work in bright sun and this old man's eyes. Having to hold a camera away from my body in order to see anything just has the wrong feeling about it.

Riviera Maya

I decided to add a few entries in order to catch up - while I'm in the mood and have the time.

Just north of Playa Del Carmen and next to Mayakoba is Blue Diamond, formerly the Mandarin Oriental, the last time I was there in 2008.

Lush and dense landscaping contrast the smooth and sparse exteriors of the Casitas dotted around the grounds. Mine had a stream behind and I watched from my patio as the Cormorants fished for food every day.

Mi Casa

Mea Culpa

 

I've been remiss in adding new work to this site for a long time. Way too long.

 

So, I'll try to make it up with the lovely Four Seasons in Scottsdale, shown below. The Sonoran desert in July isn't anybody's first choice and this is the second time I've shot in Scottsdale in the middle of summer. Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, wrote Noel Coward. While I'm guilty of the second, he could have also added photographers shooting resorts in the off season. Only makes sense folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Adobe architectural styling in the middle of the Sonoran desert about 40 minutes out of town and around the corner to Troon North golf course, which has stunning topography and landscaping. I keep promising myself to shoot there but never have.

 

On the way back, I actually had the joy of getting goosed by a TSA agent at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Something about my groin area in the body scan they said as I was sent over for the full experience of having a man in uniform rub his hands all over me. He was very efficient and polite though and I only giggled a couple of times. Noel Coward would have appreciated the irony.

Goodbye Harmon Hotel

MGM have finally been allowed to demolish the Foster + Partners designed, Harmon Hotel at City Center, Las Vegas.

 

The subject of endless and expensive lawsuits after the structure was found to have construction defects, it will soon be a goner. The builder wanted to "fix it" and MGM would have none of it. Foster has been silent.

 

It will be dismantled, floor by floor, rather than imploded. So, if you're staying at the nearby Aria, Vdara or the Cosmo, be prepared for endless noise and disruption. For "The city that never sleeps", it will be another reason to be awake all night that's got nothing to do with the Cosmo's nightclub or pool scene. Sigh.

 

It's a pity. I rather like it, yet it has sat vacant and never used for some years now while the lawyers went at it. Something had to happen and finally a judge said it could.

 

 

 

 





From the mouth of flickr

"with so many people taking photographs there’s really no such thing as professional photographers anymore."

Courtesy of Marissa Mayer, Grand Poobah of Yahoo - that's a Gilbert and Sullivan term, look it up.

Well, blow me down. She's either such a visionary that this is beyond my comprehension, or she's so  arrogant that this doesn't even qualify as stupid.

If this had come from the lads at Google, I might be pissed but it would give me pause. But to come from "also ran" Yahoo, it strikes me as a bit rich.

I can only presume that as a new mother, Ms Mayer is undergoing a metamorphisis and is in the process of becoming an Oracle - nothing to do with Larry Ellison, but a Greek one.