Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Live Aqua Resort; Cancun, Mexico; Yucatan Peninsula; Sea Turtles; mb Restaurant, Fusion and Molecular Cuisine; All Inclusive!



Live Aqua Resort; Cancun, Mexico; Yucatan Peninsula; Sea Turtles; mb Restaurant, Fusion and Molecular Cuisine; All Inclusive!





The Live Aqua Resort is located in Cancun, Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.   The peninsula is the Eastern most portion of Mexico and is a very close distance to the western tip of Cuba.  This 5 star ***** resort is set on a lovely white sand beach along the Caribbean coast, and this sprawling, all-inclusive hotel is just 6 km from the Mayan ruins at El Rey Zona Arqueológica.


There are hundreds of hotels in the Cancun area and is a hot spot for travel for young and old adventurers from around the world.  We chose the Live Aqua resort because it is one of the few adult only resorts that caters to your needs without interruptions from children. 



Just across the street from the hotel is a very nice outdoor shopping mall!







From the moment we arrived at this resort, we could feel the serenity of the resort with aromatic smells, meditative music, and top quality service.  We even received a complimentary hand massage in the lobby before we were shown to our room.




The comfortable rooms have contemporary furnishings, with free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. 



While we were there, we indulged ourselves to the spas with full body massage and also treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures at reasonable prices.  We chose the all-inclusive vacation, so all our food and beverages were included free of charge.  The rooms have minibars that are restocked daily.  

A big guy watching over the pool area swing bar

A pool area swing bar

There are 7 restaurants and 3 bars, including a swim-up bar.  Other amenities include 8 fabulous outdoor pools, as well as a spa and a gym.

A Beautiful view from our ocean side room

An infinity pool overlooking the ocean

A nice view !!

One of many large king size cabanas around the pools


A Yoga staff member at the pool area

 
OK, the pools are great, but the beach and beautiful white sand is just spectacular!

The Hotel adds messages in the sandy beach, ocean side

Many umbrellas to get out of the sun!


.... and Lots of lounge chairs to enjoy the sun!

The end of a sunny day on the beach





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While we tried most of the restaurants, our favorite at Live Aqua by far is the mb restaurant.  

mb restaurant's beautiful and relaxing decor



The Live Aqua website says: “Experience an exceptional evening at mb. An exquisite dinner created with the flavor of Latin cuisine with an emphasis on local Mexican ingredients and flavors.  The Chef's recipes are liberally seasoned and offer distinct and expressive flavors”. 



From my experience of eating at fabulous restaurants around the world, the chefs at mb restaurant are combining modern culinary techniques that include fusion and molecular gastronomy cuisines.


Wikipedia defines these styles of cuisine as follows: 


Molecular gastronomy is a sub-discipline of food science that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur in cooking. 


Fusion cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions.


Below are photo image portions of mb restaurant’s tantalizing menu:






We also took many photo images of the actual dishes which we truly enjoyed eating during our stay.  The portions may be small, but they are packed with wonderful flavors and cooked to perfection.   

Corn Soup with Coconut Foams

Grouper with Celery Bulb

Shrimp in Garlic with Peppers and Ham

Farmer Salad with Lime Air

A Specialty Desert just for us!!!!

Tuna Prepared 4 ways

Veal Cheeks with Yam Emulsion ....

Mango Scallops

Prawn Salad with Blue Cheese Foam

Beef Ribs Brazed with Sweet Potato and Carrots


Well, you bay be asking yourself where is the Molecular and Fusion Cuisine that I mentioned above.  The menu itself lists many of the ingredients or components of the dishes which gives you a hint of the Fusion cuisine.  But to see the combination of fusion and Molecular cuisines, you have to look at the actual dishes themselves.  You can see in the photos that the chef uses fine powders brush strokes, foams, creams, and much more in both his presentation and ingredients for his many wonderful dishes. 

By the way, they do have a great buffet restaurant that serves a wide variety of food for both breakfast and dinner.  Here are just a few photos:










And, the great thing about the all-inclusive hotel package is that if you want to eat 2 or 3 or ??? of the small dish, just order more! Or, just try as many different plates until you are full or completely satisfied!!!




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Image is Courtesy of the internet
 

One amazing part of our stay was to see hundreds of newly hatched sea turtles and we participated in the release of them after dark.  The hotel annually has many adult female sea turtles visit their sandy beaches in the summer to lay their eggs.  The hotel staff relocates the large nest of eggs along with the sand at the nest site, to a guarded and fenced in area to protect the eggs until they hatch.  The photo shows that area, and all of the markers in the sand are for different clutches of eggs they found last year. 


Sea Turtles typically lay a clutch of eggs between approximately 50 to 350 eggs and the eggs incubate for 6 to 10 weeks in the sand.  The baby turtles are born with a sharp point on their nose to break through the egg shell.  The hatchlings are carefully rounded up and kept in a crate until their release after sunset. 

Sunset at the Beach just before Sea Turtle release
  


  As you set the hatchlings down 10-20 feet from the water, they head directly towards the water at a fast pace as if they had a GPS to show them the way.  We released 144 baby turtles just after sunset to give the baby turtles the best possible chance of safely making it to the water on their own.  Below are the hatchlings waiting for sunset to be released.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos of the turtles being released, because the camera flash could disorient the babys or hurt their delicate young eyes.  The below photos were taking in the sunlight without a flash.  These are the ones we actually released that night!





This is the area that the egg clutches are transported to and protected until they hatch

Guests of the hotel that participate will receive a certificate showing that they participated in the release program and naming the ones you first released.  You can even name the first two you release!!!







It is sad to hear the statistics in these incredible creatures that only 1 in every 1000 to 10,000 baby sea turtles survive to maturity so they can return and lay their own eggs.


There are seven (7) extant species as follows:  the Green, Loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill, Flatback, and Leatherback, and most of these species have females that travel up to a 1000 miles or more to lay their clutch of eggs in the sands of Yucatan Peninsula.  The sands and climate are perfect for incubation.  All of these sea turtle species are endangered except the loggerhead which is listed as threatened.




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When you are thinking of going to Cancun and you want a place to relax with other adults only, a place to receive pampering and special attention, quality service, with a wonderful variety of food, and right on the ocean, you really should consider LIVE AQUA Resort for your next vacation.


This is my personal opinion from my personal experience when we paid for a super vacation in Cancun, Mexico.




For more information, below is the address and phone number:

Live Aqua Hotel and Resort

Address: Blvd. Kukulcan Km.12.5, Zona Hotelera, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

Phone:+52 998 881 7600


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