My holiday fantasy of staying in an all inclusive in Cancun and celebrating New Year’s Eve with people I love came to life! This was the whole intent of the trip. We had a suite at Hotel NYX that was enormous with a great balcony view of the ocean. I slept so peacefully each night listening to the gentle waves of the ocean and feeling cool breeze. My son and his date had their own room on the bottom floor. NYX is not a 4 star inclusive but it was a high 3 star in my opinion. We had good food all week, a beautiful beach, easy access to other parts of the Riviera and the service was great. Within 4 full days we took excursions to Isla Mujeres and Xel Ha. Otherwise we just hung out enjoying the surf and sun. The hotel’s New Year’s Eve party was literally on the beach with a live band and a funky lit up stage for us to dance on. We met other people from around the world and it was great people watching under the stars on a moonlit night. We ventured over to Isla Mujeres by ferry one day. On the island renting a scooter or golf cart was the way to go. If you can book ahead to get a scooter or cart, do it. They were in short supply. You can circulate the entire island in an afternoon. It’s that small. On one end of the island is a sculpture garden with a walking path. This was worth it but sad since so many of the sculptures were metal – corroding and falling apart due to wind, ocean air – ? However it was a scenic point from which to gaze out over the Caribbean Sea. Back in the town of Isla Mujeres there are some good cheap lunch options. Another day we got tickets to Xel Ha which is further down the Riviera Maya. Like so many tourists we booked a bus and joined a lot of other tourists headed that way. It was a bit long – definitely over an hour. Tickets were about 100.00 each and covered everything – food, snorkeling equipment, entry fee but not specialty drinks. There was much to explore even on a rainy day! Edward and I rode bikes down a path to get to the inner tubing activity. I loved that. The inner tubes were huge and comfortable. You get pushed down a mini mini waterfall and are carried away down a channel that opens up into a broader body of water. From there you leisurely float and hand paddle your way along as you witness ziplining and platform diving activities going on from the shore. The lagoon there is huge. Lots of room for snorkeling. After we pulled out we got our snorkeling equipment and had some success seeing a few tropical fish. My son and his date did a snuba excursion and loved it. I would do Xel Ha again. We spent all day there but did not see or do everything. The rain came and went and that put a bit of a damper (pun intended) on the day. For our last night dinner I took everyone out to a steak restaurant called Tres Puertas in Cancun. Very satisfying. Farewell fantasy beach vacation. Mission accomplished!