NetNude - Diamond Eden Resort, Mexico. Report

Diamond Eden Resort
(Mexico) Report

This report is brought to you by Kirk. Please email the preceding address if you have any questions or comments.

The opinions expressed are those of the person(s) who submitted the report and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NetNude.

Diamond Eden Resort in Loreto, Baja, Mexico.

November 1996.

On Nov. 5, 1996, my wife and I made our first trip to Diamond Eden Resort in Loreto, Baja, Mexico. So here is the first, non travel agent, report of our week's stay at one of, if not the best, all inclusive values in this hemisphere, with the added feature of a clothing optional beach and hot tub.

Earlier this year we knew that "business burn out" was fast coming and we had to get out of town for a bit of total relaxation. To us that means turning off the brain and doing little that requires any thought or decision making, sitting on a nude beach and catching up on all of the books we don't have time to read at home.

We were planning to go back to Hedonism II, but their "good rates" were blacked out in November, and some reports earlier this summer spoke of some dissatisfaction from some repeat visitors. In a couple of posts on the Travel and Caribbean forums, they mentioned a new resort called Diamond Eden, which no one seemed to know anything about.

Not wanting to blow $3200 and risk not being totally satisfied, I let my fingers on the keyboard do the walking on the "Net". I came up with info on the resort, a travel agent ( Castaways Travel, who specialize in adult vacations) who had been to Diamond Eden with his wife, and a very good price.

For $1460, total for both of us, which included airfare from LAX to Loreto, Baja, and all of the typical all inclusive amenities - room, food, alcoholic beverages, non motorized activity equipment such as kayaks, snorkeling gear, bicycles, etc., we had a fantastic time!

Our trip began with a Southwest flight from Albuquerque to LAX, which, other than standing in line at 6 AM to get a boarding pass, went off without a hitch.(This cost less then flying from MoBay to Negril.) As we had carry-ons, it was fast, and easy to catch the inter-terminal bus to get from the Southwest terminal to the Bradley International Terminal. The AeroCalifornia counter was right inside the door. A little delay ( we were learning about the "mexican minute") and the fact that the terminal was being remodeled and did not have a restaurant that served breakfast put just a little crimp in the plans. Then at the counter, we learned that we could only take one carry on per person. So we had to check the bags and "hope" that they made it!

Not to worry! Even though we were about 45 minutes late in getting off, the complementary drink cart was in motion as soon as the DC-9 leveled off. No charge for top shelf scotch, poured out of a bottle, not the little ones you get on domestic flights. Lunch (and as we learned on the return flight, also dinner) consisted of either salmon or chicken, and was the best meal I have had in coach class in twenty years!

We landed on the single strip airport in Loreto about an hour and forty minutes later. Frankly, I have never seen a thatched roof terminal before! Really, it is quite adequete, and Mexican Customs was a breeze.

In just a few minutes, we had our luggage and were on the bus headed for the resort. Unlike Hedonism, the resort is only about ten minutes away, so there was no need for the added expense of another air fare.

We pulled up, to find the entire Activities staff, swaying to the music, on hand to greet us. Wrist bands were attached ( this proved we were guests to the various activites, bars and restaurants), and were given envelopes with a description of the resort, long with a coupon to draw two beach towels. (The large beach towels can be turned in for clean ones as often as you might want.)

Our room was not yet ready, so we had a chance to walk around to see what we had gotton ourselves in to. (Note: Our room was ready in about an hour. We had requested an ocean view overlooking the nude beach. To insure that we got it, our travel agent sent them a fax "reminding" them of our reservation requirement. Good service on their part!)

(NOTE: if you want to be on this end of the resort, ask for rooms beginning with 78 and up on any floor - 178, 278, 378)

In the following week we learned that they had an "overbooking problem, primarily caused by some tour operators in California and Canada. Plus, they don't seem to have their act together yet on getting rooms cleaned fast enough for the arriving guests. I must mention however, that when you have only one airline serving the Greater Loreto International Airport, the guests come in hoards, all at one time! The plane going out with 100 guests just brought in 100 more, who would be at the resort in twenty minutes. So the staff at Diamond Eden has its hands full getting those rooms ready.

Anyhow, our luggage was taken to our room, and we were very pleasently surprised. The rooms have tile floors which were just fine, air conditioned, cable TV (other than CNN in the morning, we never watched it - we were on vacation to get away from things like tv!) and a well appointed bathroom and shower. As the resort had been completely renovated ten months before, we found it nicer than Hedo. In addition, all rooms have sliding glass doors opening on to a patio or porch. Ours faced the Sea of Cortez, overlooking the "clothing optional" beach. We were three doors down from the stairs down to ground level which also happened to be next to the "clothing optional" hot tub. As a sidebar, we also had hot water, ALL of the time!

Rather than going through our week minute by minute, let me try to give you a picture of Diamond Eden:

Loreto, Mexico is about two thirds of the way down the Baja peninsula. It is semi arrid desert, thus there is a only a slight chance that your vaction will be affected by rain. In November, the daytime temperatures were in the mid to upper 80's, and mid 60's in the evenings.

Very rugged mountains surround the resort, which adds to the beauty. Next time we are going to rent a jeep and do some exploring in the high country.

The resort was previously known as the El Presidente, was taken over by the Allegro chain in early 1996, and completely refurbished.

Different than many resorts, Diamond Eden marketing goes after different groups. As the fishing in the Sea of Cortez is very, very good, some groups (of guys with or without wives) come strictly to fish ( the resort offers fishing boats with guides). And, with a good golf course near by ( green fees are included in the basic rate) a lot of people brought their clubs and played every day.

A major Canadian tour operator had large groups from Vancouver and Toronto coming and going every day.

And, as advertising in LA is a major part of their marketing, most of the Americans are from California.

Lastly, we were somewhat amazed at the number of 'seniors" at the resort. I would guess that the cost was the major attraction. While many seemed to be having a good time, a lot of them were a bit "grumpy" (I am 58 so I can say that) and I think that, with the noise and hustle and bustle of an all inclusive resort, that many will not be returning.

We met only two couples who had been there before. The place is so new that 99% of the guests were first timers.
Strangly enough, even though most of the guests were younger, most of the people on the C/O beach were over forty! And all that we talked to came to Diamond Eden strictly because of the nude beach. (This also was what we found at Hedo, and Paradise lakes in Florida.) People on a nude or clothing optional beach chose the particular resort primarily because of the nude or clothing optional opportunity. As discussed in the hot tub one evening, once a person or a couple has tried it, the oportunity to nudity will be the overshadowing reason for choosing a resort or vacation location. Some of us really would like to go to an all inclusive totally nude resort.

The 220 rooms are in one long building, shaped something like a bell curve, on the eastern shore of the Mexican Baja peninsula, on the Sea of Cortez. Rooms facing the water cost slightly more, but nothing earth shattering.

The beach consists of white sand, about fifty yards wide, and is protected from the waves by a series of breakwalls, with the water sports area being on the north end (kayaks, sales boats amd fishing boats), the middle half being the main beach, and the south quarter, on the other side of a hedge, the "clothing optional" beach.

On all of the beaches are thatched umbrella like structures, which can offer shade to the "over sunned". Fortunately, the nude beach has twice as many as the main beach!

The water in close (20 feet) is not as clear as Hedonism, primarily because of the waves. Further out, it get clear, but not as colorful as the water is cooler, and in many ways more refreshing for that "cool off" dip. Note: bring your own inflatable rafts. And you might want beach sandels as there are some rocky spots in the water.
The hot tub is located at the south end of the complex near the C/O beach.

Back to the central area - as one walks through the lobby and onto the center of the resort, you will walk past Carusos, the italian restaurant, and onto the main patio.

On your left will be the main dining area, open as at Hedo. Continuing down the walk, the entertainment pavilion/stage will be on ght. Every evening at 9:45 PM the Activity staff puts on a entertainment program, all of which is first class.

The grounds are very, very well maintained, with several different types of palm trees, and various tropical shrubs.

Next is the Main bar (open 10 AM to 11 PM), which is next to the first of two pools - one for swimming and the other with a water volley ball net, where they play "Tequila volley ball".

A few yards further is the Oasis beach bar, which is open from 10 am to 5 PM, also serving food ( great hamburgers, and tacos all afternoon). Until they get the original mexican restaurant remodeled, this bar is converted each evening to an mexican cantina for another dinner option.

Back to the lobby - walking out the front, it is a short walk to the tennis courts ( with pro), an archery range (with instuctor) and the disco, which is open from 10 PM to 2 pm.

Between the nude beach and the hot tub is yet another bar that is open from 10 am ( or 11 depending ?) until midnight (Nice!)

Food service: The main dinning area features breakfast from 7:30 to 10:30, lunch from12:30 to 3:00 and dinner from 6:30 to 9:30. As at Hedo, it is buffet style. I thought that the food was above average, and my only suggestion would be to get rid of the two seated tables. One nice thing about Hedonism was that the four, six or eight chair tables made it easier to meet people.
In addition there are two 'specialty restaurants - Carusos ( italian) and a mexican restaurant, both of which are outstanding. Reservations for these must be made after 7PM the night before. Tip: get there by 6:30 or the line will be too long.)

Overall, we found the food quality better than that of the Carribean resorts. The "cooked to order" omelets, pancakes and waffles at breakfast, not to mention the Bloody Marys that were available seemed better. However, I think it is because of the availability of better foodstuffs. Mexico is a producer and exporter of meat, fruits and vegetables to the US, thus what was served was basically what is available here in the US. The beef, pork and chicken were of much higher quality than that avalable in Jamaica.

Staff: By and large the staff was super, although most did not have a good knowledge of English. With my wife's high school spanish, we did learn to "communicate", and actually had fun with the staff learning enough words to get by. The wait staff and all of the bartenders ( who we got to know by name) were first class. I am sure that a lot of it is due to the management of the resort and the policies that have been set down, but the staff seemed to enjoy their jobs and worked very hard to please their guests.

Activities: In additon to bicycles, kayaks, paddle boats, a Hobie cat and regular sail boats and wind surfers, there are beach walks, stretching groups, aerobics dance lessons and beach and pool games. Lots of loud music, laughter, good times. There is a workout room with plenty of machines. For added fees, there is horseback riding, island trips to a a fine white sand beach with good snorkeling, whale watching trips ( in season) and as noted before, jeeps to rent.

Yours truly and wife had a severe case of sand gravity disorder, and found it impossible to do much during the day except lounge on the beach, read, cool off in the ocean, and drink Tequila Sunrises all day. Another note: bring insulated mugs to keep your drinks on the beach cold.

Liquor: Not as good as the top self stuff as the Jamaican all inclusives. There was no bourbon, much less good bourbon, nor was there any top quality gin like Tanqueray, or single malt scotch or Johnny Walker Black. When we got there we found only one bottle of decent scotch (White Horse) which, when gone, was three days until they got a couple more bottles.

Nude beach: Officially, both the beach and hot tub (which is huge by the way, but is not a jacuzzi as advertised - no jets or bubbles) are clothing optional. As our travel agent said " Diamond Eden has not been discovered by the fun crowd or nude crowd yet". Boy, was he right! The beach is fantastic and big - and when we first went out, there were only two other couples. By the end of the week several more arrived, but by and large, no more then ten couples had the nude beach to our selves. It got funny in the hot tub, with one or two nude couples on one side of the hot tub, and nine or ten "clothes" couples on the other, with the "clothes" almost afraid to look. After a few days of this, I wore nothing at all between our room, the beach and the beach bar, purposely greeting each "clothes" that I passed or came in contact with in the clothing optionl area. The reactions were great!!!

I think, as the word gets out, and the nude area is used more, that this will become a totally nude area, al la Hedo, and maybe more of the "clothes" may want to participate.

To break up the trip, we went into town for dinner one night ($7 plus tip each way by cab). We got in too late to really walk the town (which is very very small) but the dinner at El Nido's was great. I had a steak and my wife had a seafood platter with lobster, plus several margaritas apiece - and it came to $42 USD! Recomendation - go into town earlier, 3 or 4 PM so you have a chance to look around. I understand it is quite nice.

Disco: we did not go, but two young women we met on the nude beach said it was excellent and a lot of fun.

Shopping: Being from a tourist area in Colorado, we stay away from the "tourist trap" places. There is a little store at the resort, but not as complete as Hedonism. In additon, there is no duty free store at the airport or the resort. Too bad, as I think the guests have money to spend.

The end of the week came all too quickly. We had to have our luggage up to the lobby by 11 AM, and our clothed bodies there by 1. That we did, except that at 1:00, we were informed that the plane was an hour late. We finally left at 2:30 and sat at the airport for another two hours. It seems that the fog at LAX had delayed everything. We were all very skeptical until we finally got to LA three hours late - in dense fog. We missed our flight, but fortunately Southwest had three more flights going our way, and we got on the last one. Let me say that this is the first time I have ever been involved in a scheduling or weather problem with Southwest, but those kids at the counter and gate were great! No hassles, and a lot of effort to solve our problem. And the same goes for AeroCalifornia. Because we were 'ticketless" (isn't progress wonderful?) they were unsure as to what forms we would need to make sure we did not have any additional charges from our connecting airline. So one of the AeroCalifornia staff accompanied us to the Southwest counter, in a different terminal, to make sure we got on a flight. That was service above and beyond in my book.

Yes, we will be going back. Drop me a line if you want any more information.