My friend and I go on vacation together every year. We have decided we would do all inclusive again. We LOVED this resort! It is absolutely beautiful. Our room was great and very clean. Even though we weren't facing the beach or pool, it was very quiet on our balcony, which we sat on before we got ready for dinner each night. The pools were great, the bars made delicious drinks, and the staff was more than accommodating. I saw many people complain of the food in previous reviews. I thought it was fine. There wasn't a night where I didn't find something that was very good and filling. There was a large selection and there was always hot food throughout the day available at any time. We took a few day trips: Los Cabos/San Jose city tour, the zip lines in the canyon, CaboMar sunset cruise, and kayaking in the ocean. All the tours were great! We booked them all with a guy in the lobby who was very helpful. I would recommdend this resort to anyone. It was perfect!!!!
The only bad thing about the trip was that the ocean was too rough to get in. Once we tried when we thought it looked a little better, but both of us almost drowned....literally. It was kind of scary. But, we loved laying on the beach, hanging out in the pool, and enjoying the atmosphere. The entertainment wasn't spectacular, but way better than others that I have seen. Great trip!!!!

My husband and I and another couple stayed at the Riu Santa Fe from July 18 - July 25. The resort is beautiful and the beach is fantastic! We had a great time! If you are thinking about booking this hotel, I wouldn't hesitate!

The views are AMAZING!! The water is crazy. I have been to Cancun twice, and Punta Cana and I'd say the waves were the craziest here. You can't really swim, but (crazy, haha) people run and jump into the waves. I got in for a sec, not too far, and was completely knocked into my hubby. The beach is different than Cancun (not soft white/super clear water) but we still loved it!

The food is pretty good. I wouldn't say it is great but we didn't go hungry. The buffets always have fresh fruit, salads, etc. The Baja California is located inside and is good. They had a variety of meats, pastas, etc. for dinner. I had some really good salmon one night! I would recommend taking something to drink down with you, especially if you are drinking soda. The pepsi light always seemed to be flat or out. The mini fridge is stocked with it, though. To make dinner reservations, you have to go down and get a number from the reservation lady. SHE STARTS HANDING THEM OUT EARLY!! I think we went down one morning and by 7:15 or so she was already on 45. Then you have to be back down there around 8:00 to wait for your number to be called but, again, she starts taking numbers early, too. One of the people at the front desk made the comment that you could directly call the hotel at 8am to make reservations but we never did. I am not sure if that is true or not but I would definitely recommend getting down there early if you want to get a reservation. Then you can make them for that night and the next night.

Mexican Restaurant: not that great. We all had fajitas and they were over done, bland...

Steakhouse: very good. We ate there twice. Rib eye and sirloin are great.

Asian: not that great. Buffet

Italian restaurant: pretty good. Salads and appetizers are buffet and then you can order main course.

WATCH OUT:
We got in a cab one night to head downtown and were scammed for buying wristbands for all of the bars. Little did we know, it is free to get into all of the bars anyway. We were told that we'd get in free and that girls drink for free. NOT TRUE! We learned our lesson and made the hotel aware of it.

FUN THINGS TO DO:
Cab it to the bars if you like to party. Cabo Wabo, The Zoo, Squid Row were fun. Our friends ate at The Giggling Marlin and had fun. I have heard a lot about The Office, but we didn't make it there.

My favorite thing that we did was my husband and I went down to the marina (all cab rides are $10 total) by about 8:30am. It wasn't at all busy. We took a glass bottom boat ride ($12 per person) for the natural rock tour (the arch, etc) then were dropped off at Lover's Beach. It was beautiful!! The waves were still crazy but not as bad as at the hotel and moreso on the Divorce Beach side. At that time of the morning, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. Kind of neat! Then you stay for as long as you like and the boat guy comes back with more tours on the hour and you decide when you want picked up. We had Pancho...very cute 'little' guy.

We also did deep sea fishing through hook up. My husband caught a HUGE marlin. Really cool. I had never went deep sea fishing before, but will say I was a little freaked out at first. The water was so rough and we were taking on waves (not like taking on water or anything) but definitely splashed and you had to hold on!!! It was like that for about the first hour or so. The way back was much better. I guess because you are going with the tide then. Turned out fine but be aware of the water!!! :)

We also shopped. I got 2 rings for $85 in one of the jewelry stores. They say 925 if they are sterling. I thought it seemed a pretty good deal (hopefully!!). One is turquoise and the other just silver with a cool design. The ones in the store are much better quality than the ones in the flea markets, so I thought it was worth it.

Had lunch at The Crazy Lobster. That was fun. The day we went around 11:30 or so and I guess it was Happy Hour. I had 2 margaritas (yum!), my husband had 2 beers and we had chips/salsa, a burrito, and 3 tacos for about $25 with a nice tip.

I tried to make this short but wanted to share our story! We had a blast and can't wait to go back! We'd stay at the Riu again for sure!

We stayed at the Riu July 20-27, 2008. We booked an ocean view room. I was thinking that this would be one of those rooms that you had to peer around the corner to see the ocean. NO...we were on the top floor of the building 7 directly facing the ocean...WOW! I am not sure why, but the ocean view was cheaper than the garden view. Garden view in some cases is desert sand...

Positives-
There are MANY pool areas, so there is something for everyone...you can party, read, nap in one of the many pool areas. You will not have to fight for a lounge chair...there are many more than what you need. The infinity pool was great!
The workers try SO HARD to make your stay there a positive one. (We loved Pepe and Ricardo in the main buffet at night).
The steakhouse and Asian were our favorite restaurants on the property.

Negatives-
The reservation system is really silly. They will tell you that you should come between 8-11 for a reservation. TRUTH IS: show up slightly before 7am to get a number. STAY IN THE AREA as they start calling numbers VERY fast anytime between 7:30 and 8am. The steakhouse was the hardest to get into. We didn't care for the italian, but we just returned from little italy in NY, so it was hard to compare to that. Also, just be polite...we saw so many people going irate on the reservations girl...I got futher with a smile and "good morning". You can book two days in a row. (You only have to go every other morning this way.) We actually loved the main buffet at supper.
Lunch was not that great- always the same food, but I didn't have to cook!

loved riu santa fe.......People are not lying about timeshare hounds. they swarm you as soon as you exit the customs area. my wife and i messed up by talking to them, but in the long run it helped us out. they promised us a couple of cabo activities if we went on their time share sales pitch. we picked the glass bottom boat and all you can eat and drink dinner sunset cruise. we gave the guy $20.00 saying we would go with to the timeshare the next following morning and he said we would get our money back the next day.
we prebooked a shuttle service using "trans cabo" it was a good sevice nice driver, newer vehicle.i think we only paid $40.00 for the both us round trip. i gave him the print out i did from home and he gave me a voucher for the ride back . we dropped two other families before it got to us. we didnt mind because we got to see other resorts and nice views. the whole ride took about 1 hour.
when we got to riu santa fe the grounds were wonderful. we were greeted drink service right from the get go. they had chips and salsa. we checked in the gave us the spill how the resort works slipped on bracelet for the resort. the bell hop jaun caesar took special care of us.look out for him tell him robert and robyn say hello(hola)
we had a ocean view room so we had a ways to walk. pass 3 bars just to get to our room. i would recommend ocean view rooms because its the only one with elevator. we started dring from check in, hit the bars and got to our room went straight to the bar. that 1st day we didnt make pass it 630pm because all of the drinking. oh yeah bring your own insulated cup because all they have is small plastic cups at the pool. take some advil , because when we woke up later that night at 1030pm. our heads where pounding, and we couldnt find any at the resort anywhere. we missed the buffet it closed a 1030pm. but the had a taco stand in the middle of the square. we could of had hot dogs and hamburger in the sportsbar if wanted too.
the next day we had the timeshare thing to do. they paid for a taxi to and from our resort. it s wasnt that bad of a presentation the guy wasnt pushy and we said "no" they fed us breakfast, gave our $20.00 back and we got 2 activities we were promised. but we could have had purchase any else for 50% off that was a great deal. we opt to walk to the marina just to save our taxi voucher. not more then a half mile. we used our glass bottom boat voucher. is was great sight saw some seal, sea turlel, puffer fish and alot more. we saw all the sights and the dropped us off at lovers beach. make sure you wear you swim suit underneath. we used zaidas glass bottom boat tour the water was choppy but the driver was very good. they picked us up 2 hours later but the come every hour. remember the are no services on lovers beach so i had a back pack with beer and waters. got back to the marina did some shopping and used the taxi voucher back to the resorts.
i could go on and on. to save money take the bus in front of the resort main gates it will cost $1.00 to go to walmart or costco even close to the marina. just tell the driver where you want to go. because it will cost $8.00 by taxi to go to walmart or costco. and $12 to $10 to go to the marina.
the food is ok, nothing to brag about. i would just do the buffet because i didnt think the mexican restraunt was worth waiting in line for i didnt go to my chinesse reservation we just went to town. but it was a wonderful place