My husband and I are on day seven of our ten day stay at the Sian Ka'an. We are beach lovers but decided to try this resort (which is not on the beach but across the highway) since we brought our golf clubs and thought we would have better access to the beautiful golf course located right next to Sian Ka'an. The first few days we thought we had made a huge mistake but we have become happier with our choice, due to the efficient shuttle service and the fabulous food, drinks, and service at the buffet and lounge at Sian Ka'an. The private beach area is great (no towel cards needed), and we have access to any other restaurant and lounge in the complex (guests staying at Tulum, Akumal and Coba, however, do not have access to Sian Ka'an). The pool areas at Sian Ka'an are not that impressive and many spots are in the shade, so we always went to either the beach club for Sian Ka'an or the pools at Akumal or Tulum. After trying some of the other restaurants, we realized we have the best choice in the always elegant buffet at Sian Ka'an - cloth napkins, beautiful cutlery, wonderful service, amazing food and flowing champagne. The lounge servers are extremely attentive and efficient - gracias Adriana, Lorena, Leticia and Ana! We did not find the food at the specialty restaurants that impressive - the Alux was disappointing, since it is supposed to be the best in the whole resort. My steak was mediocre and my husband's sea bass was fishy. The manager was apologetic, saying his this was not from his regular supplier. The Japanese restaurant (Maiko) was nice, but it is not necessarily Japanese fare but Asian in general. The Don Pablo restaurant at the Tulum was really busy (we had to wait about half an hour to get in) and our food was just ok.
We have golfed three times so far and each time have been thrilled and humbled at the same time.....do not expect to golf anywhere near your handicap....it is a difficult track to say the least! It is fairly easy to make a tee time - be prepared to wait on the phone for several minutes before the pro shop picks up. Trying to book through the Public Relations desk is the same procedure - they also have to wait for the one person in the pro shop to have time to answer the call. Staying at Sian Ka'an allows us to golf every day if we want and we can get drinks from the bar (two each at a time) but the beverage cart only provides water and chips or peanuts, and you have to purchase any alcohol ( even though we are all inclusive!) We would grab beers before we left and get more after nine holes. You can go in for drinks after your round but have to pay for any food.....again, this does not make a lot of sense.
We took an awesome day trip to the beach at the town of Tulum - we hopped the trolley to the highway, where we got into a collectivo, which cost 30 pesos each to get to Tulum. They try to grab you when you get there and sell you tours for the ruins, snorkelling and a beach chair for 350 pesos, but we bypassed this and walked to the beach on our own. We found a gorgeous spot to sit in front of El Paraiso Beach Club and paid 50 pesos each for a lounge chair for as long as we wanted it. We found out that for 200 pesos each we could go on a panga boat which would take us to see the ruins from the water, then go snorkeling off a reef for one hour and 20 minutes (there is no real snorkeling right off the beach, like you can do at the town of Akumal). This beach was one of the nicest we have ever been on and we highly recommend this location - the beach is easy to walk on, with hard packed sand and that blue-green Caribbean surf that you see in posters.

I recently returned from being a guest Zumba Instructor across the street at GBP Tulum but I stayed here at Sian Kaan. It is a beautiful resort, modern contemporary rooms, great food and drink as well as golf, which I did not try. I just found it to be very quiet for my taste. Personally, I love to people-watch at a lively pool area! This is not really the place to do that. Also note, this property is NOT directly on the beach. There are shuttles that take you across the street to the beach and I found the travel back and forth to be tedious. It was not a reasonable distance to walk frequently, although I did it a couple of times. I have also stayed at all three Gran Bahia Principe sister resorts across the street on the beach side and prefer them to Sian Kaan. So, it is really just a matter of taste. Fabulous accomodations if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing vacation or looking for a golf vacation.

We were at this resort in June 2012 and I have been meaning to provide a review, so here it is.
It is a great place to vacation without the crowds and an excellent golf course. I went golfing twice during our vacation and played 18 holes in about 2 1/2 hours. The weather was great, the food was excellent with no shortage of choices and the staff very accommodating. The nice perk with this resort was we could use all the amenities of the other Bahia Principe resorts which were a short shuttle ride away. The rooms were above average. We had no complaints and would definitely return at some future date.

We got a great deal on this trip through Travel Cuts/Nolitours. At approx $1000 pp for an all inclusive/flights turned out really well.

Buffet has great food, the restaurants are a little too much pomp and circumstance for us, but the food is good. There's always space by the pools. Lots of choice in excursions and activities. Started raining today, but still things to do, like going in to playa del Carmen, the ruins, driving range, spa, etc.

The average age here is probably 50+, however it is nice, clean, and quiet. When we want to go to somewhere more lively we only have to jump on the tram and go to the coba, or tulum.

The collectivo into town is an easy and cheap way to get around. Don't be intimidated, it is just transit for the masses!