Azul Sensatori Family Activities

The Azul Sensatori's free-standing Kids Club building is one of the largest and nicest facilities I've seen among all-inclusive resorts in the Riviera Maya -- and I've stayed at 10 different such properties. A circular, main open area houses colorful mats and gym equipment for the My Gym program (see below), while adjacent rooms are themed according to activity: dolls, games like pint-sized pool and foosball tables, Fisher-Price toys and arts & crafts. A large theatre is for showing movies and holding talent shows, and a nap room with a sweet nautical theme (boats for beds) is where the youngest children rest in the afternoon.

Children enrolled in the resort's complimentary Azulitos Kids Club during busy periods at the resort are grouped by age: 4 to 7 and 8 to 12. If family occupancy is low, activities are planned to accommodate all of the ages. The Kids Club is open 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and then again from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. so Mom and Dad can have dinner on their own. Guests can enroll children for the entire day and again in the evening, or for just an hour at a time. Staff brings the enrolled children to an on-site restaurant for lunch if they are there over the noon hour.

Kids Club activities might include tennis lessons, time on the rock climbing wall, making play dough, salsa lessons, beach time, face painting, board games and much more. Parents are invited to family activities during the 4 o'clock hour, such as a "whipped cream war," treasure hunt, water balloon party and pinata making. Also at the Kids Club, for an extra fee of $5 per class, children can sign up for age-appropriate My Gym classes. Parents accompany their toddlers on the colorful gym equipment, including mats, balance beam, and trampoline, while older children can participate on their own.

For children under age 4, private babysitting for $15 an hour is offered. Also, parents can bring their under 4s to complimentary playgroups held at certain times every weekday morning. This is a nice way to get to know other parents with similarly aged young children, and have fun playing in the Fisher Price Room at the Kids Club; it contains an amazing array of Fisher Price toys for preschoolers, toddlers and babies. Parents can also drop in at any time with younger children; but kids under four must be accompanied by a parent (or adult caregiver) at all times.

Adjacent to Azulitos Kids Club is the stellar kids' pool and water-play area. This includes water cannons, dumping buckets and sprays, as well as a short, twisting water slide into a 2.8-foot-deep pool. Use caution with the water slide -- I watched my big kids (ages 7 and 9) fly down it quickly. The toddler pool here is just shy of a foot deep.

Teens have their own scheduled daytime activities, from tennis clinics to soccer on the beach, plus a weekly beach party. They can congregate with kids their own age at Breeze Lounge, which is open for teenage socializing nightly from about 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with board games, non-alcoholic drinks, a dance floor and DJ music. An arcade with games such as air hockey, basketball throw and foosball is open to all ages; games are paid for with Mexican pesos. A video-game center with Xbox, Wii and Playstation is also available for a fee of $6 for 30 minutes of play.

The Azul Entertainment Team organizes activities all day long, many of which are appropriate for school-age children and/or teenagers, such as Ping Pong, bocce, volleyball, pool games, bingo, darts, horseshoes, dance lessons and water aerobics. The activity pool near the Family section, with nets for water polo and basketball (just ask the activity staff for balls) is generally four-feet deep, but can accommodate younger swimmers with wide step entries and a few shallower ledges around the pool. Plus, during my family's visit, the activity pool was not filled to capacity