We have been to the sol cayo coco for the last four years and are returning again in oct. 2006. The kids are totally safe and have plenty to do thanks to the superb entertainment staff, so we gat a holiday. rooms are simple but quite sufficient, the hot water ran out one day but was back within 4 hours, boiler breakdown. For this each room was given a bottle of white rum ( proper bacardi)
food is excellent and the staff are all wonderful, they want to serve you.
White sandy quiet beaches where you can relax read and enjoy a fresh coconut that the gardeners will cut down for you or a cold beer.
Evening shows are great and they even do one with the kids.
We will return for years as it is safe, clean, friendly, value for money and enjoyable.
When you land at jarden del ray hang on as the runway is fairly short and they hit the breaks hard!!
would recomend to eveybody and have.

The sol cayo coco. What can I say? It is just like heaven there. I had the best holiday ever there. So good in fact I'm returning next year (2007).
The room;
Our room was very nice. Not decorated in an over the top manner but was very clean light and airy and had every thing we coud've possibly needed. Our room was in a fantastic location. From the lobby we literally went up one flight of stairs and our room was the first. Great because it was right in the middle. We overlooked the pool and although you can't really see from the photo I attatched it had a lovely view of both the pool and the sea. Especially when the pool was lit at night.
The maids came in every day and gave us new towels every other day. The bathroom came with a constant supply of hot water unlike many other hotels I have been to although I will note that around 6 when everyone is getting ready to go to dinner the shower pressure drops slightly. The best thing about this room was the dressing area. It was myself and my best friend on this holiday, Two twenty something girls trying to get ready at the same time is normally a recipe for disaster however adjacent to the bathroom, is a dressing area. Fully lit with a sink and a wall of mirrors with plugs for hair straghteners etc was our idea of heaven. Enough about the room now lol.

The pool;
Gorgeous. Thats all that needs to be said. Just a few metres back from the pool and sheilded from the sea breeze. There was constant entertainment providing hours of 'people watching'. There is a bar beside the pool which serves snacks and drinks all day and provides some much needed shelter during the mid day. The pool is on two levels, devided by a waterfall. The quieter area is at the bottom of this. The pool area was always clean and there was a member of staff going round constantly picking up any rubbish or empty glasses and occasionally take drinks orders and if you tip will regularly come back and make sure your ok and fill your drinks up.

The Beach;
There are 2 beaches on Sol cayo coco. I'll refer to them as the small beach and the big beach and when you get there you'l see just what I mean.
The small beach is literally 20 meters from the pool. It's long and narrow and edged with tall palm trees. It is also lined with hammocks swinging in the trees. I found this to have a slightly stronger breeze than the big beach.
The big beach is just unbelievable! Its huge and deserted!! Its just literally the other side of the pool. You walk out a set of gates, across a bridge which is made from tree branches (sounds bizarre but is really lovely), which has a stream running under it then your on the big beach. Pure white satin sand. Crystal clear warm turqoise waters that seem to go on forever. When your in the sea you can just keep walking further and further out and it just doesn't get deep. The first few days we were there it was quite windy, which in all honesty was nice because it was quite cooling but by the end the winds had gone and the sea was practically still!
I have no bad words to say about this holiday. The food, and there was plenty of it, was just delicious! Everyone was extreemely friendly and the weather I couldn't fault (I went in the last week of april/first week of may 2006). The only thing I will say is that if you can, upgrade your flight to premium. I'm average height, 5'7 and found it nearly unbearably cramped (I travelled with Thomas cook), so when I go back next year I've paid the excess for the premium seats because it really is too long a flight to be as cramped as that.

Well? I'm briish and i think this is the best hotel on the Cayos. My wife and I stayed here from Sept. 3rd. for 2 weeks. We had a fabulous time.

Flight - 18 hour delay due to Monarch Airlines giving our crew away to another flight. At first they told us they didn't know where the plane was!
What? Lost a plane?

Transfer was quick and efficient. Arrived at the hotel in 20 minutes.

We had a room overlooking the crazy golf and our sea view was nice. The room was clean and our maid was very good. The bags were bought up in less than 10 minutes and this was 5.30 am.

First walkabout of the hotel and grounds were amazing. And this was the same morning as we never went to bed. We had been up now about 36 hours straight, but wanted to enjoy it all.

The main beach was very nice but the Playa Largo beach was even better.They should stick a bar there. The large beach bar and restaurant was only open the first day as they closed it for refurbishment for the summer season. There was a little beach bar that opened from 10am till 3pm. This could do with opening longer tho as the people had to go to pool bar for drinks after it shut.

The staff at the pool bar were great, especially Arley, Esteban, and Orlando, The lobby bar was ok but way to hot in there. Duane at the cuban cocktail bar needs attitude adjustment therapy. That chip on his shoulder could feed a 3rd world country.

The food - I have problems abroad eating as i am a very picky eater but I ate every day in the buffet. We didn't go to the International as we didn't fancy the menu, but the buffet food was that good that we didn't need to.

We did'nt do any trips as this was just a chill out holiday. We went horse riding and went to a secluded beach. So peaceful.

Altogether, we had a great time and have decided to go back next year instead of going to Thailand.

One last thing, the rep Linda could not do enough for people. She is the best rep I have ever had on any holiday. And I've been on a lot! She did everything possible and went over and beyond the call of duty. So all the people who complained about this place, go to Blackpool next year.

we flew from manchester on the 27 aug and landed in santa clara airport[i think there being over ambitious calling it that]and after clearing customs where the staff looked a bit hostile especially to one young couple who where hauled off for a full medical examination we then got on an air conditioned bus for an hour and a half until during which time we crossed a cause way over the lagoon there were no barriers on the road so if the bus swerved you would end up in the lagoon my partner found this a bit of a worry. we arrived at the sol cayo santa maria.it is beautiful much better than the melia next door and thats a higher star.the pools fab the beach even more fab and the sea wow.

take the strongest insect repellent you can and always wear it and take after bite and anti histamines youll need them even the staff get bitten.the foods brill the buffets fab and all the al la carte resturants fab we had the best pizza we ever had there mmmm
the staff are so polite but they cant make tea they use hot milk!!
take your own t-bags.id say 9/10 cause of the mozzies