Today was our beach day. There was another Ritz Carlton about 25 minutes away and there was a complementary shuttle between the resorts. Guests at the beach resort could visit the desert resort and we could visit the beach resort. The shuttle left at 11:00 to go to the beach and returned from the beach resort at 3:00. We could also use our full board package for lunch at the other resort which was a nice perk.
After breakfast we packed up the soccer ball, frisbee and football we would bring with us. We of course lathered up with lots of sunblock and brought our hats. We were ready for some beach fun!
The Shuttle
The kids heard shuttle and somehow thought we were going in a stretch limo. I couldn’t convince them otherwise. As we waited they spied an old Land Rover “Jeep” and went over to look. The valet said they could go inside and they were happy to pretend to drive for a few minutes.
The shuttle soon arrived exactly on time. The boys were sad it wasn’t a limo, but excited it was a small Mercedes bus. It was nice, though I have no idea why they were as excited as they were. I didn’t mind as long as they were happy, though.
The Beach
The ride took about 25 minutes to get to the other resort. The drop off point was right next to another hotel and at first didn’t seem like a very exclusive spot. Once off the bus, they took our names and lead us to a waiting boat that would take us over to the main part of the resort. There was also a paved pathway but the boat seemed like more fun.
It was a short 5 minute ride in the boat before we docked in front of the main restaurant for the hotel. The resort was laid out on sort of a jetty or peninsula of land with oceans on all sides. There were only a few villas at the resort and they were all located further out on the peninsula than the restaurant.
At the dock a staff member met us and gave us a tour of the small restaurant and pool area. He guided us out onto the beach and set up some chairs and an umbrella for us. He also brought us a bucket full of ice and complementary water bottles.
The beach itself was very wide and flat. The water was calm and protected and there were lifeguards on duty both on the beach and at the pool. There were two soccer nets set up and they had a ball you could borrow. There was also a beach volleyball court set up. Away from the water there were a couple hammocks and nexts to the pool patio down on the sand there were some beanbag chairs in the shade that were a nice touch.
The problem was the sand itself. It wasn’t all that great bot doing beach things on. It was very much like finely crushed shells. The texture was VERY hard and VERY sharp. You really had to have shoes on in order to walk on it. With sandals you still had to be careful because sharp pieces of “sand” could easily get caught under your foot and cause serious damage if you weren’t careful. It looked great in pictures, but in reality the beach wasn’t what we had hoped for.
The boys and I played soccer for a little bit, but the sharp sand bothered us pretty quickly. We spent a good portion of our beach time playing frisbee instead.
Lunch
There was only one restaurant so we headed there when it opened around 12:30. We inquired about the full board package and what it entailed at this restaurant. We still weren’t clear after asking a couple times, but did understand that some of the items were excluded and others, like the steak, would entail a significant surcharge. We still weren’t sure whether we could get an appetizer or not even after asking multiple times in slightly different ways in hopes of getting an answer we could understand. Our waiter spoke very quickly with a thick accent.
In the end my wife got a fresh fish dish and I got a burger and we all got dessert as that was definitely included in our package. It was okay, even though it took FOREVER. We were told our bus was leaving at 3:00 and it took nearly 2 hours to have our lunch. We weren’t super eager to get back out onto the beach because of the sand so we didn’t stress too much about it. It was definitely still annoyingly slow, and not because the place was busy. We were literally the only group inside and there were only 3 or 4 groups outside.
Afternoon and Return to the Desert
After lunch we had about 40 minutes to play before catching the shuttle back to our hotel. Tomatico and I played some more Frisbee while his brother played in the smallish pool on the patio in front of the restaurant.
Once done we rushed to catch the boat back to where we would pick up the shuttle. We arrived exactly at 3:00 and the shuttle was not there. We asked and found out the shuttle actually arrived at 3:15 so we went inside the “lobby” where guest were normally checked in and sat down until the shuttle arrived.
The shuttle arrived exactly on time, though it was a much smaller Mercedes minivan that only had seats for 6 people plus the driver. The one in the morning was a proper mini-bus. The other family was also heading back so there was a total of 7 of us so it was a tight squeeze but we all managed. The ride back did seem to take less time, though so we were back just after 3:30.
We walked back to our room and the boys went to the resort pool with my wife. I hid in the room to recover from being in the sun. On their way back from the pool they stopped at the Falconry Deck to watch the end of the show again. This time our youngest felt brave enough to hold an animal on his own.
Separate Dinners Again
We split up for dinner again with my youngest joining me again at the Farmhouse while they went to the Arabian place again. This time we opted to sit outdoors. We were greeted by name when we arrived and my youngest decided he wanted to try sitting outside. The place was not busy so we could chose where to sit.
I tried yet another type of steak. This time it was an Australian ribeye cut. In the end this was probably my favorite tasting steak out of the 4 different types I tried. My son had a chicken burger and was still hungry so he ordered the salmon he had the night before as well.
We had the same waiter as previous nights and service was faster than previous nights, though still slower by our standards. It wasn’t like we had anywhere else to go, though so we didn’t stress.
The next day would be our final full day!
Tomatico Travels 
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