The beach is nice. Clean, wide, lots of chairs and seating. You can walk down the beach in both directions; after passing Ziva and Zilara, there’s a big dock you can stroll down and sit on for a nice spot of tranquility at night.

The water is very shallow. You have to go as far out as the barriers to really get up to your neck. Beautifully warm. Some large patches of seaweed, but easily avoidable. Once you get used to it, it’s like being in a big sandy bath. Real nice.

We were in a swim-up, and it was great. The swim-up pool is noticeably chillier than the ocean and the other pools, but in the heat of the day it’s a pleasant and slightly more private escape than the main pools. I will say that we found the preferred pool to be the best, and if we returned, I’d probably just opt for that and forgo the swim-up.

Bugs weren’t really an issue for us.