"It was nice just to hear her voice and that everybody was OK. That was comforting to know."
Guy Yamamoto
About hearing from his in-laws stranded in Cancun
Hurricane strands isle travelers in Mexico
UH football fans stuck in Cancun hope to be back this weekend
Forty-one stranded Hawaii travelers rode out Hurricane Wilma in a resort spa south of devastated Cancun, Mexico, and passed the time getting massages, said a representative of their Hawaii travel agency.
"They were treated very well. They had hot food and hot water," said Donna Yamauchi, of Ala World Travel.
She said one of the group's two escorts, Louis Ching, called the travel agency at 6:30 a.m. yesterday to let people know the group was OK. The travel agency then began calling family members with the news.
Some of the travelers made their own calls.
Guy Yamamoto said his mother-in-law, Linda Nagamine, called him on his cellular telephone at 8:15 a.m. yesterday.
"She just said, 'Cancun calling,'" Yamamoto said.
Nagamine is traveling with her husband, Stan.
"It was nice just to hear her voice and that everybody was OK. That was comforting to know," Yamamoto said.
Yamauchi said the Hawaii travelers were evacuated from Cancun Palace to the hotel's sister property, Aventura Spa Palace in Puerto Aventuras, on Thursday. Puerto Aventuras is about 45 miles south of Cancun along the Mexican Caribbean coastline.
There was no telephone service in Puerto Aventuras. So the Hawaii travelers took taxis to Tulum, 28 miles farther south to call home.
Cancun bore the brunt of the hurricane, as Wilma lingered along the Yucatan Peninsula's eastern coastline for two days. And when Wilma moved north, looters moved in.
The Hawaii travelers stayed in bunk beds in the Aventura Spa Palace's ballroom.
Yamamoto said his mother-in-law reported experiencing some high winds in Puerto Aventuras and some rain did leak in.
But all in all, he said they were lucky they were in a nice place. And they got their first shower Monday.
"They all got a 15-minute shower," Yamamoto said.
The group is scheduled to fly out of Cancun for San Francisco on Friday, where they will spend at least one night. The travel agency is trying to arrange flights for them to Hawaii on Saturday or Sunday.
They started their trip from Honolulu on Oct. 16 and arrived in Cancun the following day. They were supposed to fly Friday to San Jose, Calif., to watch the University of Hawaii football team play San Jose State on Saturday. From there, they were scheduled to go to Las Vegas on Sunday and return to Honolulu tomorrow.
Yamamoto said his in-laws are part of a group of UH football fans who try to attend at least one road game every year. This year, they were supposed to attend the game against Louisiana Tech but had to change their plans because of Hurricane Katrina.