Mexico anyone?

Beenie

We are thinking of trying Mexico (Yucatan peninsula) next year. The main cities look to be Cancun and Cozumel, plus there are the Mayan sites to visit. We are looking for relaxing time in the sun, with lots of swimming and visits to cultural/archaeological places.

We have been to Baja and that was fantastic - the people, the food, the whale watching, the beaches, the Spanish influences, the hotels.

Will the Yucatan be the same?

Kim_kim

Beenie wrote: »

We are thinking of trying Mexico (Yucatan peninsula) next year. The main cities look to be Cancun and Cozumel, plus there are the Mayan sites to visit. We are looking for relaxing time in the sun, with lots of swimming and visits to cultural/archaeological places.

We have been to Baja and that was fantastic - the people, the food, the whale watching, the beaches, the Spanish influences, the hotels.

Will the Yucatan be the same?

CAncun & Playa Del Carmen are the main resorts.
Tullum & chitzen itza are great, - Tullum is beautiful - try & have a waterproof pouch you can put your important bits in (cash & maybe phone/camera) & you can leave your stuff on the beach & swim.
Akumal is a nice small resort, I went there for a day, didn’t see any turtles but the sea was lovely & calm there.

There are a couple of big parks, xel-ha & xcaret - I didn’t go to either I’ve saved them for a return visit.

Cancun city is a big concrete jungle - nice for a days shopping & wandering.
Some great hotels, all along the coast road from cancun to Tullum, it’s got to be at least 50 miles.
It’s great, little busses run up & down it all the time.

See a cenote & swim in it if you can stand the cold!!!

Ballard

I had a great time in Mexico about 10 years ago. As above, Cancun didn't do it for me but I was only there a day or two. I found it to be full of Americans spending US Dollars so it felt a bit like I was much further north than I was.

Tulum was fascinating and had a relaxed feel about it (there did see to be rather a lot of hippies around when I was there!)

Chichen Itza is a very special place and I regret doing it in a few hours as I was staying a distance away. If it appeals to you then I'd suggest staying locally and getting a full day there.

I spent a night in Playa del Carmen which I found to be relaxing after travelling for a fortnight.

benjus

Tulum is great - it's still quite laid back but there's less of a hippy vibe there now as it's become popular with richer tourists (especially Americans). There are lots of expensive boutique hotels in the beach area (which is a few kilometres from Tulum town itself) but still a few more affordable places. No big All Inclusive resorts, but there's plenty of that sort of thing further north if that's your style. The food in Tulum is great.

Unless you can afford to hire a private driver or take taxis everywhere, I recommend hiring a car so you can go to places like Chichen Itza under your own steam. It's a couple of hours from Tulum, but if you leave early you can get there as soon as it opens and get a good look at the place before it fills up. However, getting hold of a car at Cancun airport is not a trivial matter... the local car hire firms won't keep your car reserved for you if someone else comes along first. You might have more luck with the major international firms, although I wouldn't be too confident. In our case the company we booked with let us down, but we found someone who organised a car for the same price with a different company. If you search for car hire in Cancun you'll see lots of ridiculously cheap prices - bear in mind that these don't include insurance, which costs a lot more than the car hire itself and I don't think they would accept an insurance policy from outside Mexico. Expect to pay about 60 USD per day for a basic car. Driving is pretty easy and the roads aren't generally too busy, especially once you're off the Cancun-Playa del Carmen road.

There are also some good ruins around Tulum itself (not the most spectacular ruins, but a gorgeous setting right by the sea). Coba is also worth a look (one of the few places where you can still climb a pyramid), and apparently Uxmal is great, although I didn't make it there myself.

Cenotes (natural sinkholes serving as fresh water swimming pools) are also worth a visit - there are lots around the area.

We didn't see much of Cancun, and what we did see made us glad we weren't staying there. We got the ferry over to Isla Mujeres but didn't like it much - a nice beach (but not as nice as Tulum's) but the town seemed quite grotty. We didn't go to Cozumel.

One tip: remember that Quintana Roo state (the eastern part of the Yucatan where Tulum, Cancun and Playa del Carmen are) is in a different time zone to Yucatan state (where Chichen Itza is). We arrived an hour earlier than we needed to at Chichen Itza and had to wait for it to open.

FBaby

Went to Cozumel for a day and was presently surprised, but wouldn't do more than 1 or 2 days. Also, watch for the arrival of cruise lines, you can end up with more than 10.000 people invading in one day!