Help on Destination Choice

My wife and I let our daughters choose (within reason) a vacation
destination following their graduation from high school. We are on our
third and final daughter, who loved #2's choice of Playa del Carnen--
nice size, great shopping, outstanding beaches, snorkeling, friendly
people and a nice international mix of tourists. But of course we
can't go back there. any suggestions for a similar mix?

<GlennOch@**********> wrote in message
news:1154543547.333332.18640@i42g2000cwa.********* ********...
> My wife and I let our daughters choose (within reason) a vacation
> destination following their graduation from high school. We are on our
> third and final daughter, who loved #2's choice of Playa del Carnen--
> nice size, great shopping, outstanding beaches, snorkeling, friendly
> people and a nice international mix of tourists. But of course we
> can't go back there. any suggestions for a similar mix?

Playa was reasonable for #2, but it isn't reasonable for #3? You can't
go back to Playa? What did you do when you were there the last time?
Personally I prefer places a bit south of Playa because of better snorkeling
in those areas. The Mayan Rivieria is being loved to death because you can't
find everything available there anywhere else in Mexico. As alternatives to
Playa I would suggest: Cozumel, Isla Mujeres or Tulum, with Cozumel being
the most like Playa, except that snorkeling oppotunities are more limited
and the beach sand is mostly imported from the mainland. This time instead
of hanging out in Playa you might try exploring the region. Myabe rent a car
and see Merida and some of the archaeological sites?

For something very different I would suggest San Cristobal de las Casas
and Palenque, but--no beaches, no snorkeling.

TB

We can't go back to Playa becasue that was daughter #2's choice and
daughter #3 wants her own place! Isla Mujeres and Tulum are interesting
suggestions. I know they both have the beaches. Not having been to
either, Isla I imagine to be too built up and Tolum not built up
enough-- shopping is important to all my girls, and the beach, but none
of us want anything resembling Cancun. Additional info welcome.

Technobarbarian wrote:
> <GlennOch@**********> wrote in message
> news:1154543547.333332.18640@i42g2000cwa.********* ********...
> > My wife and I let our daughters choose (within reason) a vacation
> > destination following their graduation from high school. We are on our
> > third and final daughter, who loved #2's choice of Playa del Carnen--
> > nice size, great shopping, outstanding beaches, snorkeling, friendly
> > people and a nice international mix of tourists. But of course we
> > can't go back there. any suggestions for a similar mix?
>
> Playa was reasonable for #2, but it isn't reasonable for #3? You can't
> go back to Playa? What did you do when you were there the last time?
> Personally I prefer places a bit south of Playa because of better snorkeling
> in those areas. The Mayan Rivieria is being loved to death because you can't
> find everything available there anywhere else in Mexico. As alternatives to
> Playa I would suggest: Cozumel, Isla Mujeres or Tulum, with Cozumel being
> the most like Playa, except that snorkeling oppotunities are more limited
> and the beach sand is mostly imported from the mainland. This time instead
> of hanging out in Playa you might try exploring the region. Myabe rent a car
> and see Merida and some of the archaeological sites?
>
> For something very different I would suggest San Cristobal de las Casas
> and Palenque, but--no beaches, no snorkeling.
>
> TB

<GlennOch@**********> wrote in message
news:1154635450.886646.57310@m73g2000cwd.********* ********...
> We can't go back to Playa becasue that was daughter #2's choice and
> daughter #3 wants her own place! Isla Mujeres and Tulum are interesting
> suggestions. I know they both have the beaches. Not having been to
> either, Isla I imagine to be too built up and Tolum not built up
> enough-- shopping is important to all my girls, and the beach, but none
> of us want anything resembling Cancun. Additional info welcome.

Ok, it sounds like what you want is Puerto Aventuras. It's a very
large gated community south of Playa. The advantage for you is that it has a
nice mall and the other amenities you're looking for. It's not Playa, but no
place else is. One of the things that make the place unique is that it has a
large man made harbor. There are better places to do the "swim with
Dolphins" thing, because the pens at Puerto Aventuras were not made for
dolphins. They were made for small boats and they're too shallow for
dolphins. The pens were added later, when it became a big hit. Akumal is
another place to consider, but there are fewer shops there. If the ladies
really want to go shopping you shouldn't limit yourself to one place. You
might want to consider nights in both Valladolid and Merida. Valladolid is
one of the best places to shop for local craft items directly from the Mayan
women selling their wares on the main square. The traditional mercado at
Valladolid is small, but I always enjoy it. There's a big cenote there and
some other sights. The center of Merida is a shoppers paradise. It has
everything from upscale botiques to a very large traditional mercado. If you
haven't seen Uxmal, it's another place to consider if you're into wandering
around a bit.

You didn't say what sort of time frame you're looking at. If you have
the time one of the best reasons for visiting that area is the diving.

TB

Glen
If you're interested in going to Mexico again, I think Tulum is a lot
better than Isla Mujeres. It wasn't nailed by Hurricane Wilma. Isla
was!
TB's idea of going to visit Valladolid for the day is a great one!
The shopping for native crafts is as good as it gets, with the
exception of Merida...
The nearby ruins of Ek Balam are impressive, and not crowded like
most of the other, more popular ones like Chichen Itza, or Coba.....
I haven't been to Tulum in five years, but would bet it's like Playa
del Carmen was ten, or twelve years ago, only with more
"hippies"......

Don

GlennOch@********** wrote:
> My wife and I let our daughters choose (within reason) a vacation
> destination following their graduation from high school. We are on our
> third and final daughter, who loved #2's choice of Playa del Carnen--
> nice size, great shopping, outstanding beaches, snorkeling, friendly
> people and a nice international mix of tourists. But of course we
> can't go back there. any suggestions for a similar mix?

Look into Huatulco in southern Mexico. It's a very small town. There
are several beautiful bays, some with snorkeling, some completely
virgin. There are affordable, very nice hotels. There is very little
night life. When you say shopping, do you mean malls or mercados? Good
luck.

[BackToBasics]

U should visit Puerto Rico i was looking at some pictures and they were beautiful pictures the beaches and just everything was very nice. check out pictures of Puerto Rico and ull see for ur self

[caim11]

I personally recommend Puerto Vallarta if you have never been there. Your daughters are sure to have fun and there are plenty of places you could stay at. We always go and stay at the Grand Mayan resort and it's great. My family really enjoys the resort and also the beaches and extra activities. Its also a really nice town to visit adn its just walking distance. look up the resort, hope it helps. :)