Clueless about Mexico, can you help?

They should head down the coast from Cancun a little bit to one of the many AIs on the Mayan Riviera. Lots of ruins, caves, great beaches, snorkeling, ecoparks, and prices are very attractive these days!
Playa del Carmen is also a good place for beaching and restaurants, if they don't want an AI.

Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun fits what they want. Or maybe Isla Mujeres (an island you ferry over to from Cancun).

Also Puerto Vallarta on the west coast of Mexico would be perfect for them, but the beaches aren't as nice on that side as on the Caribbean (but PV is a very VERY fun town).

Not Acapulco.

I agree that Playa Del Carmen is beautiful and has more of a european feel than CanCun. I went there with my husband and teenage children last christmas and had a wonderful time. The downtown area has some high end shopping but very cultural just blocks away. Very wide range of bars and clubs. Our favorite spot was a bar on the beach that had beds to rent for a reasonalble price. We stayed there all day enjoying the atmosphere and eating some of the best cerveche of our trip. At night this same club gets a little more formal we were told. So sorry that I cannot remeber the name of the club.
We rented villas from rockstarrentals.com and were very happy with our accomodations. We were near the RIU all-inclusive resort which looked beautiful. Only negative part of the area was the stray dogs, if you are a dog lover some will make you sad, I did notice a new shelter opening up near our rental. Also Xel-Ha was a full day trip that was worth it to go snorkling and cliff jumping. I suggest hiring your own car and driver because if you book the trip through an agency you may end up paying more and many stops at other hotels, which can be frustrating at the end of a long day.A cab is approximatley 45 usd. Enjoy!

I can also recommend Playa Del Carmen. We spent a week there a couple of summers ago and loved it. We were at the Riu Palace - the beach is glorious with plenty of water sports on offer; pool with swim-up bar, good food, lots of outings available and close to the town for a more noisy night life, shopping and just exploring. We also took a ATV ride in the "jungle" which was a lot of fun.

There are plenty of inclusive resorts in that area - ours was one of the smaller ones and not the cheapest so it's worth taking a look on line....Apple Vacations is also a good place to start to have a look at the resorts. But overall, Playa Del Carmen is a great choice. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

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Look at the Royal Playa del Carmen, Las Palapas, Shangri La Caribe for beachfront. The Royal is the more fancy of the three. They are all in Playa del Carmen itself. There is an adjacent community directly to the south of PDC called Playacar which is where many of the All Inclusives are located. Some have better beaches than others. Not a lot of Spring Breakers in PDC compared as to Cancun. The RIU Tequila in Playacar is opening next week after a 10 million dollar renovation. It's not on the beachfront but a short walk away or trolley ride. The RIU's in Playacar that are beachfront are Riu Palace Mexico, Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Riu Palace Playacar, Riu Palace Yucatan, Iberostar Quetzal and Tucan, Reef Club, Sandos Playacar (recently underwent a huge expansion), and Wyndham resorts Azteca and another one who's name I cannot remember right now. I've stayed at the Tequila several times, the RIU Palace Mexico and the RIU Yucatan. They are a 20 min walk to PDC or a 5$ cab ride. The Royal, Shangri La and Palapas are all in town and a block away from 5th Ave which is the main pedestrian walkway.