LBClarkNC

Hi,
My husband and I are considering a trip to Riviera Maya vs. Costa Rica with our 9 and 5 year olds mid March. (5-7 nights) We would like a combination of down time at the beach with excursions with the kids. Wild life is a plus for the kids.
As far as accommodations, all inclusive is nice for ease but not necessary. While shows and entertainment are nice, I have found them to be too loud at night at some all inclusives.
If we didn't stay all inclusive, we would love to be able to walk to restaurants.

I would love to hear any input or suggestions!

Thank you!!

RAC

I would say Riviera Maya is pretty much perfect for what you're planning. Costa Rica could work, but not as well.

SambaChula

Cancun, the Yucatan......
Some people choose to stay at resorts, AI or not, and take the large bus tours offered to sites in the Yucatan, captive dolphin shows, and/or amusement park interpretations of Maya culture. Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and large resorts down the coast are available.

Alternatively, some others choose a different experience, to stay in a condo or a local posada with pool, rent a car or use small operators like Yucatreks or LocoGringo, or base in more than one place to see sights and wildlife more conveniently. (I am clearly in this group.)

Sights in the Yucatan include the Maya ruin sites in Tulum, Coba, Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, and with more time, Uxmal and the Ruta Puuc from Merida. Coba and Ek Balam have pyramids to climb. Coba has rental bicycles and pedaled pedi-cabs.

Lovely, atmospheric Colonial towns include Valladolid, and larger, Merida.

Besides beaches (some of which may still have some problem with seaweed), there are lots of cenotes, rustic and more built-up, to swim, snorkel and dive in.
Tulum is one beautiful beach IMO, and has accomodations on the beach or in the pueblo. Akumal and Puerto Morelos may offer condos for rent.

Wildlife opportunities may include:
giant turtles and rays at Akumal
Manatees in the Sian Ka'an biosphere where there are also Maya canals to float
Whale sharks from Isla Mujeres or Holbox
Flamingos, perhaps from a base in Valladolid, in Rio Lagartos and/or Celestun
Alligators across from the Coba ruins and a monkey park nearby

Easyway is an honest, up front, reasonably priced car rental company, if that becomes your choice to get around.


Happy travels whatever and wherever you choose.

JeanH

Although it's been a number of years since we've been to Costa Rica, I'd head to Manual Antonio. Ok beach, easy to walk national park, where you will see monkeys and sloths. Lots of different types of lodging options, though, I don't know if there are any all inclusives.

Very lush, very tropical. Also, I am guessing very touristy, since it was approaching that 10 years ago.

Though, no more touristy than most of the coastal Yucatan in Mexico.

jamie99

I've been to both although like jean it has been about 8 years since I went to Costa Rics. CR is just not an AI type of place, they have a few but the majority of them are isolated in the Papagayo area, not close to anything for daytrips unless the day is long.
The beaches are much nicer in the Riviera Maya with the white sand and turquoise water. Sargassum has not been too bad the last week or so, I check the webcam daily on locogringo.com
Akumal or Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres are both nice with calm water. Tulum is lovely and can get some waves from time to time for boogie boarding, etc.
Whale sharks are seasonal, season is mid-May to mid-Sep.

RAC

Akumal (both main beach and Half-Moon Bay), Playa del Carmen, and Tulum will all offer restaurants within walking distance.

Most wildlife you'll see in the Yucatan will be bird life or fish. There are spider monkeys but they're not terribly easy to see. More common mammals are agouti and coatis--the latter being accustomed to begging for food at some places.

Oh, and iguanas. Lots of those at places like the Tulum ruins.

suze

All-Inclusives are more easily found in Mexico than in Costa Rica.

schmerl

The Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal just outside of Playa del Carmen is an all inclusive resort on a good beach. They have a kids club and many activities. They have monkeys, birds, and other animals on their grounds.
They are closed right now due to some fire damage, but are scheduled to re-open mid December.

volcanogirl

If you can live without AI, Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio is amazing - they have their own beach, lots of restaurants close enough to walk to, and we saw tons of wildlife on the property including lots of monkeys and sloths. Also really like that the villas have a kitchen so you can keep drinks cold and keep breakfast stuff on hand. The beach inside the national park is beautiful.

Rohelio

Aventura Mexicana hotel in Playa is the place for you... check out their web site. There is a family section and a adult section. you can pay only for lodging if you wish. This is a small hotel located right smack dab in Playa one block from 5th ave. where you can eat every day at a different restaurant. Also with kids you can go to Parque Ceiba (also on internet) on the other side of the 307 hwy... a most fantastic area for the family and especially for the children.
Playa del Carmen is the prefect destination for people who are not into AI.

emd3

In the Riviera Maya, this is a very special place to take your kids. You MUST make reservations online before going, as they strictly only allow a certain number of visitors each day.

http://www.thejungleplace.com

jamie99

Great suggestion emd, but the 5 year old will not be able to climb into the cage with the monkeys, minimum age to do so is 8.

matkat111

Our kids are currently 13, 12, and 8 and we've done the Mayan Riviera with them 5 times and CR once. The kids were 5, 8 & 9 when we went to CR and they absolutely loved it. We went for 10 days and went to Arenal and Puerto Viejo. We did hiking, hanging bridges, waterfall rapelling, tubing, zip lining, and visited an animal rescue center. It was an awesome trip and we can't wait to go back (hopefully this spring). The wildlife is amazing. I'm not sure where you are flying from, but it takes quite awhile to get there from the northeast. On the way home we had to do an overnight layover in Miami so our trip was really 11 days in total. I don't think if I only had 5-7 days I would go to CR, it's just too short. Manuel Antonio, Puerto Viejo, and Arenal are all 3-4 hours from the airport so you really lose your first and last day there.

We love the Mayan Riviera as well but it is a totally different type of vacation. We have always stayed at an all inclusive. There is not much wildlife beyond birds and monkeys that they bring around the pool for pictures. It's such an easy vacation to plan though so we keep going back. We have done the ruins at Tulum (kids were hot & bored after an hour), Xcaret, Xel-ha, zip lining at Selvatura, and snorkeling at the beach in Akumal. Kids absolutely loved Xel-ha and the zip lining. We loved Akumal and think that is a place we would consider going for a vacation without doing All inclusive, although it's a very small town so not sure if we would eventually get bored there. We've also visited Puerto Moreles which was also a cute little town with some nice restaurants. Playa del Carmen is fun to visit but not sure I would stay right in town as it seems like there are too many people haggling you all the time to come into their restaurant or store.

Not sure if you can make a wrong choice but I just think with the short amount of time you have, Mexico would make more sense. We've stayed at 5 different resorts there and have never had a bad time at any of them. Some had better food, or a better pool, or better activities, but they were all good in their own way.

crosscheck

We go to Mexico or Central America for winter vacation every year. We've been to the Riviera Maya area five times with kids and CR two times (going back this year). Overall, Mexico is easier because it's less of a hassle to travel around and more relaxing because you're more likely to stay put in one destination. It also wins for food, music, shopping and ruins, but CR kills it for nature. Beaches are great in both, but I'm a sucker for the Caribbean.

We stayed in Akumal when our boys were very young and more recently near Puerto Morelos, in Playa del Carmen and in Tulum. Of those, Tulum is the clear winner in my opinion -- less built up, stunning beach, interesting international crowd, wonderful excursions and excellent food (but we're not AI people -- the AIs might not be as stellar).

In CR, our kids loved Arenal and Tamarindo (for surfing) when they were younger, but it was less touristy then. Tortuguero is also excellent with kids -- a jungle boat wonderland -- but it's a schlep getting there and you might want to wait until yours are a little older.

Where are you traveling from? For us, coming from LA, Mexico is much closer and cheaper to get to than CR, so that's a factor as well.

november_moon

I like both, but for different reasons. The Yucatan for colonial towns, Mayan ruins, and really good beaches. Costa Rica for the nature - animals, national parks, etc. The beaches in CR are ok, but not as good as those in the Yucatan.