Mexico or Caribbean in November?
 

Hello all!

I'm sorry to post a rather vague question, but I'm not terribly familiar with either Mexico or the Caribbean and am in need of your guidance!

My fiancee and I are looking to take a trip (4 or 5 days) to the Caribeean or Mexico in November. Nice beaches, good food, history/culture, and a little nightlife are important to us (not discos and late-night clubs, but at least a place or two to listen to some local music and meet local folks past sundown). Accomodations don't need to be 5 star, but definitely comfortable.

I've been to the Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico and liked it but found the beach to be too steep and the water quite rough. I was also fortunate enough to stay at Caneel Bay last December and loved it, but I think that it is just a little too laid back for what we want for this vacation (and probably a but pricier too!). Never been to Mexico.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all -
AGF

Suggest Playa del Carmen south of Cancun for all that you are looking for.
Also Negril Jamaica would fit the bill.
The RC in Cancun is a very nice property, and there's a lot to do there.
Local food and culture can easily be found in downtown Cancun away from the hotel zone.

I agree with Playa del Carmen. The Allegro, at least when we went there had a show every night.

Just in the FWIW category, November is dead smack in the middle of hurricane season. No, that doesn't mean you are doomed to be in a hurricane. But it is something to consider if you have any latitude regarding travel dates.

No, November is not in the middle of hurricane season.
The hurricane season ends in November and there are rarely any hurricanes in that month (only about 5% of all hurricanes are in November).

I agree you are very unlikely to encounter any hurricanes in Nov.
Ted, since you quoted 5% occur then, were you able to find a website that has the bell-shaped curve that indicates when the hurricanes historically strike?
I had found it a few years ago - I think it was a noaa site - and now I can't seem to locate it.
It was what finally made my mind up (that and getting stuck on islands during closely passing hurricanes!) to stop traveling to the Caribbean over Labor Day!

You're very sharp, Diana.
The web address for the bar graph you're thinking of is:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G1.html
Shows the frequency of hurricanes by week, forming a loose bell curve.

Yay! Thank you Ted.
I just loooove hard data! :D

Uh oh...another travel research nerd like myself.
;) ;)

Oh yes!
What is it about being able to spout rainfall averages for a wide spectrum of geographical locations that appeals to us?
I think it's the inordinate amount of time spent doing grunt research while pursuing that idyllic vacation unsullied by the ravages of bad weather.
Hey, I'd planned on two weeks on Jamaica in late October or early November until I found out that's rainy season.
Who'da thunk it? :)

Here's the link to another site that shows historical graphs of hurricanes by week broken out for different areas: Eastern, Western, Bermuda etc

http://www.stormcarib.com/climatology/weekly.htm