Our family of 5 is going to Akumal 8/07 and will be renting a car in Cancun. We want to visit Sian Kaan and hear the road is very bad. Is this still the case and is 4wd recommended? Any recommendations on car rental co's? Thank you

How far down are you going? If only to do the Cesiak tour--unless it's been raining--you should be okay. We did it in April in a "regular" car. BUT--the road could get rutted if there's been a lot of rain. If you are going beyond Cesiak (Punta Allen) then yes, take 4WD.

You need the 4wd for the clearance to maneuver through giant potholes that can take up the width of the road. August is technically the rainy season, so it's a good idea. But...keep in mind, most 4wds have their actual 4wd capability disabled.

I'm looking for one myself...not sure who I'll use yet. But I'm looking for a Jeep Liberty because they are fully secure/lockable unlike a Wrangler.

I think Executive has a Suburban which you may want for comfort with 5 people.

Thanks so much for your helpful information. I'd like to see Punta Allen - sounds like the snorkeling is good there. I'll start investigating 4wd options.

My wife and I did the drive from Tulum to Punta Allen in 2003.

We rented a Jeep from Executive, but I would not recommend renting from them. At the airport, they gave me an old Jeep with LOTS of miles on it. I drove it to PDC, where we spent the night before heading down to Tulum. In the morning, I went to the Executive office in PDC and asked for a newer Jeep. They gave me a "newer" one, but it was still well traveled. It looked the like the Jeeps from Avis were in much better shape.

Anyway, I was glad to have a Jeep for the drive to Punta Allen. The pot holes were HUGE and filled with water. IT was the bumpiest ride of my life. I enjoyed it because I was driving and in control, but my wife wasn't too happy (see recommends that all women in the car wear a sports bra)

Punta Allen is not that far from Tulum, but it took us about 3hrs because of how slow we had to go. We hardly saw anyone on the trip down. And when we got there, I felt like we were the only people there (we went around thanksgiving time), which can be nice if that is what you are looking for.

At the time of year that we were there, the snorkling was non-existent. We spent a couple of nights just totally relaxing.

Here are some photos from our Journey.

http://public.fotki.com/brosen67/tra...o/punta_allen/

Good luck.