nam1026

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on where to stay in and around Cozumel, Playa del Carmen or a bit farther south. I heard Cozumel was hard hit by the Hurricanes-is it really that bad? We're looking at next Feb 2007. Once I heard that I started considering Playa del Carmen or that area. Most important thing is good snorkeling off of our resort beach!!! We dont' want to have to take a boat to go snorkeling although we may do that once. We are looking at $2500 total for air and hotel from Albany, NY. So hotel can't be all inclusive and we prefer to have at least a fridge so we can buy groceries and do breakfast/lunch on our own. Would also like to do dolphin encounter. How is it driving there from Cancun? Easy, safe for 2 women, worth renting a car? Thanks!!!

Little_Man

what about a condo in Playa or Akumal? Akumal should have good snorkeling, there really isn't any snorkeling to speak of in Playa.
If you do choose Playa, Villassacbe.com look nice, and are in a great location in PDC.
LocoGringo will have other condos available in Akumal...
Sorry can't update you on Cozumel, other will be able to, I'm sure.

Javelina

I'm from Albany as well - small world!

We stayed on the Mayan Riviera, and loved it. There are so many hotels to choose from. We stayed at Aventura Spa Palace (PalaceResorts.com), and it was perfect. It was adults-only, and we barely spent any time at the resort because there was just so much to do- we went to Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Aktun Chen, Tulum, Chichen-Itza, etc.

Here's my review of Aventura Spa:
http://www.epinions.com/content_163589099140

I'm not sure how much the rates are for 2006 - you can go to their website and get rates. I thought the rates were pretty reasonable though. 11 days was $4300 including airfare, so you could probably go for a week with your budget.

The hotel is supposed to just about back to normal operations - and better than ever. I read some raves on TripAdvisor about how great things are at Aventura.

I have a ton of pics... if you are interested, drop me a line, I'd be more than happy to share. Also, the bottom of my Aventura review has links to all the other places we visited.

[email protected]

colokid

There are many, many, many condos for rent in PDC to choose from. Some are directly on the beach. Villas Sacbe is one block off near the ferry. The north end of town is also very nice. There is no snorkeling to speak of directly in PDC. There are many very good restaurants in the area and a wide range of prices. It all depends upon what you're looking for. The road between Cancun and PDC is all highway so not a particularly difficult drive as long as you understand the driving rules in MX. There is also a dolphin discovery in Puerto Aventuras but I wouldn't say I support such enterprises. It would be important to decide what kind of experience you want - Akumal and south is much quieter than PDC but PDC is a vibrant town and a lot of fun to be around. I've been going down for many years and recently bought a place myself. If you decide on PDC I'd be happy to give you more info on places to stay near/away from the beach. You can also check websites at playdelcarmeninfo.com and locogringo.com

Little_Man

just want to chime in here with colokid, please do some research and think hard about a dolphin encounter...

nam1026

I'm a huge animal rights supporter and volunteer at a free-roaming, no kill cat shelter so I dont' want to participate in anything that is dangerous for animals. I didn't realize the dolphin encounters are bad for the dolphins? Are there not any reputable ones that put their health first?

colokid

No. There have been some terrible happenings with dolphins down there. A few years ago many died when they were brought in to become captive entertainment. Diseases transferred from so much contact with humans are also a concern. Using animals for entertainment is never a good idea to me.