Christmas week 06 vacation to maybe Cozumel and/or Akumel/PDC
 

Unfortunately Christmas week is the only vacation that my kids have in common. This is the last family trip before my daughter is off to college (son also in high school), and they requested a mexico beach trip.

I was looking at flight from NYC to Cancun for this week. At the moment there are virtually no non-stops to cancun. I did notice that there are non-stops to cozumel at about the same price as 1-stops to cancun.

This being said Cozumel is looking more appealing. I was thinking of maybe flying into Coz. and splitting the trip between a hotel in cozumel and an AI in PDC or Akumel (my kids love the AIs and really want to return to one).

My questions are:
1. If and when can I expect new non-stops to Cancun to open up, and any thoughts on approaches to get the best prices (I'd like to keep the flight cost at <$500pp), some high season cancun flights i've seen as high as $900.

2. If we do the Cozumel thing, how's the transfer to PDC. Do we just taxi to the ferry? Is there any problems taking luggage on the ferry? When we get to PDC, can we just take a cab to our destination?

3. Any hotel/condo recs for Coz (family of 4), preferably with pool, nice beach and decent restaurants within walking distance.

4. Does most of Coz have purified water?

5. If we only have 7 nts, how should be split them? I'm thinking of we do fly in/out of Coz, then we should spend our couple of nights there.

6. How about open-jaws in Mexico? Are they as reasonable as open-jaws in Europe?

7. Any other thoughts/ideas on alternatives to this (keeping with the Mexico beach theme)?

Thanks much.

Briefly, I stayed at a condo called El Cantil in Cozumel last August. PERFECT location. Very nice Condo, Super snorkeling off the beach. Small man-made beach. This is about the nicest condo that is close to walking into town. Most of the hotels are in the south zone and you have to taxi into town. There was so much to do right where we were, we rented a car for only one day and went to the ruins and around the island. If you go, Chen Rio for a Shrimp Cocktail is a must. We also went snorkeling there. Cozumel is a snorkelers paradise. The Ferry is very convenient from Cozumel to PDC and yes you can take luggage. We drank water from the faucet in El Cantil. The most important thing is to get the current status of the beaches in Cozumel after the hurricane. If you are going to Cozumel then Akumal, I would say 4 nights Cozumel and 3at Akumal. Akumal has Yal-Ku lagoon for snorkeling, but no older town. Cozumel beaches last year were breathtaking. You would have to Taxi to PDC for shopping and to the PDC 5th Avenue shops.

The workers on the ferry will take your luggage and give you a ticket to retrieve it when you reach PDC if you would rather not drag it around on board yourself. I prefer the airport in Coz because of it's size and quick exit through customs.

I forgot this part - the taxis are not permitted to pull into the airport for picking up passengers. You have to walk out to the road and flag down a taxi from there. When returning they did drop us off at the terminal. Go figure.

WHat a pleasant surprise! I had given up on this post.

Thanks. I plan on tracking airfares, and COZ is looking like a good alternative to flying into Cancun.

So far here's the plan. I ended up getting non-stip flights to Cozumel for $500 (including all taxes and fees). This was the best I could find (to either cancun or cozumel).

I priced an all-inclusive in cozumel, and the cost was astronomical for CHristmas week. My kids are teens, and considered as adults, therefore requiring 2 rooms. I also priced one in Akumel with was cheaper, but still a bit pricey.

I decided to go the condo route, and ended up with eh Xaman Ha condos in Playa Del Carmen, just a couple of blocks from the ferry so convenient for the flights. I chose these because I really want to be on the beach and also wanted a pool. I didn't want a private type villa beacuse I'm hoping there will be other families with teens at the complex.
I also like the idea that it's very close to town for meals. We have a 2 bedroom/2Bathroom with ocean view and balconies. This sounds like pletney of room for us.

Any comments on Xaman Ha condo are welcome. ALso any suggestions on where to grab a quick lunch or breakfast.