You gave me some tips for resorts near the Shangri La Caribe a month or two ago where my neice will be married in May. Those resorts (Hotel Royal Porto Real)and her sister resort are not available. The Playacar Palace, however is (palaceresorts.com) any idea how far this resort is from the Shangri La?
Thanks so much!

Playacar Palace is at the south end of Playa just south of the ferry. It would be about a 20-25 min walk uptown. What about Las Palmas, Riviera Del Sol (not on the beach itself - 1 block off but a nice hotel with breakfast included and beach chairs/palapas at Mamitas which is just down the beach from Shangri La. Also, Reef Coco Beach (not crazy about the beach set up but it's right next door to Shangri la) You could rent a condo at Natz Ti Ha which is directly behind Shangri La, Playa Maya which is beachfront about a 10 min walk up the beach to Shangri La. Are you looking to go AI or does it not matter?

Thanks for responding! i'm not particular about ai or not as this trip will not include my kids...usually go ai if they join my wife and i. what is an issue here is i'm trying to use a deposited week through rci which i'll lose if not used this year. however, if it's more affordable to go outside of my timeshare i'm open to this. i'll explore the other resorts you've mentioned. any travel agents you'd recommend for deals in pdc? thanks much!

If you go to playa.info there is a travel agent who specializes in Playa and she posts there often. Her name is Shammy and if you do a search her email will come up. She does a lot of trips down there. Also, if you book a place through playa.info they will give you a playa.info deal card which gives you all kinds of discounts at restaurants, etc. I've not done it that with the deal card but I've heard it great and if you book a week through them it's free. Look at the tabs at the top for trip planning and directory for more info. I can see why you want to use the RCI thing. My friend has one too and she had us stay at the Mayan Palace when we were there in Aug before the condo was done. What a nightmare. Also look at La Tortuga (just renovated their gardens and good reviews). There are so many restaurants listed it's almost impossible to not find a great one. If you want any recommendations on places to eat just let me know. I can't wait - 3 more weeks!
Sue

Great info. as always! i'll pursue these leads. Thanks again
Barry

No problemo. I'll be down there on the 24th if you want any extra info.

Hi Sue
Well after all the posts above we've decided to just stay at the Shangri la...long story! Anyway, i've found better airfare prices into Cozumel vs. Cancun. Our flight however arrives late, do you know if the ferry to pdc runs 24 hours? Probably won't be ready to ferry until around 12midnight to 1am (we arrive into Cozumel at 11pm)
Thanks, Barry

Hi Barry,

I just did that route in Jan so I still have the schedule. It says the last ferry leaves Coz at 10:00 p.m. The first one out the next morning is 5:00 a.m. There is another ferry that is the older, local ferry but I don't know their scheule. You'll have to spend a night in Coz. Shangri La is really nice and May is a slower time of year. There's two really good restaurants right there also - La Cueva del Changa and Pummolara. It's a pretty short walk to town too. That's the beach I always use. Have you flown into Coz before?

I was afraid this would be the case. I'll probably just hang in the airport until that 5am ferry comes. This will actually be my first trip to the yucatan peninsula, i've been to mexico on the pacific side numerous times but never the carribbean side! I will definately visit the restaurants you've suggested, thanks for the recommendation. I've read other posts suggesting going to walmart for an ice chest and beverages. I assume walmart is in pdc and not cancun? Your help is greatly appreciated, thanks again!
Barry

Ok, Coz is a small airport and much quieter than Cancun so I can't see you're having a problem just hanging around. Once you leave the airport you have two options to get to the ferry - taxi or shared van. The shared vans leave from the curb when they are full and I'm not sure of the price. The taxi can be flagged down on the street which is a short walk out from the airport depending on how much luggage you are dragging with you. I drag out to the road but that's just me. A closer store than Wal Mart is the Mega which is on Constituyentes. If you walk out of the Shangri La and take a left at the water fountain in the middle of the road onto 5th then walk down to Constituyentes and turn right the Mega will be down on your left on 25th so it will be 4 blocks that way since avenues run by 5's and roads run by 2's. You'll probably want to take a taxi back if you buy a lot of stuff plus it's hot. If you don't want to walk that far there's a corner store right by the water fountain that has ice and staples. Much closer and probably has just what you want. The Mega is just like the WalMart as far as supplies. The WalMart is a few blocks south of the Mega also on 25th.
If you do get up Mega way there's also two great places to eat (well, there's more than two but..) one being El Fogon on Constituyentes across from Mega and the other on Avenue 30 called La Pesca which is a large palapa roof. It's on the other corner across from the Mega. Great food; low prices.

Hi Sue
One more quick question. I'll be leaving next Wed. for PDC...can't wait! Turns out I've saved $ even after paying a small fee to change my flight into Cancun and not Coz. My brother & his wife will be arriving 1 hour before my wife and I. Any suggestions where they could hang out at the airport until we arrive? We'd like to take a taxi together to PDC and hopefully save some $ although I don't know if 4 adults and luggage & 1 driver can fit into 1 taxi? You knowing this airport well, if you have any thoughts about where i should ask my brother to wait for me i'd sure appreciate it!
Thanks much!
Barry

Hi Barry! You're almost there-woohoo.
Anyway, are you taking, and is your brother taking, regular airlines or charters? If your arriving at terminal 2 which is the terminal the regular airlines use then when you exit the door walk to the right and go back inside the departure doors. Walk down to the left and you'll find places to sit and wait. I believe there's a place to have a cold beverage or snack. If you're both arriving at terminal 1 (charter terminal) than I don't know because I haven't been over there since it reopened last year. Anyway, depending upon how much luggage you have I would think it would be a tight fit in one taxi with three in the back and one in front. There's also a gray van outside the arrival doors and straight ahead. I took one of these last month. I believe there were three rows of seating, they left me off at the condo, and it was $18/person. The buses weren't running at that hour of the morning when I arrived so this was my choice for transport and it worked out really well. You could also take the bus into PDC - air conditioned and quite comfortable with storage underneath for luggage. $8USD per person and it leaves you off on 5th ave and Juarez. Then you'd have to take a cab up to Shangri La which is at the north end of town. Again you'd have the luggage/people squish. So, in your case I'd probably go with the Gray van. As far as meeting your brother I would have them meet you outside the departure doors at a specified time so you don't melt from the heat. Have a GREAT time. Hope it all works out well. Let me know how it goes.
Sue

What a resource you are! Thanks so much!
Barry

Thanks Barry. I love it there. It seems to get under your skin. Lots of people don't like the busy town and would rather have a quiet vacation in a resort off the beaten path but I love the food, people and atmosphere. I think I have 34 days until I'm back for a few weeks and I'm mentally already there. Enjoy.