My husband and are I trying to narrow down our options for an upcoming vacation this April/May.

We are in our late 20's. We've been to Mazatlán many times.

We are looking for a safe, relaxing, all-inclusive hotel on a nice beach, yet close to some restaurants/bars. Cozumel seems a little more appealing than Cancun or Playa del Carmen. We have also looked into Isla Mujeres.

Suggestions!?

Also--are the beaches in that area in decent shape after the somewhat recent hurricanes/storms?

Thanks in advance

The hurricane damage in Cozumel has been repaired. If you've never been there before, you wouldn't know that anything had ever happened. The best all-inclusive on Cozumel is the Occidental Grand. Its a lovely property with very nice restaurants and a good beach. It is a distance out of town -- probably a $10 taxi ride. You would want a car if you intend to go into town often for restaurants and bars. Honestly, there is no need to do an AI in Cozumel. The restaurants in town are wonderful and plentiful. An all-inclusive package is not the best uses of your dollars.

We spend each February in Cozumel and have for 15 years. If you have other questions, I will be happy to answer.

http://www.occidentalhotels.com/grand/Cozumel.asp are the

I've just returned from Cancun. It was a short trip 3 nights and I did not like Cancun and have decided not returning to Mexico in the future. First, We booked out transportation with www.cancuntransfers.com and they never picked us up on the returning day at 6AM (we waited until 6:30).
Cancun beach is the worst beach I've seen. Even VA Beach, Ocean City beach in MD is much better. You can't swim at all. For miles, there are "rocks" which appear as concrete (?) along the beach. Yuck! If you like party, night club, then may be Cancun is for you. But if you like to enjoy nice beach, swimming in the ocean then Cancun is not for you. We took the ferry to Isla Mujeres island. Walking all the way to the north side along the beach, and finally found nice beach. We took 1 day trip to Cozumel, did not have time to do much except for snorkeling. The beach(es) where we snorkeled was OK. Snorkeling beach is probably different from swimming beach so we can't give advise on this. Over all, I don't like Cancun/Mexico. Every where you go, you're bombarded with these people trying to sell you the tour, timeshare. We've even got scamped with renting a car (said it is 2003, but more like 2003 B.C. car). We went to Nassau/Paradise Island, Aruba before. These places are poor, but people there are not deceiving. Aruba is VERY nice! Paradise Island (Atlantis) is great. In my opinion, both places are great.

To each his own but to say "I didn't like Cancun/Mexico" is like saying "I didn't like Amsterdam/Europe."

Cancun is -- what Cancun is. No more or no less than the way it is portrayed on every forum. Tourists are often put off because they haven't done enough homework to know what to expect, thus an unpleasant surprise when reality doesn't meet expectations. You must know yourself, before you are able to know what destinations are right for you. I would never send someone who is looking for peace and quiet or long, pristine beaches to Cancun -- but then I wouldn't send them to Iowa either. Neither place has what you want. Not the fault of the location, the fault of <u>going to the wrong location.</u>