lynn

I am looking into a week in July for myself and my (14) teen ager. We're looking for snorkeling and calm waters, nice beaches, some shopping (very little). Not crowds!! Any suggestions for hotels (probably all-inc. this time. How is the Iberstar Cozumel vs somewhere in Playa del Carmen????

Nancy

Hi Lynn!<BR>Despite being pretty close together, PDC and Cozumel are very different from each other.<BR>Since you are taking a child, I would recommend Cozumel as it is more family-oriented with lots of things to do and see. (Although PDC has a lot to offer too, I don't feel it offers enough variety for a week unless you rent a car and venture out down/up the coast.)<BR>I would also suggest staying out of the downtown (San Miguel) area on Cozumel when cruise ships are in if you don't like crowds. <BR>Some of the best snorkeling to be found anywhere is in Cozumel. (Right off the beach in front of your hotel.)<BR>Iberostar is too far up the road from everything for me.<BR>We stay at the Presidente Intercontinental.

Ali

I believe either place would be a good choice. Cozumel does have great snorkeling and I did find it easier to shop there, but from Playa Del Carmen you have Xel-Ha, Tulum, and other "tour" type adventures. Either way, you can take the 45 minute ferry ride from Coz to PDC or PDC to Coz. <BR><BR>I found there to be less crowds in the town of Playa Del Carmen, then in the town of Cozumel. But once you get out of the downtown area of Cozumel, you can pretty much have a beach area to yourself.<BR><BR>

Susan

Lynn, we've been to that area several times. One possibility is to book a few days in both places. On our last trip there (March 2000), we had 4 nights in Cozumel and 3 in Playa del Carmen. It's only a 45 minute ferry ride between the 2. <BR><BR>Cozumel in general has better snorkeling and you can easily find places to snorkel off the beach. Playa del Carmen has bigger waves, and you'd have to go elsewhere to snorkel. But there's terrific excursions from PDC (we always do them on our own and never take a tour). Also people watching in PDC is fun. It seems to attract more European tourists than Cozumel.

Lenleigh

Lynn-<BR><BR>I just got back from Playa Del Carmen yesterday 6/3. We didnt get a chance to take the ferry over to cozumel so I can't say how it is over there. We stayed at the Reef Club Playacar and it was pretty nice. I would suggest staying at a resort in Playacar, it is a very large area just a few minutes out of Playa Del Carmen. They have many resorts there to choose from. Reef Club however had one of the nicest/less crowded beaches I saw. The reason is that on one side there are just houses so you arent crammed in between two hotels. However you have to go further south (away from playa) to get snorkeling right off the beach. We just took a day trip from our hotel that we booked at the dive shop on the beach. Also there are Excaret and Xelha that are not long drives from Playa and have good snorkeling from what we heard. You will have a lot more options for things to do if you stay at Playa than Cozumel. I still have a lot of photos to upload but you can check them out at this link <BR><BR>http://community.webshots.com/user/lenleigh