My friend and I are both 24 and planning a July, "thank god I just finished my master's degree" trip. we want to go somewhere where we can lay on the beach all day and party all night but that won't be super expensive. we were thinking acapulco. Does anyone have any flight or hotel information that would be helpful or any other ideas of places to visit?

i haven't been to acapulco, but if you compare prices w/ it and say puerto vallarta, it's much cheaper.

Expense depends a lot upon where you're coming from...?
If you want to just lie on the beach, the east coast of Mexico (Cancun) probably has the nicest beaches and prettiest waters...

And if I can add to frankie....

...Cancun is also the partiest.

Cancun is the perfect destination for what you are looking for. How about an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic,like Puerto Plata, Sozua, much cheaper...
There is also Costa Rica...

Puerto Vallarta on the west coast of Mexico, would be a much better choice IMO for what you describe. It is a nice mix of beaches, nightlife, partying, but also a regular Mexican town to visit. There are all kinds of hotel choices - from cheap to fancy.

On the east coast of Mexico - Cancun or Playa del Carmen would work.

Why I don't think Acapulco is exactly what you have in mind is partly for the size (big), but also it is more expensive, and has more Mexican tourists visit than U.S./Canadian generally speaking. I don't think of it as a 20-somethings party spot at all.

For flight information, it would help to know where you are coming from.

For hotel information, once you pick a city, give us a price range and what you are wanting (cheap, simple and near a beach, all-inclusive resort, etc.).

well, we live in Des Moines, IA, but it is hell to fly out of, so we will probably drive to Chicago. I don't want to have to rent a car because I don't want that trouble, and we would like a cheap place to stay that isn't dangerous...and that isn't easy to know without having been there before.

start by pricing flights to say, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun.

Both of these locations are safe (of course always use your best judgement)

If you opt for Cancun, there is also a very nice town called Playa Del Carmen where many young European and South America people like to vacation. It's only 45 minutes south of the Cancun airport, and a cheap, nice air conditioned bus runs there often.

I've been to PV 15 times, half of those times solo (female). I consider the town safe and have never even heard of any personal safety issues from others I've met traveling there or on BB's like this one. I walk alone in most parts of town at any time of day or night.

Be smart, don't get drunk, don't flirt with strangers, keep your wits about you, use common sense... the usual.

You do not need a car in PV. If you stay near El Centro (downtown) you can walk or take a taxi ($3-5USD) or bus (40 cents) for most anywhere you want to go.

The cheapest hotels are ~$30USD per night double. They are not dangerous but are VERY simple. Clean with hard beds, worn linens, bathroom, overhead fan, chair, dresser and a 6-8 blocks walk down to the beach.

In Old Town you can also find pretty nice 3-star hotels, they are simple as well but include A/C, TV, and pools for $40-75USD double rooms. 1-3 block walk to the beach. Clean, safe, friendly. I can think of a dozen choices in this category.

If you want to stay at a high-rise hotel right ON the beach or in a resort that's different and I'm not familiar with pricing.

Flying out of Chicago and with 2 people together you might want to look into an air/hotel package that would put you at one of the resort hotels out in the Hotel Zone. They are not my favorite style, (some are all-inclusive food & drink, music on the loud speaker by the pool, activities directors, etc.) but could end up a good price for you and still be a lot of fun.

I'd price out Cancun and Playa del Carmen too.

Don't think you can go wrong with either of these 3 destinations.

American flies non-stop from Chicago to both PV and Cancun, your choice. ATA flies non-stop from Chicago (Midway) to Cancun. ATA also has vacation packages (which I used once when flying to Cancun from Indy, years ago). I've been to both PV and Cancun...my question would be: what time of year will you be going? We now live in southwest Florida, and after last year (4 hurricanes in 6 weeks; during August and September), we are pretty shook-up about any Caribbean travel during that time frame. (I know I'll probably get blasted for this....now that I've said it, we might not even see any activity this season, right?) Oh----many congrats on finishing your master's----this is a well-deserved trip!

I think that you would like Playa del Carmen - there are some nice "cheap" places to stay there too. Not sure how cheap you are looking for but I know they have a couple of places in the $45.00 range that people recommend. Check out www.playadelcarmeninfo.com for "tons of information" on the area.

I'll suggest that you seriously consider going to Acapulco - it's a place you won't be overrun by other foreign tourists like yourself but yet will have the opportunity to visit some of Mexico's hottest clubs, restaurants, etc. and at prices (including hotels) that are likely less expensive than other destinations mentioned thus far.

Question for 'gomexico'-

What resources would you recommend to plan for Acapulco? Websites, guidebooks, maps, other? Because it's a larger city I'm interested to get to better understand the different parts of town, where you'd more like find inexpensive hotels, could you find them near beaches, etc.

As I found with Mazatlan I don't see the wealth of information for trip planning, like I do for Cancun, PdC & PV. Or even for Oaxaca, San Miguel, and the like.

I'm guessing Acapulco would be too large a city to arrive without a plan or hotel reservations? And just look around upon arrival. But I could be wrong about that?

Get with a good travel agent and look at the packages offered by operators such as Funjet and Apple. Can get some good deals on air/hotel combos, mainly on charter flights. Usually includes airport-hotel transfers as well. We have had good luck with Funjet to both Mexico and Jamaica and would not hesitate to use again.

There are some wonderful resorts in the Playa Del Carmen area south of Cancun. We found Cancun to be busy for us but if you want lots of night life then it is OK. We like it better further south.

Cancun has beautiful water but is so....touristy. I didn't feel the heart of Mexico there. At all.

Playa del Carmen
Cancun

(the Caribbean side has MUCH prettier beaches than the Pacific side.)

Blindingly white sand and clear waters with all the colors of blue to be found - stunning.

PDC is my pick for you.

Just returned, and it is definitely the "beautiful people" spot with all the Euro and US hardbodies tanning by day and parading the latest fashions at night. Very international flair and fun for all ages...

You're right, Diana, PDC is definitely the beautiful people place! As a 40 something American woman, I have to say I felt just a little out of place at Mamitas beach with all the gorgeous & topless 20 something South American women around me !!!
(I felt much more comfortable at the beach in Cancun...not everyone was so chic!)

frankie, lol

Well, knowing I was going to also be a 40-something American woman out there at Mamita's was enough to send me to my elliptical trainer 3 x a week for at least the whole month before we left.

I went topless this year (for the heck of it - it's really rather nice), and I like to think I 'held my own' against the competition, but that may be wishful thinking

Tough to compete against the Gisele lookalikes, but I saw topless women of all shapes and sizes and ages. It is more about feeling comfortable with yourself than anything.

There are so many local families on the main part of the PDC beach that I never did it down there, but, well, Mamita's, that's another story!

It was so funny to see people walk up and look for a chair. It was easy to spot the American couples.

The men would be like, "Oh my! I think I've died and gone to heaven!" and some of the women did not seem too thrilled.

It's definitely a see and be seen scene!

Good for you, Diana, going topless!
I think it's so natural, I just got innoculated with way too much American puritannicalness!
& I know it just seemed everyone looked like Gisele, there were plenty of older topless ladies, and I admire their unselfconsciousness.

I have to hand it to my husband and son, though, I know they were looking,but discreetly! I was curious too!
Time to go work out for this summer!!

For our original poster, if topless sunbathing is something you'll enjoy, then definitely stick to the Caribbean side of Mexico. It is quite frowned upon over on the west coast side (like in Puerto Vallarta I have never seen it).