Help! planning a mid-November trip to the Mayan Riviera. Don't want to stay in Cancun. Dilemna, Yucatan Peninsula, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, many choices, which has the best on the beach resorts.
Thanks

Maroma is wonderful but expensive. Al Cielo is also wonderful, a little rustic but affordable. Beach in Tulum is beautiful. Loco Gringo is a helpful web site. Many beaches in Mayan Riviera have coral and not great water access. Be sure to make sure beach is sandy right into the water.

Could you be more specific. The Mayan Riviera is a large area with many different types of accommodations and towns. Are you looking for secluded, in town, small hotel, AI, on the beach, off the beach, expensive, moderate, budget.

looking for an all-inclusive if that helps narrow down the possibilities, Playa del Carmen or Tulum?

That does help. Tulum has a couple of AI's but you'd have to do a search for them since I only visit there for the day. One new one that I've seen is Azul Blue in Tulum. In Playa beginning with the north area which is less crowded than the south end of town there is the Reef Coco Beach, Shangri La Caribe, Las Palapas, Royal Playa del Carmen and the Gran Porto Real. Of those, the Royal is very nice as is Shangri La and Las Palapas. Shangri La and Las Palapas are partial AI. In Playacar which is at the south end of PDC and is "gated" are most of the other AI's. The problem here is that much of the beach has been eroded. A few of the resorts still have nice beaches. They are RIU Palace Mexico, RIU Yucatan, Ibertostar Quetzal/Tucan and Sandos. The RIU Tequila is across the road from the Yucatan and shares their beach. PDC is vastly different from Tulum. It has restaurants, bars, hotels, shops, and an active nightlife. Tulum is very quiet and laid back. I'm not saying that PDC is a Cancun, which it is not, but it is active. Playacar is about a 5 min (max)taxi ride to PDC if you still wanted to go in to town. You could also walk and it would be about 20 min to the south end of town. I run through Playacar in the mornings and the walk is nice if it's not too hot. The beaches in Tulum are beautiful and it is one of my favorite places to go for a day trip. It all depends on what kind of environment you're looking for.

I love Playa del Carmen. The town is right behind the beach, so you can walk everywhere. There are cute shops and great restaurants. Shangri La or Las Palapas may be a nice choice as they are partial AI's and I would want to try some of the local restaurants. La Tortuga is a nice non AI off the beach. the Royal Playa del Carmen is a very nice AI and in a great location. You really can't go wrong in Playa if you want a little local culture and don't like feeling stuck at a resort. It's safe, fun and just a great place.............nothing like crazy america Cancun. We are returning in May to Playa. If you want more of an "AI resort feel" look at some of the AI's in Playacar or Tulum. YOu will just need to take a taxi to get to the towns. It all depends what you like.

Colokid. Thanks for all the info. Is the Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda in the north or south end? What are your thoughts on this AI resort?

As beachbum2 states, Playa del Carmen is a great town even if it has become somewhat overdeveloped in the past few years. But, it's the area north of the ferry dock that is fantastic.

The southern part is a mini-Cancun with one big hotel after another, most are AIs. Some have a nice beach but others have seen severe erosion in the past few years. Check first before booking.

For me, the reason to go to PDC is so you can dine out at one of the many fine restaurants on 5th ave and watch the action. It would be a shame to have to dine at the big hotels. This is one reason why I like PDC over Cancun - because it's pedestrian friendly and there are so many reasonable restaurants to choose from.

Sorry I didn't get back to you...I was in PDC : )
So, I'm not familiar with Blue Bay as it's not in town itself so I can't help you with that one. Beachbum2 has great ideas for places to stay and the food is super....although I rarely eat on 5th ave anymore. So many possibilities for eating it's ridiculous but tasty. Sorry if this rambles....my mind is still at the beach. If you want to stay on the beach I would go with Las Palapas, Shangri La, Playa Maya or Royal Playa Del Carmen. If you don't mind off the beach I would go with La Tortuga or even close to the beach I've stayed at Riviera Del Sol. Don't be afraid to eat off 5th and if you want some ideas on that I can help you out.

Supercilious, you mention area north of the dock, which AI would you recommend? PDC is our choice over Tulum, more to do. My travelling companions prefer AI, I believe it is less expensive getting a AI package as opposed to booking flights and hotels separate.
Thanks to all who reply to my request for hotel info.

The Royal Playa Del Carmen is very nice. A little further north are the Shangri La and Las Palapas. I'd stay at any of them.

Sorry...I didn't realize you were asking someone else. Anyway, they're all north of the pier. There are two piers in Playa. One is the ferry pier at the south end of town and the other is the pier that is closed at the end of Constituyentes. The three I mentioned are north of that pier.

Colokid! Thanks for all your info. We still can't decide, Playcar or Tulum, is it worth the 90 mins. to Tulum? We love to walk on the beach and stand in the water. Any more input to help with our decision? Looking for a 5 star or at least 4 star all-inclusive.

I can tell you that even if you are going to go AI, I can almost always save about $100pp booking myself through one of the discount internet sites if you want to take the time. I'm sure you will be in paradise where ever you choose.

What do you all think about the Mimi del Mar?

i would say: stay in an ai resort in playa del carmen since you can find more options and if you want to visit tulum i recomend you take the bus, there are buses every 10 minutes to tulum, you wont't get lost, it is easy to get to the bus station, don't take a taxi cab from playa to tulum, it will be a big mistake, to expensive since it is about a 45 minute drive , buses are clean they have air conditioning and are safer and cheaper than taxi, when you go to tulum leave from playa really early in the morning you can go there by yourselves without a tourist guide it is really easy only take taxi cabs to transport from one side of the town to the other side of the town either you are in playa or tulum, don't you take a taxi to transport from town to town, take the bus from town to town, you wont get lost since it is just one straight highway from town to town, playa is the best options, either you are going clubbing, shopping , and playa is the center of every town along the riviera.

by the way, all resorts in playacar are kinda the same, lok for the best price, and you don't have to stay all day and night at the resort there is plenty to do in playa, i read some of the comments about the beaches erosing in some of the resorts and again i have to say to you, that you don't have to stay at the resort all day and night, beaches are long in playa del carmen and they're safe too.

The beaches in Playacar have been eroded quite severely in some areas. Generally, the south part of the Playacar area is ok but north of Riu Palace Mexico is very limited. You cannot walk the beach from Playacar into Playa De Carmen. If you wanted to walk the beach in Playacar you would have to go south. In Playa Del Carmen which is right next door to Playacar you can walk the beach in either direction. The furthest south to walk would be to the ferry pier. The walk north goes for quite some time but after Reef Coco Beach it becomes more local. If you wanted to stay in town and at an AI I would go with the Royal Playa Del Carmen. Right on the beach in PDC and one block to 5th Ave.