Panama or Mexico for a family vacation?
 

Most regular posters on this board will recognize me as a frequent Costa Rica contributor. After spending 3 summer vacations in Costa Rica we are ready for a different venue in Latin America.

I thought that Panama may be fun for a family but it is rather hard to find a good selection of small unique upscale hotels that abound in Costa Rica. Despite that, I actually decided on an itinerary in Panama and picked places to stay. The rest of the family is not convinced, however, that Panama would be better in any way than Costa Rica. The itinerary I had in mind in Panama combined a few days in San Blas (sailing), with Boquete and Pearl Islands.

Another option would be Mexico. I always wanted to go to Mexico (Rivera Maya) and have a nice beach vacation (with some day trips to see the ruins, snorkel etc.). I was thinking of a week on Isla Mujeres and a week in PDC. I have never been to Mexico but my husband thinks (based on an old cruise experience) that we will be forever bothered by vendors and begging children.

Any thoughts on these two options? Suggestions for specific hotels (we do not like all-inclusives but prefer small upscale hotels with some charm)? Or should we just go back to Costa Rica - this would make our 11 year old daughter very happy. We will have 2 weeks in August.

Iza, I think you might find Playa del Carmen too touristy and commercial. It's really gotten to be quite a large town.

Have you looked at Belize? You could even work your way up (or down) the coast. Either start in Cancun and head to Tulum. Then down to the Belize border and into the Cayo district. End up on the cayes in Belize for wonder snorkeling. Then you could fly home form Belize City. Or do it in reverse.

Both the Cayo and Ambergris Caye have some wonderful sounding small upscale hotels. May will be our first first to the Cayo area, so I'm certainly no expert, but people love it. Great Mayan ruins, cave tubing.

I love the Yucatan and Isla Mujeres. MUch more laid back and lazy vacation for us than our trips to Costa Rica (not this this is a bad thing).

Panama was loads of fun. But, you're right about there not being the selection of hotels.

Let us know what you decide. Jean

Thanks, Jean, for your great feedback. We have actually done a lot of research on Belize but have been reluctant to go there because of security concerns (I know it is mostly a safe country but I have been put off by some robbery reports).
I guess I am attracted to Mexico exactly for the reasons you stated (to have a laid back and relaxing vacation). All of our trips in the recent years were very active and involved a lot of travelling and moving around (Costa Rica, Hawaii, Poland, Tuscany, Paris, London, skiing in Canada and most recently in Austria), so I am ready to just veg out. And I think our daughter is ready for a vacation that is just sheer fun and does not involve a lot of driving and sight seeing (she would probably love an all-inclusive or a cruise with lots of kid activities but I don't think I could stomach it - her biggest gripe with us is that we have not been to Florida and Disney World - yuck! ;-).

Well, I guess it is time for a family meeting and maybe then we will make some decisions.

Anyone else with some thoughts and advice for us?

Our family loved Panama (our kids are 18 and 21), but it was trekking through rainforessts, snorkeling, hiking for deserted beaches, San Blas islands, etc. Very much like Costa Rica only less touristy. San Blas is a particularly unique experience.

Mexico, particularly the Mexican Riviera, will be full of tourists and fancy resorts with huge pools and water slides, but you can get away from it all and drive down the coast or go see ruins. Beautiful beaches and yes, lots of vendors and begging-which we hardly ever saw in Panama, by the way. But maybe you could stay on Isla Mujeres or Cozomel for a little more Mexican feel and still be a ferry ride away from Tulum, etc. Cozomel has great snorkeling.

Went to Ambergris Caye in Belize and did not have the slighest concern about security. In fact, we walked the city of San Pedro at night with no problem. In fact, you have to walk- there are practically no cars on the island, only golf carts! It's very relaxed and laid back. If you're into upscale places check out Mata Chica or Portofino. We also took a wonderful day trip through Tanisha Tours to the mainland to see Mayan ruins.

If you want to be one more on the beach go to Mexico or Belize but if you like to be the only one on the beach go to Panama.

Also, Panama has a lot adventure activities for teens like horse ride to the top of El Valle (crater volcano), cave, beaches and nice islands in both oceans to swim, snorkeling, diving, surfing, windsurf and fishing, the first interoceanic train, the Ferry through the Canal, river rafting, rainforest hiking, , aerial tram and more. About culture and history Panama has 7 differents indian village and spanish colonial forts and ruins. Panama will be an important turistic spot like Mexico and Costa Rica but now the country is only for you. Good luck,

What areas of Panama would you recommend?

All of these comments are very helpful and I think I have a clear picture now of what our vacation would be like in Mexico v. Panama.

Does anyone have any input on weather in those two destinations in August?
All of our trips to Costa Rica were in August and the weather was usually good with occassional rain (which did not bother us). The only place that was uncomfortable was Osa Peninsula where it was oppressively humid. I am a bit afraid of similar humidity in Panama. How are Panama and Mexico/Rivera Maya during August (I am aware of the hurricane risk in Mexico)?

August in Panama will be similar to CR - green season with showers usually in the afternoon but sometimes in the morning - can go for days without any precip except during the night - Caribbean coast may be wetter.
For great small upscale hotels in Mexico check out www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com.

For Panama you can look at www.selectsmallhotels.com - not many option yet.

Hacienda del Mar has a great reputation on Isla San Jose in Las Perlas, or Punta Galleon on Isla Contadora.
Punta Caracol in Bocas gets mixed but usually good reviews.
Coffee Estate Inn in Boquete is incredible.

San Blas Sailing is awesome.

Hope this helps,
Andrew

some interesting place:

Panama city: has history, Colonial ruins, rainforest, the Canal, Ferry, museums, aerial tram, interoceanic train, small tropical zoo, birdwatching spot, fishing, great nighlife.
Portobelo: has beach, islands, snorkel, diving, rainforest, history, colonial forts ruins
Chagres: has indian village, rainforest, fishing, waterfall
El Valle: has waterfall, horse ride, zipline, rainforest, thermal pool, indian petroghyphes, unique square trees, rock climbing, small tropical zoo
Bayano lake: has indian village, cave, fishing, rainforest
Pearl island: has beach, islands, snorkel, dive.

My only comment would be to avoid San Blas Sailing. Unsafe, and just darn bad service. It is too, bad they have opportunities to make this special, but the company has a bad reputation

Hi travel88,

I thought that I had posted a reply to this - but somehow I can't find it on the board (forgive me if I'm just not finding it!). In any event, I'm going to ask again... My husband and I were looking at using San Blas sailing for a few days in October and so are very interested in more details about your negative opinion of the company... Any more information would be very helpful - what happened? You certainly didn't have a good experience and given that you said it's a dangerous experience, we'd really like to hear about experience... Any other opinions on the company would also be great.

Thanks!