amanda

I'm beginning to plan a trip for March 2002 and will be traveling with a friend. I'm curious to hear where your favourite place to go in Mexico is, and I'm looking to not spend more than $2000 Canadian for the trip including plane and hotel. <BR>Thanks!

Susan

Amanda, I always ask these questions - how long and where are you flying from? Big difference in cost of flights from say, Edmonton and Toronto. Are you wanting a beach or something more 'cultural'? Are you wanting all-inclusive (which I never recommend). Give us a little more input and someone will come up with ideas. <BR> <BR>BTW, for the Americans, $2000 CAD is about $1300 USD.

Amanda

For my trip I'm planning to go in March for 9 days, over the Spring Break. I'm flying from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I'm looking for a place with atmosphere, nice swimming and other things to do, touring, etc.

Susan

Amanda, you'll probably find that costs are higher during spring break. I know that the charters out of Toronto are much more expensive for a couple of weeks in March - spring break time. We always try to go before that. <BR> <BR>From Winnipeg, you'll probably find that a charter is best. You might want to check the usual ones - Signature, Sunquest, etc. to see what flies out of Winnipeg. Most charters are 7 days. With that length of time, you'll probably want a direct flight - no point in spending a full day just getting to the place! <BR> <BR>From Toronto, it's about 3 1/2 hours to Cancun so we've been to that area a few times. Personally I am not keen on Cancun and we never stay there. But it depends on what you want - a co-worker of mine was in Cancun during spring break and couldn't believe some of the things he saw! I'm 20 years older than him - probably not my scene ... I do like the area south of Cancun - often called the Mayan Riviera. There are a lot of resorts in that area. We've stayed in Playa del Carmen which has really grown over the last few years, but still is much much smaller than Cancun. It seems to attract a lot of Europeans as well as Canadians & Americans. We've usually just gotten a flight down there and booked our hotel separately. The beach is nice there, but there's also a lot of sidetrips that you can make to see ruins, etc. Lots of restaurants as well, so if you do book a package, I don't recommend going all inclusive. I also like Cozumel - great snorkeling. You could make a day trip to Cozumel from PDC (or just stay in Cozumel - we've also done that). <BR> <BR>That's the east coast. The west coast also has a lot of resort areas - Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo. I personally like Zihuatanejo - nice beaches, good restaurants, etc. Lots of people like Puerto Vallarta - it's been 15 years since I was last there, so can't really comment. We went to Acapulco this past year for the first time. It's a big city - some areas are pretty cool, but others are just busy. We stayed in a small place north of Acapulco - Pie de la Cuesta. It was fine for us, but very quiet and you can't swim in the water there (waves are too big). <BR> <BR>I think the first thing you have to do is see where you can easily fly to from Winnipeg. You can always go on a regular airline, but the flights are usually more expensive. (If you have frequent flyer miles, that helps - we used them last winter to fly from Toronto - Mexico City - Acapulco. Then we flew back to Mexico City, took a bus to Morelia and flew from Morelia to Chicago, then on to Toronto. A bit convoluted, but we wanted to go to Morelia so it worked for us. A charter wouldn't have been good in that situation.) The winter brochures are usually out by September, I think. <BR> <BR>Good luck with your plans.

d motl

If on a budget you sure want to look at Isla Mujeres. A small Carribean Island about 10 miles from Cancun. About the least expensive place on the East Coast. <BR>Laid back, safe, great beaches and inexpensive as we can find. We spend a month a year on the island and have our own homegrown 17 page brouchure that has everything you could possibly want to know. Just e-mail us for a copy. Also check our isla-mujeres.com <BR>Dan and Ginny

Susan

Dan & Ginny - that site seems to be in Spanish only. Is it available in English as well? <BR> <BR>Amanda, another site for Isla Mujeres is www.isla-mueres.net. Good info on hotels, restaurants, etc.

Susan

Sorry - www.isla-mujeres.net - spelled it wrong last time.

mexicodan

Bay of Tenacatita north of Manzanillo! <BR> <BR> <BR>Adios! <BR> <BR>mexicodan <BR>www.choice1.com/villamontana.htm <BR> <BR>

Rich

Check out Huatulco, the "best kept secret in Mexico". <BR>Extensive info at www.tomzap.com <BR>Also, www.aguaazullavilla.com

Shelley

Hi! I am also from Winnipeg. My friend and I vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico this past February. We stayed at the Blue Bay Getaway- adults only 17 years old plus. It is a all-inclusive. Approximately 10-15 minute walk to downtown, transit buses are cheap and cabs are also reasonable. We booked through Sunquest Vacations ( many travel agencies have this brochure). The resort includes your drinks, food, beach towels etc. We payed $1370.00 for one week, including airfare, hotel and transfers between airport and hotel- vice versa. It is approximately 4-4 1/2 hour flight direct from Winnipeg. We flew on Royal Airlines, which I now believe Canada 3000 has bought it. I would go back to Puerto Vallarta again. Hope this helps. Spring break may cost more than other months.