How long are you planning to be in the warm weather area? Is it just a vacation or are you going for a month or two? If it's the later, then a resort would be too costly, but there are many condos in the Riviera Maya that would suit your needs.

Pueto Rico meets your needs, and it is in America even though nobody knows. You might get some good deals as the main tourist areas are mostly recovered from the hurricane but tourism is not completely back yet.

If you are interested in the Mexican Caribbean, the locogringo.com web site has lots of info on towns, beaches, hotels, etc. Playa Del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Akumal, Soliman Bay, Tulum are all great but all have a different vibe. We have been going to this area for the past 12 years - love it. Winter temps are typically in the low to mid 80's and the water is very swimmable.

Can you recommend a secure, safe Mexican resort for us to investigate?

I go to Puerto Vallarta Mexico twice a year (May/June and Oct/Nov). I am single, female, and LOVE this town. It is a city so has a great tourist infrastructure in place. I don't have a specific resort to recommend as I just rent an apartment or condo downtown myself. But they are available. www.vallartainfo.com is a good overview website to get you started. And the Trip Advisor PV forum is very active.

I've been to PV at least 30 times since my first trip in the early 1990's. I have always had a great time. Feb/March are a little pricier than my dates of travel as that is still "high season". Just pull up hotels.com or booking.com or cheapcaribbean.com to get some ideas of what's available.

If you want a condo instead of a resort, that's easy too... PVRPV.com is a good one because of huge inventory and good search features.

There's a large, well established community of ex-pats and snowbirds, so PV is a bit different than some other locations in being very welcoming, safe, easy to manage as a first timer.

buena suerte~suze