This is our first real family vacation in something like four years. We are meeting my cousin and his family in Cancun (really, Playa Del Carmen) in July. None of us have ever been there. They are coming from NJ, I am coming from AZ, so we are meeting in the middle. Well, okay, sort of in the middle–Cancun sounded more interesting than Kansas, no offense to Sunflowers.
So, I am soliciting advice and tips from those who have been there. The hotel is already booked, I know to bring mosquito repellent and Imodium, but what else? My cousin’s wife wants to swim with dolphins, I want to go snorkeling, and I can’t decide from the promotional info whether to try Xelha or Xcaret. Aside from spending the day at one or the other, my only other “must” is Chichen Itza (pardon any misspelling).
I spent 9 days in Playa del Carmen in February and we had a blast! It was my husband and I, our two young kids, and my in-laws. The in-laws made great babysitters while we were there. My husband had been in Iraq for 5 months before that and instead of him flying home he flew to Mexico and we met him there!! So what hotel are you staying at? Is it an AI (all inclusive)?
Chichen Itza is wonderful! We took a tour bus there and we also stopped in a few towns along the way for food and shopping and visited a Cenotes too. I enjoyed taking the tour because we had a guide who explained the history of the ruins. If we’d gone to Chichen Itza on our own we wouldn’t have known the history of it and probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.
Let’s see… advice… make sure you have your passports or photo ID and birth certificate to get into the country. If you don’t have passports your wife, i n addition to photo id and birth certificate, may need your marriage certificate as well to show why her name is different from what’s on her birth certificate. When you go shopping along 5th Avenue, bargain for everything you want to buy, avoid henna tattoos, use internet cafes for making phone calls home, use your ATM card in Playa instead of bringing too much cash/pesos, wear sunscreen every day, and, most importantly, relax as much as possible and just enjoy your time in Playa del Carmen!! Oh, one more thing… if you’re planning on renting a car during your stay, read this and this… pay attention to James’ posts.
If you want advice on everything you can think of… go to the Playa Info website. Make sure you do a search for all of your questions first… they get a little preturbed when newbies come and ask questions that can be found easily through the search function! I searched that site for 3 months before our vacation and the information was invaluable! You’ll learn everything from the best way to get to Playa del Carmen from the Cancun airport to the best places to eat!
Speaking of eating… be sure to try El Oasis Mariscos: Located on Calle 12 between Av 5 y 10 and El Chino’s, Calle 4 between Ave. 10 y 15, north side of street. Excellent places to eat!!
Have a great vacation. We loved our time there and I hope to go back again someday. If you’d like to see some pictures of Playa or Chichen Itza just e-mail me and I’ll send some to you… I have tons! kiki_08181 @ yahoo.com (take out the spaces).
Thank you! Expect my e-mail. The specifics are very much appreciated. We are doing all-inclusive, which I have never done before. We’ll see if we like vacationing that way.
We only have six non-travel days, so we are trying to maximize the relaxation in the allotted time. sigh