Need tips on The Yucatan Peninsula please, Hotels, when to go etc.

[ihatethecold]

We are planning a holiday to Mexico next year.
We will be a family of 4 with 2 teens.
We want to have a separate room from the kids and they need their own beds. They are too old to share a double bed now.

We want great swimming pools, by the beach, not fussed about night life.

Which airlines would you recommend to fly with?

We don't want Cancun because I've heard its a bit lively! We are not big drinkers.

Also I need advice on when to go.
We have to go during the school holidays but cant do Easter next year due to my DS revising for his GCSEs.

Thanks

Have a look at Playa del Carmen - nice tourist town half an hour south of Cancun. Weather should be gorgeous in October/November half term.

Go to Tulum. You and your kids can have neighbouring cabins on the beach!

Tulum you say?

whats the name of the resort where we can do that Zinxie?

I've been twice. Once to the Grand Palladium resort, and then to the Grand Bahia Principe resort. Both amazing - huge properties, several pools and restaurants, right on the beach. The first time we went with Thomson, the second with Thomas Cook. Not much difference in either of them tbh, although Thomson now use the Dreamliners for Mexico flights.

As for when to go? First time we went end of May/beginning of June. It was hot. Very hot. The second week was quite unsettled with a few rain showers, but they cleared quite quickly. Last year we went the first two weeks in July. It was hot. Hotter than the surface of the sun.

I'm so jealous, I'd love to go again. You must go to Xel-ha if you enjoy swimming. We snorkeled alongside an enormous rainbow fish and several large rays.

We have to go during school hols but not Easter due to revision.
will check out those hotels, thanks

We went to the Bahia Principe Tulum last August with our son and his two children. We got a free upgrade to the so called 'hacienda' section of the resort, and I would not consider any other part of it. There are in fact four resorts, all connected with a trolley service to take you around. Sian Kaan is adults only, the Coba section is not by the beach, the Akumal section was very busy and rather 'Benidorm'. The food was excellent, the private hacienda pool very nice, the kids loved it but the sea was too rough for them. We spent a day at Xarcet - absolutuly amazing! Ziplines, underground rivers. Personally though I thought the Dominican Republic worked better for our family, so that's where we are returning to this summer.

Thanks Tricky

as well as the beaches, head for Merida, the capital of the state. lovely colonial city. There's a great hotel just behind the main square with a pool on the rooftop... can't remember the name.
it's an easy trip from there to Chichen Itza; we stayed at the hotel a short stroll from the gates and so got there first thing in the morning - it was wonderful.
have also gone south from Tulum towards the guatemala border & wouldn't advise that

Ihatethe cold, the really good theme park place was Xplor, not what I said above. Should you be interested, my Trip Adviser review of the hotel is here. It's a bit long and I thought it was complimentary, but the manager seened to think it was critical. Very odd.

Thanks I will check out your review, I love tripadvisor.

who did you all fly with?

Thomas Cook, as it was a TC package, discounted by Blue Bay.

whats blue bay?

And, would you go with Thomas Cook again?

Merida, Campeche, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Uxmal.

I'll be back later. Just off for the school run!

Sorry, Ihate, Blue Bay Travel is a part of Tropical Warehouse, they are an agent who sell holidays from T Cook, Thomsons Kuoni etc, but considerably cheaper. I usually deal with Kirsty Ralphson. Another good one is Loveholidays, ask for Robert.

Thomas Cook was fine this time, I am not keen on any of the big firms, but unless you want to do a DIY on flights hotels etc, it is the only option.

I wouldn't cheer and say 'Yippee! We're going with Thomas Cook' but neither would I avoid them, I just try to get the best price.

Thanks tricky.
We went to cyprus with love holidays last year.
Very good price compared to the high st companies.

We stayed at Playa del Car which is a gated area just outside Playa del Carmen. We stayed at the Iberostar Tucan - the beach there is fantastic. The hotel has fab reviews on Tripadvisor and we were probably a bit unlucky in that there were some rather raucous Americans when we stayed there and personally I would prefer a smaller hotel.

The other place that impressed was the Akumal area - nice horseshoe shaped bay where you can swim with turtles etc. Seemed quite hippyish/laidback compared to Playa del Car area.

We went early July due to school holidays and the weather was great - technically start of hurricane season but most hurricanes are Sept/Oct and you benefit from lower prices.

Were Mosquitos an issue?
My dd is allergic to the bites so I'm now thinking Mexico might not suit her.

Tulum beachfront and hotels are just the other side of a small road from a swamp so at certain seasons, there will be mosquitos - I haven't been for about 15 yrs, and it was bad then but tourism was not nearly so developed (think electricity free cabanas on the beach with sand floors rather than all inclusive resorts), so they may have done something (chemical spraying?) to try and eradicate them. Word of warning though is that one time when I went to Tulum, we had to leave early because I was bitten to DISTRACTION by sand flies. A whole world of itch beyond mosquitos - it was intolerable. Again - someone who's been more recently may have better intel on what it's like now!

We were not too bothered by mosquitoes, but inevitably there will be some wherever you go in tropical or semi-tropical countries. We use the anti-mozzie wipes you can get in Poundland before going out in the evening, plus anti-histamine cream for the odd itch.

Tulum beach front is not the same as the Tulum sector at the Bahia Principe, by the way.

Thanks Tricky, Yes i realised its further down the coast that the Bahia Principe resort.

Yes there will inevitably be some Mosquitos around due to the jungle nature of the area.
We went to the tulum region with our dcs and had a wonderful time, akumel, xel-ha etc. one dd got no mosquito bites, one got a couple. We used repellent etc.