México - Pacific or Caribbean?

[FrazzleRox]

2 weeks in Oct 2020 with teens, flying in/out of Mexico City. Should we go east or west? Looking to build an itinerary that mixes adventure with comfort, including culture, wildlife, rainforest, ruins, cenotes, beaches, food, homestay.

I’ve been to both Pacific side and Caribbean side Puerto Vallarta and Cancun / Riveria Maya

PV is nice but the beach’s are horrible but it’s s proper city not purpose built just for tourist

Caribbean side is beautiful with white beaches and had everything you mentioned by way of either organised trips or DIY

You mainly have a choice of Riveria Maya which is luxury hotels beach front but very little to do unless on organised trips or you hire a car

Cancun ( my favourite ) mainly because you can go out and about quiet easily on the buses
Loads to do and the beaches are perfect and your close to Isla Murjehs

Playa Car is further down the coast and opposite the Island of Cozumel
There is a purpose built golf course which has several big hotels and condos and houses

Then 1 min away Is 5th Ave where there are lots of bars shops lovely restaurants
It’s more couple family friendly than Cancun which is more lively

There are lots of holiday rentals condos air bnb and luxury hotels so you have your pick really
Hope that helps

We stayed in Cozumel on the Caribbean side a year after the last big hurricane had hit it in an October. A lot of re-building work was still going on and livelihoods had been wiped out. While odds wise you’d likely be ok on the Caribbean side, if it was me and I was taking DC I’d play it safe and go to the Pacific side (but I’m risk adverse).

I'm kind of veering that way too. If we can build an itinerary that includes what we want to see & do without risking the hurricanes on the Caribbean side, that makes sense. Just trying to research options...

Caribbean side, I would recommend the Royalton in RM, lots for all the family and easy distance to the airport

Hugely disagree about Riviera Maya having nothing to do - tent a car and explore, the cenotes and ruins are incredible. Have only been on the Caribbean side and loved it

I agree there is loads to do on the Caribbean side. Not sure the weather is reliable there in late October?

It’s reliably hurricane season?! Apparently one of the two wettest months of the year as well. That’s not to say that you definitely wouldn’t have great weather but it’ll be pot luck

@SJaneS48 hurricanes hitting the Yucatan peninsula are very rare. The thought of hurricanes would not put me off going to Mexico. I’ve just found a chart that I saved from one of my flights to Cancun a couple of years ago, where I flew between hurricanes Jose and Irma. Although damage to some parts of the Caribbean and Bahamas was extensive it didn’t affect Mexico. I went to Jamaica the following week and again flew between the hurricanes, again Jamaica was free from bad weather (in fact I remember I got sunburnt on that trip, which is rare for me because I hide in the shade.) Only 2 named hurricanes have hit Cancun in the last few decades.

As for stuff to do, the Caribbean side of Mexico fulfils all your requirements and is one of my favourite places, OP. I’d get out of Cancun fairly quickly if you want to experience the real Mexico (unless drug gang shootouts is your thing!) and head down the coast towards Tulum. From there you can easily reach beaches, cenotes, and jungle, specifically the Sian Kaan biosphere which is a UNESCO protected area and has lots of wildlife and Mayan ruins. You’ve also got Coba and Tulum nearby for more ruins, and Xel Ha and Xplor for a bit of jungly zipwiring and snorkelling playtime. If you want to go further afield you could head over to Merida which has a less touristy vibe. You would pass Chichén Itzá and Uxmal on the way there plus some of the more famous cenotes like Ik-kil. From Merida you can get out to Celestun and see the flamingos and boat rides through the mangroves. It would eat a couple of days of your time though in travelling if you only have 2 weeks. Depends how much adventure you want. I’d say if you wanted to relax a bit you could still find plenty to do for 2 weeks on the Caribbean side. In fact if you wanted to see everything you’d struggle to fit it all in!

Riviera Maya resorts are beautiful but I really couldn't enjoy the sea and swim in it because of the amount of sea vegetation. Seriously, tt was like walking I'm a bush waist high, and because there are virtually no swimmers, local boats go at maximum speed very close to the coast so it felt dangerous to me.

However, Playa del Carmen is fantastic. Nice and perfect beach in a small city with plenty of bars and restaurants, day and night, and very close to all the Maya sites, some of which you can visit with a bicycle (Uxmal) . IF visiting Chichén Itzá, go early.
Playa del Carmen is also very safe and your teens could go around to grab a juice or wander around the shops, before meeting you for a dinner on the beach at night .
Tulum is really nice too , but there is less to do.

We didn't like Cancun, but had a lovely time on the Isla Mujeres just opposite.

My neighbours have done both and much preferred the Caribbean side.

I stayed between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, at Xcaret and found plenty to do. We hired a car and drove ourselves to places like Coba, Tulum, the cenotes, an amazing sinkhole and loved it. Xcaret Park was great. There was quite a bit of seaweed but I’m not keen on the sea anyway so didn’t care.

Still researching... I think it's going to be difficult to narrow down everything Mexico has to offer into a 2 week trip!

We stayed in Tulum on the Caribbean side and did trips to lots of amazing places, cenotes, ruins, boat trip to Isla mujeres. It’s one of the few places I want to go back to! Loved every minute of it.

I went travelling in the Yucutan back in 1996 and loved it. No doubt it's changed a bit now. Awesome ruins and beaches.
Ah, happy days....

@bungleZippy12 - where did you stay in Tulum?