Where to stay Cancun or Playa del Carmen

[Queenbee2709]

Hi! We are booking our annual long haul holiday for March 25 to Mexico. I am going for the first time and I am wondering where to base ourselves.

For Cancun - I am considering Hyatt Ziva Cancun or Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach - anyone been to these?

For PDC - Anyone stayed at the Fairmont hotels? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

not Cancun. I got a hotel there the first time I went as didn't know better. It's very american and no soul.

Been 4 further times and always on the Riviera Maya which is PDC and Puerto Morelos etc etc. That coast is a lot nicer.

Be careful with your dates OP as March is Spring break for the US.

We have travelled to Mexico many times and do enjoy every resort but Cancun is very Americanised whereas P.D. Carmen and Tulum has a much more Mexican vibe.

However, we have recently returned from Tulum and prices there for things like taxis, meals out etc. are REALLY expensive - think USD50 for a 6 minute cab ride ☹️ - so just something else to consider. (Tulum is Instagram country but very much governed by the cartel.)

if you like the look of any of the properties in Playacar then I could highly recommend here. Within 20 minutes walking distance of the centre of Playa del Carmen but it is a stunning gated area where only residents can enter - security controlled. There is also a small shopping centre with a few bars and restaurants if you didn’t want to walk or take a cab into P. D. Carmen. Lovely area with reasonable prices.

I've always stayed in PDC or Puerto morales which is close by. It's between cancun and tulum so pretty central for excursions. I have visited Tulum which is lovely but not stayed there as been put off by transfer time from the airport. I've never been tempted to stay in cancun or even visit it.

Something to be aware of is the sargassum issue off the coast near PDC (I think tulum also suffers from in but not so much in cancun).

I have stayed many times in the hyatt/dreams/secrets/jade hotels (All part of the hyatt brand) and never been disappointed but that being said next time I go I am absolutely going to book the Xcaret hotel mentioned by PP.

If you can stomach the short ferry trip over to isla mujeres it is absolutely worth it. We spent a day zipping round the island on a golf buggy which DS absolutely loved and the beach is lovely.

I took DS 7 to chichen itza but not sure I would take a child much younger than that. It's very hot for young kids to stand and listen to a tour guide unless they absolutely love history. It's also quite a few hours drive away.

Where did you stay? We visited it twice when we were staying outside Cancun. The kids absolutely loved it and still talk about.

As above avoid spring break in any of those destinations, but out of the three I'd pick PDC. Get a car, really easy to drive around, lots to see in that area.

(Cancun is brash and a bit gross, and even ten years ago Tulum although beautiful was some kind of odd Instagrammers haven, it's wall to wall influencers swinging in macrame chairs, and posing in the shallows while their poor instahusband takes the 1000th shot of the day.)

I recommend staying south of PDC as the family-orientated activities seem to be concentrated between PDC and Tulum. It's a long car drive from Cancun if you're going out a lot.

I've been twice, staying both times at the Grand Palladium near Akumal. Great for the DC (ages 14 and 11 when we went). I'd love to stay at the Xcaret hotel;if we go again. It's very expensive but all their parks and tours are included. The DC loved Xplor Fuego! We also went to Xcaret and had fun but it's less adventurous. Other trips they enjoyed were Sian Ka'an, cycling round Coba Maya, staying a couple of nights at Chichen Itza, snorkeling with the giant sea turtles at Akumal and a tour of Rio Secreto.

Edited to add that we got a hire car both times. It was fine. Just accept that you're going to pay for the premium insurance. Oh, and don't try self-catering in Tulum. It is not a cheap option.

I will definitely have a look at this resort - this sounds more like my idea of a good time then party central! We are taking our 2 DC so pool, animals and beaches will tick their boxes x

Thank you - I have ruled out staying in Cancun. PDC or Tulum for us x

I will definitely check the Spring Break Calender for next year - I am hoping to book it in the Easter half term so my older DC doesn't have to take time off school.

I think March/April may be ok for the Sargassum or so it says online! I have read PDC seems to get more of it.

I do like the look of the Xcarat hotel and it isn't as pricey as I thought given the facilities available so that's a plus!

I think you are right about Chichen Itza - my DC are 3 and 6 and I think the length of the trip and the heat will be too much for them.

The Tulum description made me laugh - I can actually imagine this. x

Thank you for the tips! I have had so many misconceptions of Mexico corrected - I actually thought eating out would be cheap there (I live in London so compare it to here).

Honestly you won’t regret it. If you do go make sure you email and ask for a room high up where the monkeys will visit, you’ll be allocated a jungle side room in the tree tops hopefully.

I stayed at an ex boyfriend's house at the quieter end of the island. I'd love to go back single, and not caught up in relationship drama, one day. After this thread, debating taking my daughter out of school for a month in the winter and getting an air bnb there.

I went to Cancun in May 2001 I think it was. I stayed in the Riu Playacar. It was amazing! Outdoor shower, swim up pool. Did a day trip to the island of Cozumel and another to Chichen Itza. One of my most memorable holidays tbh 😊

Oh, also got to swim with dolphins which was unforgettable!

I loved Playa del Carman - has lots of restaurants, bars and shops but it's a nice town and there's a fun square type of thing where lots of people hang out and there are performers in traditional dress dancing in the evening. Also several branches of Don Sirloin - oh my god I still dream about their cheap and delicious tacos and sometimes think about going back just for that!

Visited Tuluum to see the temple ruins and have a walk around - there are beautiful beaches and hotels there, but it's very spread out along the coast, and the 'town' is quite a long walk. People tend to hire push bikes to get around.

Cozumel was very pretty and is a brief ferry ride from PDC. Went on a day trip to Chichen Itza and also to swim in a cenote (open-air cave sort of thing) which was great.

We went to PDC in Easter 2023. We stayed at the Riu Tequila. Really lovely hotel but set back (literally a 5 minute walk) from the beach. It's AI, typical AI food but plenty of it and a vast choice. Few Al La cartes too.

Child friendly and they had their own splash park pool area. Didn't see any groups of spring breakers as I think they tend to go to Cancun.

PDC is in a gated hotel community so it's very safe.

There are loads of hotels actually on the beach if you want to research those but we would go back to PDC again.

Sorry Playacar is the gated area of PDC

We've done both it depends on what you want.

Cancun - kids touristy activities I 100% recommend the pirate boat trip that leave from the side of the occidental Costa cancun.

Tulum - not much outside the resorts but you can get trips to the local area and the cenotes are amazing.

Xcaret is another tourist activity that the kids would love and is accessible from both. We are going back to Mexico in 2025 but staying closer to Cancun as DS is at an age where we want to do more so will head in land for the cenotes and enjoy the American tourist trap being on our door step.

Bahia principe AKUMAL is good if you're happy to be Tulum way. Rui in cancun. We are looking at the Royalton or Plant Hollywood for our trip as we like to try different resorts

Playacar is really nice. Much quieter and safer as a private resort type place with no entry unless for hotel guests. There's a little shopping precinct, and mall, lots of souvenir type places and local crafts people. Very quick and easy to get into Playa del Carmen if you want a busier day, we walked it in half an hour, and then got taxis back which is only around 10usd. Also a great base for excursions, we did xcaret, took a trip to akumel to swim with turtles, and did an excursion to one of the local cenotes, which was amazing, all picked up and dropped off at the hotel. If we returned to Mexico I'd definitely go back to Playacar. Playa del Carmen was lovely when we took some day trips down there, but too busy for me to stay there the whole time.

We went over Easter this year, and the sagassum was none existent for the whole two weeks, bar one day, but the hotels in Playacar all have huge tractors to come and remove it on a morning. The beach is private, and they obviously invest alot into maintaining it. There's Facebook groups to monitor the sagassum at different parts/hotels, may eb worth joining as you will get an insight into which hotels make the effort to clean it up. If the kids like wildlife, check out the jungle style hotels in Playacar. We stayed at Viva maya and everyday we had coatis, monkeys, iguanas, agoutis running around. It was ace!

I've give Cancun and PDC a miss. Tulum beach (as opposed to Tulum town) is a bit stuck out on it's own. Xcaret is amazing as is Xel-ha, I haven't stayed there but if you can afford to then I would do it! Otherwise I would highly recommend Akumal as more upmarket and gorgeous, but we didn't stay only went there for the day. Holbox island is stunning too. Xcaret and Xel-ha do get absolutely rammed though so I'd recommend you get there early.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions - we are just finalising dates (easter holidays 2025) but looks like we are going with Xcarat Rivera Maya hotel.

That's long and short haul sorted for 2025!

Enjoy!