Mexico

[Nivvers2001]

Thinking of planning a 2 week holiday in Mexico during the Easter holidays. I went years ago in my 20s and loved it. Trying to come up with a good itinerary for 2 adults and 3 kids (18, 16 and 8) with a mix of beaches as well as visiting cenotes, Tulum etc. Also thinking of Thailand or Vietnam as alternatives but think Mexico might be better given ages of kids.

Mexico is great as long as there is no sargassum, it’s become much more prevalent in recent years, it’s not just a bit of seaweed, fertilisers and warmer seas have contributed to it, I suggest you have a google, a lot of the Caribbean can be affected by it, can be there one day and gone the next, or there for days, we were lucky enough not to see it in abundance but others I know have holidays ruined by it.

Have to say I was surprised by how expensive stuff in Mexico was. Food, excursions. I can only assume it was aimed mainly at American tourists and with the strength of the dollar it’s more affordable for them. Thailand was certainly cheaper.

I've been a couple of times, once in November and once over the Easter holidays. We based ourselves at a lovely AI beach hotel between Tulum and PDC and alternated between hotel days and days out. We also hired a car and spent a couple of nights at Chichen Itza, driving there via Coba Maya and back with a stop at Valladolid. Both were great trips. The DC loved it and want to go back.

Recommend:

• Grand Palladium Kantenah hotel
• Xplor Fuego
• Snorkelling with turtles in Akumal
• Rio Secreto
• Sian Kian biosphere. We saw giant turtles, dolphins, manatees and a crocodile in the wild.
• Coba Maya, hiring a guide at the entrance and getting bikes to cycle through the jungle to the tallest pyramid
• Chichen Itza, absolutely incredible. Go early in the day and cool off with a swim at the nearby Ik Kil cenote, where they also do a very decent buffet lunch.
• TBH we were a bit templed-out by the time we visited Tulum but that site was very different and I appreciate it more in retrospect

Don't recommend:

• Xcaret and Xel-Ha. I didn't realise that they had captive dolphins at Xcaret and that really put a damper on what was otherwise a really cool day.