mikster

Can anyone give me some feedback on which place to go to and where to stay. My husband and I are planning a trip this Thanksgiving. We love great beach, beachfront rooms and love to snorkle. We have our flights into Cancun but can't decide between IM or PDC. We don't care at all about night life. We just love beautiful beaches and nice accomodations. Anyone been to both places and can comment? Thanks so much.

Diana

We've been to both several times.

We love both for different reasons...

PDC - Amazing nightlife, shopping, sexy, beautiful beach with lots of people watching. Fantastic variety of great dining, places to stay and things to see and do.

IM - One of my favorite beaches on the planet. Good (but not great) dining and lodging options. Laid back, funky, Bohemian atmosphere. Snorkeling better.

I can't tell you which one is my favorite, but Tulum (south of PDC merges both nicely.

Take 10 days and spend 5 days in both PDC and IM.

SusanMargaret

If snorkeling is important to you, I'd suggest you look at Akumal, which is south of PDC. The snorkeling and ocean there are amazing. There are also a number of good hotels. The website www.locogringo.com has great photos and info.

mikster

Thanks for the input. It is much appreciated.

remy93

We just returned from Playa del Carmen. The ONLY place I would recommend staying there is Las Palapas. We walked all the way in both directions and especially towards town the beach was crowded, dirty, rocky and full of seaweed. We loved our stay at Las Palapas and thought the pedestrian part of PDC was fantastic but I would not go if I had to stay anywhere else. One caution: If you stay at Las Palapas ask for a room without a thatched roof unless you like large bugs joining you at night.

mikster

Thank you. We actually do have reservations at Las Palapas. We requested a beachfront room. I will definitely take your advice about the thatched roofs because I will flip if I see large bugs in my room. Thanks for the tip and I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the hotel.

norbrad393

REMY,

My wife and I have gone to PdC for years. We stay at a very reasonable condo with the best beach in Playa just in front--beautiful white sand, etc. But since you have locked into Palapas and "wouldn't stay anywhere else."--not much sense in mentioning it. Have stayed in many hotels in Playa over the years. All have ranged from satisfactory (economical) to good. But now we have the best we have ever had. Anyway, to each his own. BTW, having gone to Playa for some 20 years, can't think of where or what Palapas is (other than, obviously, a hotel). Cheers.

Little_Man

well, norbrad, I'm interested in these amazing condos !

marthag

I'm interested in knowing about the condos also. Hope you won't mind sharing with us.

colokid

Norbrad,

Las Palapas is next door to Shangri La Caribe. It is very nice but you're right, there are many nice places there. We stayed at Natz Ti Ha last year which is 1/2 block off the beach right behind Shangri La. Very nice. I've walked that beach to town myself in the past few months and have not seen the rocky, seaweek, dirty beach the other poster was talking about. Yes, it is more crowded on the beach towards town to the south of Las Palapas. If you're interested in a condo a good place to look around for one would be vrbo.com.

zootsi

I've been to the beach in downtown PDC near the Playa Maya, and never found it to be dirty or seaweedy. Sure it gets a little crowded at times, and there are a few rocky spots, but all in all the PDC beach is great, especially at the north end.

norbrad393

Frankie and Marthag,

I wrote a reply for you, but it seems not to be here. Don't know why.

In answer to your question--

Condos Xaman Ha.

Norm

MFNYC

Norm, glad to hear you liked Xaman Ha. I just booked one for Christmas week '06! AFter doing some research I made my mind the Xaman Ha is what I'm looking for. We're a family of 4 (2 teens) and wanted to be on the beach, with a pool, very close to town. We rented unit 7016.

If you have any recommendations of where to go for a quick breakfast or lunch, and also a decent dinner, please share. Thanks.

Little_Man

thanks norbrad!

marthag

Norbrad....the condos look wonderful. Thanks for letting us know about them.