Mexico or Cuba?

[seaangel]

I suggest you look into Playa del Carmen, sort of in between Cancun and Cozumel. You can go diving, and do the land things well from there. It is just a 20-30 minute ferry ride to Cozumel and you can dive over there. I think there are alot of options for you and yes there are things that teens can do. There are also the options of diving the cenotes on the Playa side. You will find a variety of dive operators in Playa and in Cozumel. We have stayed at the Allegro Resort all in-clusive and I did dive with their dive shop, they were great. I really had a great time while in Playa. Have fun, which ever you choose.

 

[diveaustin]

seaangel once bubbled...
I suggest you look into Playa del Carmen, sort of in between Cancun and Cozumel. You can go diving, and do the land things well from there. It is just a 20-30 minute ferry ride to Cozumel and you can dive over there. I think there are alot of options for you and yes there are things that teens can do. There are also the options of diving the cenotes on the Playa side. You will find a variety of dive operators in Playa and in Cozumel. We have stayed at the Allegro Resort all in-clusive and I did dive with their dive shop, they were great. I really had a great time while in Playa. Have fun, which ever you choose.

Isnt it more like a hour ferry ride each way and cant you also dive the cenotes in Cozumel?

 

[scubawife]

Check out the Playa del Carmen-Akumal-Tulum area. You can do ocean diving, cenote & cavern diving, and there's a good variety of accommodations. There are lots of All-Inclusives in the PDC area, as well as other accommodations. Akumal is quiet, no big hotels but nice condos and private villas. Tulum has a bit more variety. In this area you could go to Cozumel for a day trip if you want. You can also explore the Mayan Ruins (Tulum & Coba are easy drives). Akumal is only about 90 minutes south of Cancun but a world apart. We love this area. Lots of info on accommodations and general travel stuff for the Mayan Riviera on www.locogringo.com.

 

[seaangel]

It actually depends on the ferry, now they have some newer faster ones that run across. My husband just made that trip in Feb. he said 30-45 minutes. Their older ferries still may take the hour. I don't know too much about cenote diving in Cozumel. There are definitely more cenotes on the Playa side and as far as I know they are more commonly known to divers, ie: Dos Ojos is one well know cenote there.

 

[diveaustin]

seaangel once bubbled...
It actually depends on the ferry, now they have some newer faster ones that run across. My husband just made that trip in Feb. he said 30-45 minutes. Their older ferries still may take the hour. I don't know too much about cenote diving in Cozumel. There are definitely more cenotes on the Playa side and as far as I know they are more commonly known to divers, ie: Dos Ojos is one well know cenote there.

There are the smaller ferries and then the larger. My point was that none of them are a 30 min ride as you indicated in your original post. The large boats are a 40 min ride from Playa Del Carmen to San Miguel and the smaller boats are a 50 min ride.
When staying in PDC and taking a round trip by ferry to Cozumel this can take up to 3 hours round trip when you consider loading times. Just trying to give accurate info to those that asked the original question.

As far as the Cenotes are concerned...The are all the same. Just some are larger than others. But all with the same to see. I mentioned the cenote on Cozumel because the ones on the mainland were refered to as a reason to visit. Cozumel offers the best diving in the area and I would hate for someone to visit PDC for the cenotes and have their quality of diving suffer when they could have dove in Cozumel and had the cenotes without using a ferry. JMHO.


http://www.travelnotes.cc/cozumel/links/arrive.html#ferryhttp://www.cozumel.net/1maps/ferry.htm

Good Times.

 

[TNDiver]

I won't get political here but the embargo is stupid.. nuff said.

As far as diving goes, look at it this way. The exact same reef system that blessed the Caymans skirts the South side of Cuba. Hummmm Cayman reefs get what a BILLION divers a year, fin kicks on the fans, dropped weights on the brains and so fourth. Cuba gets a minute percentage of the dive travel.

Did you know that Cuba was the first country to mandate perminent moorings for dive boats? The first country to declare underwater national parks?

Love the people love the country. The dives could be considered a bit advanced and if you are an American brush up on your metric dive tables.

If you go to Cuba take as much over the counter medical supplies as you can, asprin, pepto etc.. the locals are very much appreciative.

 

[Cherry]

You might want to check out the Trinidad area on the south side of Cuba. I had two friends go down last winter and they havent stopped talking about it since. It was very reasonably priced and people were very friendly. You wont experince the "resort" thing as much as a laid back wonderful place. Virgin Dive sites with few divers. They went out for 29 bucks a dive with a DM and only 2 other divers. Oh yeah they flew into ( Im gonna spell this wrong ) Viadero and took a bus south to Trinidad. BTW catch a Baseball game while you are there they said it is some of the best ball in the world next to the NBL. Only difference is they are very city based so the rivalry and competition is much more exciting.

 

[Wristshot]

I just returned from a week in Cozumel, and I highly recommend it. The diving was superb and the people were great.

Of course there are two questions:
1) Are you a US citizen?
2) What are you looking to do?

1) Politics aside, be wary of visiting a country where you can't get any help from your country. My friend visited Cuba last week, and he said the women, and the food and the music were great. Of course the abject poverty was depressing in places. I hate to be a wimp, but "what if" something goes wrong? No embassy, no easy way "home" in an emergency, etc. If you are an adventurer, traveling with adults only, then go for it. Taking kids to Cuba? Not a good idea in my opinion. (and you did ask)

2) If you want to dive and eat and dive and sleep and dive and shop a little, then go to Cozumel. Great diving, with many fabulous dive sites and magnificent creatures, but not a tremendous amount of other things. However, Playa Del Carmen is less than an hour away by ferry, and there are DO's that can hook you up for tours to Chichen Itza (sp?) and Tulum plus diving at the Cenotes.

If you want to do more "other stuff" than diving, then Playa may be the ticket for you.

Cozumel has some nightlife, but not a ton for teens, so the kids would be "stuck" with you, and that could be "Good News, Bad News". Definitely not the tourist mecca that Cancun is.

just MHO

 

[ggunn]

diveaustin once bubbled...



As far as the Cenotes are concerned...The are all the same. Just some are larger than others. But all with the same to see. I mentioned the cenote on Cozumel because the ones on the mainland were refered to as a reason to visit. Cozumel offers the best diving in the area and I would hate for someone to visit PDC for the cenotes and have their quality of diving suffer when they could have dove in Cozumel and had the cenotes without using a ferry. JMHO.

Who did you find to take you to cenotes on Cozumel? Every dive op I've asked about it has told me that their cenote trips are to the mainland.

 

[sigelr]

Defitnitely go to Coz! You don't say how old your kids are but I've been there with my family (boys and girls ages 12- 18 at the time) and always had a great time. I love the Allegro. It's all inclusive so the kids can eat/drink whenever they want without bothering you or carrying money. There are lots of planned activites for younger kids and generally lots of teens for the older ones to hang out with if they so desire. Side trips into town to eat/shop or trips to the ruins on the mainland are fun and interesting too - and can all be arranged for you at the resort. The food is good and plentiful - it does get a little boring by the end of the week but who cares? They have their own water plant on premise so drinking water is no problem. The pool has a bar that you swim up to and it's easy to spend the afternoon just hanging out and chatting with other people joking about "another ****ty day in paradise!"

As to the diving - I love the convenience of walking just a few feet away to the dive shop/dock and the same short distance back to your room after the dive. I've always had good luck with Dive Palancar there at the resort. You just hang your stuff out to dry at the railing of your room - no problem. Allegro is one of the few there that has a sandy beach (most have rocky beaches).

Again, for family fun and value I don't think you can beat Allegro at Cozumel ( i know this must sound like a cmmercial but no, I don't work for them or anything like that!)