Trip Suggestion Please

[adjuster-jd]

I am trying to plan a family trip for mid-august. I have a daughter who dives, and a wife and other daughter who do not. Kids ages 10 and 15(diver).

We have the ability to use timeshare points with Wyndham or trade via RCI (for condo rentals). We'd like to stay somewhere with some diving and some other activities (ruins, horseback riding, beaches, rain forests, some trail hiking, even geocaching). Price is always a factor, including airfare to get there. (This means we'd like to go somewhere cheap).

We'd ideally like to go somewhere outside of the US (so the kids can get their passports stamped).

I prefer reef diving vs. cenotes.

I've only traveled to Roatan so I have no experience outside the US other than that.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[DeputyDan]

You may be able to use your points on Grand Cayman. If you can I would go there - stingray city would be a great introduction to the underwater world for the 10 year old.

As far as varied activites if you can stay 10 days to 14 days - I strongly recommend Belize.
Spend 1/2 the trip doing water/diving related activities and 1/2 inland doing Mayan ruins, cave tubing, etc. My two daughters all time favorite trip was Belize.

Bonaire is a great location for diving and snorkeling but I seriously doubt you would be able to use any points there.

Anthony's Key for Roatan with kids... I go to Roatan to dive, have taken the kids there to dive but not as a family trip - as a father/daughter get away week.

 

[DandyDon]

Hey Ken!

I prefer reef diving vs. cenotes.

I've only traveled to Roatan so I have no experience outside the US other than that.

Really now. Never done Cozumel huh? Have you ever dived cenotes at all then? I prefer reef diving, but the caves are a mind boggling experience, and while they are really trust-me cave diving to an extent, the guides take only 4 divers each and have an excellent safety record - at least around Playa del Carmen & Tulum area.

I am trying to plan a family trip for mid-august. I have a daughter who dives, and a wife and other daughter who do not. Kids ages 10 and 15(diver).

We have the ability to use timeshare points with Wyndham or trade via RCI (for condo rentals). We'd like to stay somewhere with some diving and some other activities (ruins, horseback riding, beaches, rain forests, some trail hiking, even geocaching). Price is always a factor, including airfare to get there. (This means we'd like to go somewhere cheap).

It's hard to beat Coz for cheap travel, great diving, etc. It's a pity that the Cenotes and better ruins are on the peninsula but I'll come back to that.

Plan A...

I like to start with Sidestep.com for my initial shopping as the site is really great, and you don't have to worry about clearing airline cookies - not that that works anymore, as the airlines now track your shopping by your browser & extensions. Sidestep (Kayak, same thing, same log-in) is not perfect and they are really weak on map locations, but I confirm everything anyway. I may open half a dozen tabs on Sidestep alone, comparing flights & dates to Vacation packages with air & hotel for various dates, and they'll cross check other sites if you mark those options.

Anyway, if you can get the timeshare space, you can't beat the air fare, and on your preferred airline in some cases. Starting with flights for various dates around the middle of the month, using the Flexible dates option, if you just had to go on a weekend, here are Saturday flights for 7-14, 14-21 or 21-28 with Friday and Sunday flights being similar, Cancun being a little cheaper but not enough to appeal to me...

​

But if you can go on Tuesdays, Cancun can become a lot more appealing! Some of the others on the Coz forum can offer suggestions on booking a private van from CUN to PDC, then ferry across in 40 minutes, private taxi. The first time I took my home bud to CZM, we could not get him the same flights I had by the time he decided so we booked him to CUN, shorter layover in Houston, shared van, ferry, taxi, and he walked in the hotel right behind me...

​

Then you can book diving with any of a number of small boats that will pick you up at the hotel pier, or that resort probly has their house operator with a big boat.

And there are lots of things to do for the non-divers on Coz, including many of your suggestions. Skip the ruins there tho; you want to go to mainland for those, at least to Tulum if not Coba, Chichecn Itza, Ek Balm.


Plan B...

If you cannot get the timeshare time there, then look at air & hotel Vacation packages, try to go with an Orbitz link - which is pretty easy or just use Orbitz.com, but then use 200enterain discount code (see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...s/331431-fun-orbitz-200-package-discount.html) - which also works anywhere else in Mexico, the Caribbean, or Hawaii but works particularly well here to take $200 off per room! US air is a few dollars cheaper but you can go Delta for maybe $3/each more and better flights I think...

Pretty nice place with air & hotel...

But after applying discount and unchecking the overprice ground transfers...

I got a little better deal on Villa Blanca, private rooms - no snoring competition, better house reef, diving with an independent operator who uses their dock, but Casa del Mar is nice.

Or a nicer hotel with air...

After discount...

​

Now I am figuring those packages with 2 to a room. You may be thinking that you can get 4 to a room, sharing the head with 3 women - but wow! :shocked2:


Plan C...

This is a variation on B, but you could book 3 private rooms at Casa del Mar using 200entertain code on each for $689.21 USD (All taxes and fees included);

Then call Orbitz about using the code on air & car (doesn't work on site, but does on phone call) for the fourth for around $578 & up. You'd want to add full insurance, tho - once there, not from Orbtiz!

Wild huh...?


Additional notes...

From Coz, you can still do a day trip to PDC, set up with an operator to pick you up to take you to do 2 Cenote dives with lunch, and be back in time for dinner.

And you might even consider leaving most of your stuff in the Coz rooms one night while you do an overnight adventure like we are in http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mexico/330434-our-overnight-plan-cozumel-chichen-itza-august.html Or if you could get away for 8 or 9 nights, maybe 7 nights on Coz, 2 nights at CI, then drive to Cancun to drop the car and fly home with an open-jaw ticket; you might need telephone help with Orbitz on that idea.

And here are some great maps: Cancun information

 

[adjuster-jd]

Don, Thanks so much!
I also have some Delta Script to use so I'll need to book with DL directly to use that.
As for cenotes - maybe one or two might be ok, but as you know, I love to photography pretty fishies - for me, that's what it's all about..
I'll take a look at these options. I'm pretty sure I can get a timeshare in CUN, not sure about CZM. We'll see.
When are you going in August?

 

[robint]

I am trying to plan a family trip for mid-august. I have a daughter who dives, and a wife and other daughter who do not. Kids ages 10 and 15(diver).

We have the ability to use timeshare points with Wyndham or trade via RCI (for condo rentals). We'd like to stay somewhere with some diving and some other activities (ruins, horseback riding, beaches, rain forests, some trail hiking, even geocaching). Price is always a factor, including airfare to get there. (This means we'd like to go somewhere cheap).

We'd ideally like to go somewhere outside of the US (so the kids can get their passports stamped).

I prefer reef diving vs. cenotes.

I've only traveled to Roatan so I have no experience outside the US other than that.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I am pretty sure you could use your timeshare points at the Wyndham on Cozumel. It would be the answer to all of your questions, too. Diving in morning, then the whole family could do other activities. One day take the ferry over to the mainland and tour some Mayan ruins.
first, buy one of the these map/travel guides of Cozumel:
MapChick's Cozumel map and travel guide

once you get the guide, you can see everything there is to do on the island, prices, etc. It will help you plan your trip. \
Last year we did a week on Cozumel and then took an extra day over on the mainland to visit Chichen Itza. My report here:
Mayan Ruins - Chichen Itza


robin

 

[DandyDon]

My map link is the same as Robin's...

Don, Thanks so much!
I also have some Delta Script to use so I'll need to book with DL directly to use that.
As for cenotes - maybe one or two might be ok, but as you know, I love to photography pretty fishies - for me, that's what it's all about..
I'll take a look at these options. I'm pretty sure I can get a timeshare in CUN, not sure about CZM. We'll see.
When are you going in August?

Cancun, ugg. I'd rather pay for Coz than do Cancun for free, but hopefully Robin is right about using your TS there.

Shooting pics in Coz is different, one try as you pass by sometimes depending on the dive, but riding the current is great - and you will get plenty of good shots. Shoot in Cenotes is different too, but great. I was shooting as soon as my strobe recharged. :shocked2: But yeah, one day, 2 dives, is enough for me on a trip. Have you ever dived any?

Hope you can use your Delta miles. I'll be at Villa Blanca diving with Scuba Mau Aug 21-28.

 

[adjuster-jd]

I think we'll be traveling the week before. I gotta check with RCI and see what I can book on CZM. Don't know if that's the final destination or not but worth looking at.

 

[DandyDon]

I think we'll be traveling the week before. I gotta check with RCI and see what I can book on CZM. Don't know if that's the final destination or not but worth looking at.

Yeah, you'll need to go in mid month you said, and I imagine your daughters will be back in school shortly after. I go then for my birthday and the last week of the month is easiest for my bud to close his store. He kept getting funny looks when he said he was going scuba so he just says "Gone Fishin'."

Cozumel is just one of many good choices for you, especially since you have TS and FF-miles to use, but you need to go there sometime. Let me know if I can help with any ideas or connections there, or have a great trip wherever. ilot:

 

[song]

when I checked last year RCI did have properties on Curacao. don't know how the airfare would compare. As a plus, they are *statistically* outside the typical hurricane belt (lies, damned lies, statistics...) while the Yucatan peninsula is prime hurricane territory. Curacao isn't as cheap as Cozumel and it has a very different international flavor. If it doesn't work for this August might want to consider it for future summers.

 

[DiverG]

I think we'll be traveling the week before. I gotta check with RCI and see what I can book on CZM. Don't know if that's the final destination or not but worth looking at.

RCI, doesn't have that many options for Cozumel, and most of those options require purchasing mandatory ALL Inclusive at $80-$95/per person per day. If you are wanting to do AI then that is ok.