# Vacation spot



## regwill (Jul 2, 2013)

So I want to take my fiancée on another vacation , and thought I would ask the forum for some recommendations . My fiancée is Mexican , and has lived her whole life in Mexico City , so we are up for upscale or off the beaten path . Places we have been , Guanajunto , Acapulco ( 3 times ) , Cancun , Playa del Carmen , Tulum , Merida , and Progresso . Would appreciate any and all tips , advice and or insights . TIA


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

Spend a week in Xcalak. That will tell you just how well you get along.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

cuerna1 said:


> Spend a week in Xcalak. That will tell you just how well you get along.


Are you trying to tell us that there's not a lot going on in Xcalak?


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

It is a little different from the other places he mentions. Beautiful place. A young/aspiring Mexican couple should have no trouble finding things to do


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

That seems way too rural for some , me for example


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

regwill said:


> So I want to take my fiancée on another vacation , and thought I would ask the forum for some recommendations . My fiancée is Mexican , and has lived her whole life in Mexico City , so we are up for upscale or off the beaten path . Places we have been , Guanajunto , Acapulco ( 3 times ) , Cancun , Playa del Carmen , Tulum , Merida , and Progresso . Would appreciate any and all tips , advice and or insights . TIA


Yelapa, Jalisco is a nice beach village away from the crowds but still a little touristy. You can only get there by boat, so that keeps the crowds down. Upscale, I don't know much about. La Paz, Baja Sur is also nice. Barrancas del Cobre, San Cristobal de las Casas, lots of options, it is a big country, with no shortage of interesting places to visit.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

The answer is simple: Ask _her_ where she wants to go.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Jora said:


> Mazunte. I fell in love there....



Never heard of Mazunte. Where is it located?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Next to Have you heard of Zipolite?
The area has beautful beaches for surfers, , a turtle reserve not far from Pochutla. A nice place to relax not too far from Huatulco.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

citlali said:


> Next to Have you heard of Zipolite?
> The area has beautful beaches for surfers, , a turtle reserve not far from Pochutla. A nice place to relax not too far from Huatulco.


Isn't Zipolite the "naked beach"?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Longford said:


> The answer is simple: Ask her where she wants to go.


This is the BEST advice
Instead of naked beaches, rural pueblos, or any other fashionable, remote, ugly and risky place, ask her where she would like to visit


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


Isla Verde said:



Are you trying to tell us that there's not a lot going on in Xcalak?

Click to expand...

_Actually, Isla, Xcalak, as I think you doubtless aleady know, is not so much Mexico as a forlorn extensión of Belize' famous Ambergris Cay separated from Belize by a man-made (by the Maya many years ago) canal to gain access from what is today known as Chetumal Bay to the Caribbean Sea. It is a woebegone, tiny community, isolated and largely destroyed, but really never re-built (because, why-so) by a hurricane and is attractive to fishermen, drunks and hermits with, no doubt, a contingent of those wishing to remain anonomous for various reasons. There is actually quite a bit going on in Xcalak. There is swimming and diving and fishing and getting looped and passing out. Other than those diversions, there is driving a couple of hours or more to the nearest serious store, doctor or medical clinic if one does not expire along the way. The nice thing is that, if someone dies on the arduous and lengthy drive to the nearest medical clinic, you can simply throw them into the roadside swamps and their bodies will never be discovered by other than ravenous vultures thereby saving you the.expense of civilized disposal of the corpse.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Hound Dog said:


> Actually, Isla, Xcalak, as I think you doubtless aleady know, is not so much Mexico as a forlorn extensión of Belize' famous Ambergris Cay separated from Belize by a man-made (by the Maya many years ago) canal to gain access from what is today known as Chetumal Bay to the Caribbean Sea. It is a woebegone, tiny community, isolated and largely destroyed, but really never re-built (because, why-so) by a hurricane and is attractive to fishermen, drunks and hermits with, no doubt, a contingent of those wishing to remain anonomous for various reasons. There is actually quite a bit going on in Xcalak. There is swimming and diving and fishing and getting looped and passing out. Other than those diversions, there is driving a couple of hours or more to the nearest serious store, doctor or medical clinic if one does not expire along the way. The nice thing is that, if someone dies on the arduous and lengthy drive to the nearest medical clinic, you can simply throw them into the roadside swamps and their bodies will never be discovered by other than ravenous vultures thereby saving you the.expense of civilized disposal of the corpse.


Actually, Hound Dog, till I read your post, I knew nothing about Xcalak. Since I'm not that fond of the beach, my knowledge of Mexican coastal communities is almost nil. After reading your description, I can now cross Xcalak off my list of places yet-to-visit in La República.


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hound Dog said:


> Actually, Isla, Xcalak, as I think you doubtless aleady know, is not so much Mexico as a forlorn extensión of Belize' famous Ambergris Cay separated from Belize by a man-made (by the Maya many years ago) canal to gain access from what is today known as Chetumal Bay to the Caribbean Sea. It is a woebegone, tiny community, isolated and largely destroyed, but really never re-built (because, why-so) by a hurricane and is attractive to fishermen, drunks and hermits with, no doubt, a contingent of those wishing to remain anonomous for various reasons. There is actually quite a bit going on in Xcalak. There is swimming and diving and fishing and getting looped and passing out. Other than those diversions, there is driving a couple of hours or more to the nearest serious store, doctor or medical clinic if one does not expire along the way. The nice thing is that, if someone dies on the arduous and lengthy drive to the nearest medical clinic, you can simply throw them into the roadside swamps and their bodies will never be discovered by other than ravenous vultures thereby saving you the.expense of civilized disposal of the corpse.


Actually Mr Dog - there are some very nice, comfortable places to stay in the Xcalak area - with generators. The one we stayed at was owned by a couple from Tampa - founded by his father who was a pilot. The room had a/c and a fridge and probably was upscale by a lot of different standards - I suspect in comparison to Chiapas. The food was very good - although there was not a menu - everyone had the same meal. There was a whole community of friendly neighbors who owned accommodations from bed and breakfasts to hotels. The diving is good to very good (by South Florida standards). It is pristine. At one point we were in the water with hundreds of large tarpon. The road from Tulum to Xcalak is great. 

If you are young and don't need a Cancun type experience or if you want to get an idea what Cancun or Tulum were like say 100 years ago you should visit a place like Xcalak - but bring your deet.

I think your description of Xcalak is accurate for the town-center proper - but you need to drive a few kilometers north - through the town and over the small bridge.


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

Hound Dog said:


> Actually, Isla, Xcalak, as I think you doubtless aleady know, is not so much Mexico as a forlorn extensión of Belize' famous Ambergris Cay separated from Belize by a man-made (by the Maya many years ago) canal to gain access from what is today known as Chetumal Bay to the Caribbean Sea. It is a woebegone, tiny community, isolated and largely destroyed, but really never re-built (because, why-so) by a hurricane and is attractive to fishermen, drunks and hermits with, no doubt, a contingent of those wishing to remain anonomous for various reasons. There is actually quite a bit going on in Xcalak. There is swimming and diving and fishing and getting looped and passing out. Other than those diversions, there is driving a couple of hours or more to the nearest serious store, doctor or medical clinic if one does not expire along the way. The nice thing is that, if someone dies on the arduous and lengthy drive to the nearest medical clinic, you can simply throw them into the roadside swamps and their bodies will never be discovered by other than ravenous vultures thereby saving you the.expense of civilized disposal of the corpse.



How fortunate that one person's "off the beaten track" is another person's "woebegone and isolated." Or "off-the-beaten-track" would no longer exist for anyone. Different strokes for different folks . . . (Or something like that!) Some would define heaven on earth as a remote location with nothing to do but read and swim and dive. Others, obviously . . . Not so much.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

> "...[I think your description of Xcalak is accurate for the town-center proper - but you need to drive a few kilometers north - through the town and over the small bridge.


Just for the record. I was describing North Xcalak - that is the área north of the bridge between Xcalak and Majahual on the coast road. The beach side homes north of the bridge were way overpriced and the beaches narrow and often unpleasant with coral outcroppings but the road journey along the coast of about 60 kilometers was most pleasant and picturesque . Almost all rural with splendid seaside vistas, sporadic development but quite attractive. You, however, do not wish to break down on that road near any mangrove swamps because the ferocious local mosquitos will eat you alive within minutes of your exiting your car. Now, I wlll admit that I have not toured that Quintana Roo Coast since 2006 so maybe things have changed quite a bit since I was there searching for a´place to settle with my focus on Akumal and south to designated places such as Tulum, Majahual, Xcalak and inland to Lake Bacalar before finally settling on Highland Chiapas at San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas at about 2,000 meters (+/- 7,000 feet) which, as opposed to the Quintana Roo Coast and inland to Bacalar, where the weather can be oppressively hot and humid, can be a bit on the chilly side but to each his own.

Remember that I last seriously toured this coast in 2006 but the one thing I remember from those times is that between Tulum (a seriously overrated town in those days except for the ruins and beaches) through Felipe Carrillo Puerto to Majuhual, the towns were nondescript and the restaurant food immediately forgettable. Maybe things have since improved.


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

We explored (and dove) that entire coast a few years after you (over several years) with the same intent. We would never _live_ anywhere south of Tulum, but there are some places worth visiting (although I'm not sure majahual (?) is one of them. And I agree - there are no restaurants etc roadside that are worth stopping at.

When all was said and done - there was a place called Tankah Bay which was south of Akumal and maybe 15 kms north of Tulum that we thought perfect. While we were contemplating that move a good sized hurricane hit Puerto Aventura - and coming from South Florida we said ' hmm'. Actually - Tankah seemed rather expensive to us at the time - ocean-front homes, but now that we own a home in Morelos I'm not sure Tankah was that expensive. 

But I'm sorry to the original poster for the divergence - although I don't think he has ever come back...


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## regwill (Jul 2, 2013)

So we have narrowed it down to flying in to Huatulco and staying at Puerto Angel and Mazunte ,or San Cristobal de Las Casas and then going to Palenque and Belize . If we go to Huatulco will we have to rent a car or are the transportation option inexpensive ? Many times on the forum , I have read that you would be crazy to drive an auto in Mexico without insurance , does anybody have any idea what the rental car companies charge for auto insurance ? TIA


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


regwill said:



So we have narrowed it down to flying in to Huatulco and staying at Puerto Angel and Mazunte ,or San Cristobal de Las Casas and then going to Palenque and Belize . If we go to Huatulco will we have to rent a car or are the transportation option inexpensive ? Many times on the forum , I have read that you would be crazy to drive an auto in Mexico without insurance , does anybody have any idea what the rental car companies charge for auto insurance ? TIA

Click to expand...

_You have chosen well on your destinations. Hualtuco is isolated but worth a visit. Rent a car by all means. Do not even dream of driving a car without full insurance coverage in Mexico - especially legal representation. Car rental is expensive with insurance - cheap without insurance. Never drive here without insurance. Don´t even consider that option.


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

regwill said:


> So we have narrowed it down to flying in to Huatulco and staying at Puerto Angel and Mazunte ,or San Cristobal de Las Casas and then going to Palenque and Belize . If we go to Huatulco will we have to rent a car or are the transportation option inexpensive ? Many times on the forum , I have read that you would be crazy to drive an auto in Mexico without insurance , does anybody have any idea what the rental car companies charge for auto insurance ? TIA


Friend - you should do some research and check out TripAdvisors.com etc. Ask your Mexican insurance company what is handled on rental - and - if you should happen to have a premium cc from the US ask them the same thing. You need to make some decisions on your own (could be useful experience for your new marriage).


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

Just to emphasize what has already been said: do not, not, NOT drive in Mexico without car insurance! 


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## regwill (Jul 2, 2013)

cuerna1 said:


> Friend - you should do some research and check out TripAdvisors.com etc. Ask your Mexican insurance company what is handled on rental - and - if you should happen to have a premium cc from the US ask them the same thing. You need to make some decisions on your own (could be useful experience for your new marriage).


I have used TripAdvisors.com , but I also like gleam the nuggets of info from the folks who actually live in this country and or have worked here .


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Here’s my nugget: I’d never been to an all-in-one resort, and, to tell the truth, I sort of looked down on the whole concept – why seal yourself hermetically into such an artificial environment when you have the whole interesting country out there to explore?
Then I got a chance to go with my husband when he had to attend a conference at the Ixtapa location of the original all-in-one (that started in France in 1950) that began the whole concept, and it turned my thinking around. It was so much fun! It was like summer camp for grownups on a beautiful beach, and the food was out of this world! So I recommend it as an option to consider, since you said you’re not ruling out upscale.
My better half has to do a lot of traveling to conferences, and he’s been to several other all-in-ones in Mexico, and none of the others he visited were as good as this one.


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