BootsnAll Travel Community

Desperately seeking advice!

Where would you stay? What did you like? Lay it on me thick. Is it full of middle aged partiers who sound like they've been smoking since birth? Or insulated (and easily insulted) young married couples in the all-inclusives? Or backpackin' 20-something partiers in Tulum?

Basically, I want to go to Costa Rica or Belize but my sense of health and safety danger regarding the one-year-old does not permit me to do so. Maybe better for when he's three and doesn't run when I say "stop! a bus!"

So Mexico has some beaches and some ruins and some wildlife and some snorkeling. Somewhere.

We just got back from a 2 week trip in January. I took my kids - 5 and 2. It was great. We got a great airfare into Cancun, but didn't stay there - first we headed to Valladolid. A great little city, close to Ek Balam ruins - highly recommmended. We just walked the streets, visited the torilliria (sp?) and the convent. On our way to Merida, we spent a day in Chichen Itza. Merida is a great city for kids - check out the Parque Centenario - it has a great playground, free zoo, and a 1 peso (US$0.10) train ride. It is small, but the kids loved it. We spent a whole day with my two yelling "Hola Amigo" and playing with the locals. If you go - stay at the Alvarez Guest Housethe best little guest house! (With laundry machine and make your own breakfast and the absolutely most friendly people.) After Merida, we finished with 4 days in Tulum on the beach. We stayed in the Cabanas Tulum - $70/night peak season. Tulum beach - absolutely wonderful, but plan to pay top dollar for food.


Mexico is very child friendly in terms of people welcoming and friendly towards kids, but NOT "child friendly" in terms of safety. Sidewalks are very narrow, buses travel fast, there may not be the amount of railings there are in the sue-happy US.... I'd consider a sling or backpack for those times when your runner just can't. Take the buses - they have a most excellent bus system - don't stress driving. My kids got a kick out of the town squares and all the cool people we met. I'd go a again in a heartbeat.

Hope this helps.

Cool! Thanks for the tip about carriers, we'll bring our Ergo. Do you think an umbrella stroller would work on the streets? Do you mind if I ask some questions?

1) What vaxes did you get for your kids before the trip, if any?

2) Where did you stay in Vallodolid? In Chichen Itza? Were those two separate nights or the same place?

3) Which ruins did you go to, Ek Balam and Chichen Itza? If you were to just choose one set of ruins, which would you do?

4) Did you do any of the stuff around Tulum: the lagoon, cenote swimming, Playa Carmen? Or just chill on the beach?

5) How bad were the mosquitos? Were you concerned about the malaria or dengue fever or any of the other stuff my guidebook warns me about?

We do want a car for the ability to go where we want, when we want, and besides, we have to bring the baby's carseat on the plane anyhow (buying him his own seat). He doesn't do so well in any sort of transport situation, so the ability to stop and chill somewhere en route is crucial.

We're thinking more like two weeks, and doing the opposite itinerary - going to the beach for a week, and then heading inland for when we're bored with the beach. What do you think?

I'm gonna go research your tips. Thank SO much. I hope you'll write more!

Of course I don’t mind. We had a great time, and if we can help someone else, I’d be happy. Please excuse the novel.

Do you think an umbrella stroller would work on the streets?
I wish I had taken ours. They will work fine in the cities – just keep in mind the curbs are steep and the sidewalks are narrow. I would only take it if your kid will take a nap in it. That was you can use it to “extend” the day and to walk through the museums or plazas. If you aren’t planning on staying in the cities, I wouldn’t bother.

1) What vaxes did you get for your kids before the trip, if any?
The Hep B and Hep A – other then that just the regularly scheduled ones.

2) Where did you stay in Vallodolid? In Chichen Itza? Were those two separate nights or the same place?
We stayed in http://www.casa-quetzal.com/ - I highly recommend it, though slightly pricey. It has a beautiful enclosed courtyard, a great place to relax and have some downtime. It is small enough, you can put your baby to bed and then enjoy an evening drink in the courtyard with your partner (BYOB). They had the best breakfast. We stayed there and headed to Chichen Itza (30 minutes away). We caught the bus to Merida from Chichen Itza. It made for a very long day. If you have your own car, go back to Casa Quetzal for the night. The hotels near Chichen Itza, with the exception of the Delores Alba, are hideously expensive.

3) Which ruins did you go to, Ek Balam and Chichen Itza? If you were to just choose one set of ruins, which would you do?
We saw Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Tulum ruins. Chichen Itza was by far the largest and most well known, but I thought Uxmal was much more impressive. Ek Balam is a pleasant morning trip from Valladolid – They allow you to climb the pyramid and the view is just breathtaking. There is also a cenote for swimming – I wish we did this. Avoid Tulum ruins like the plague – even going early did not reduce the whiny cruise-ship crowds. It is small and confined – we were crowded out by large tour groups. My advice is plan your visit to the larger ruin sites to the weather if possible – we saw Chichen Itza on an overcast/misty day. It was pleasant and we were able to take in almost the whole site. We saw Uxmal in hot sunny weather and the heat wore us out much more quickly (there is also less shade in Uxmal).

4) Did you do any of the stuff around Tulum: the lagoon, cenote swimming, Playa Carmen? Or just chill on the beach? We just chilled on the beach. It was more than enough. We took walks and read and napped in the hammocks. We went in to town one evening, but other than that, we enjoyed the beach. The town’s grocery store has beach toys for US$10 – we bought a set and then left them with the family next door – they might still be there 

5) How bad were the mosquitos? Were you concerned about the malaria or dengue fever or any of the other stuff my guidebook warns me about?
According to my travel clinic, there was not a high risk of either to worry to proscribe anti-malarial meds. The mozzies were bad in the evening at Tulum. But I am particularly tasty to insects anyway, so around dusk I’d DEET me and the kids. The one night I forgot was very itchy!

We do want a car for the ability to go where we want, when we want, and besides, we have to bring the baby's carseat on the plane anyhow (buying him his own seat). He doesn't do so well in any sort of transport situation, so the ability to stop and chill somewhere en route is crucial.

We're thinking more like two weeks, and doing the opposite itinerary - going to the beach for a week, and then heading inland for when we're bored with the beach. What do you think? Depends on your own situation – we used the beach to bribe our 5 year old to do more cultural stuff. Had we gone to the beach, he’d have wanted to stay and wouldn’t have enjoyed much of the rest of the trip. We wanted to end the trip in the most relaxing way possible – it felt good to plunk down for 4 days after being more active. If you are coming from a different time zone (PST, right?) you may want to hit the beach to let your body adjust to the time change and climate shock.

Hey, thanks again!

But now OUR local travel clinic has got me all scared, talking about taking the chloro for Malaria; and Dengue Fever and whatnot.

Our itinerary will be similar to yours - your doc said don't worry?

It's amazing to me all the differences in opinion...

Can they get the Hep A shot before two, do you know?

We are definitely going to visit Merida and Playa del Carmen, I think. We would mostly bring the stroller because my son is heavy, and SWEATY. My husband hates the Ergo in the summer, I don't mind so much, but he is a heavy kid. Is it still a good idea?

When are you going?

I'd take the carrier if you plan on long beach walks, seeing the ruins, etc.

I don't know what to tell you about the immunizations or the malaria other than as long as we were in the "Tourist zones" and not the middle of the Yucatan we were ok - but again we went in January - the "low" mosquito season. If you read the reviews of Tulum hotels in summer - they complain pretty heavily about mosquitoes - maybe the concern is seasonal?

We were planning on the last few days of October, first few weeks of November. It looks like the lowest-mosquito times are November, December, and January.

If anyone is bringing children to the area of the Yucatan Peninsula, I recommend Merida and Progreso in the State of Yucatan. Virtually 100% safe from crime. And the food is not only safe, but good to boot. Plus, access to world class health care is especially important when you have children. Weekends are really a great time for kids in Merida. Loads of free movies on Saturday and Sunday. Then, we have Merida en Domingo on Sunday – sort of a free fair with streets closed off to traffic. I write the Events for Yucatan Living (http://www.yucatanliving.com) – but don’t put in all the things the City Council has for little ones because most of us expats are “old folks.” However, we have the Bici-Ruta (also on Sunday) with half a day of non-stop family events, workshops for little ones (from art to electricity!). If you need to know what’s happening for kids in Yucatan, just e-mail me at khaki_scott [at] yahoo [dot] com and I’ll fix you right up.

Re: dengue fever… we have had no deaths in the State of Yucatan, but I do recommend a good mosquito repellant. No sense in learning about our world class health care if you don’t have to.

Merida is a fine city for children. Lots of mixed cuisine so you'll be able to find something your children like.

A cheap umbrella stroller will work find for your little one.

You can even use the stroller without any major problems at Chichen Itza an Uxmal.

Get the HEP A shots. Don't worry about Malaria, Dengue, etc. You can do fine with some citranella to keep the bugs away. I'd use citranella over DEET for your children.

A car seat will work fine on the ADO line which has seat belts and air conditioning.

A car rental might be advisable for Merida as you will have greater flexibility on your schedule.

PM me if you want more details.

-Slip

My husband and I have some Delta airlines miles to cash in, so we were thinking about heading to the Yucatan for our first Internation trip ever as a family of 4 (2 1/2 year-old son and a 1 month-old daugther). My husband and I went to Vietnam last year for a month, but left our son behind. Questions I have:

*Delta services Cancun, Merida and Cozumel
*We are planning on staying for 2 weeks at the beginning of November and also renting a car. In the little research I have done, it looks like it is expensive if your pick-up and drop-off in different cities...so...maybe a big loop flying in and out of the same city.
*Where would you recommend going for the 2 weeks..again, assuming we have a rental car. Any idea how much gas is down there? I am assuming it is comperable to the states (we are from Portland, OR)
*Should we take our stroller? We have a double stroller (tandem, not wide). We could always leave this in the car if we had to.
*We typically do pretty minimal accomodations - would rather spend our money on sights, food, etc. Any recommendations??

That's all I can think of for now. We are planning on taking both car seats down with us. Do they have the "latch" system" in rental cars, like they do in the states?

Looking forward to our trip.

Thanks in advance for any advice anybody can offer.

Personally - I would fly into Merida, rent a car, stay at Hotel Alvarez (wonderful guest house with laundry!) Drive about, turn in the car, take ADO to Cancun, rent a car there drive to Tulum and stay at the Cabanas Tulum, and then fly out of Cancun.

Yes to the stroller or an umberella stroller and sling.