Where to go in Central America or Mexico

Balmed Out

Planning on going away fo 3 or if i can swing it 4 weeks in July and id like to go to central america or mexico. I want to go smewhere I wont need to do a massive amount of traveling, somewhere hot with a nice coast and beeches, somewhere that has good white water rafting, good diving, interesting cities and nightlife as well as a couple of interesting side activities/expeditions (historical sights, nature expeditions, hikes . the usual stuff). Id also like to go somewhere thats very good value as one of our group is humming and hawing due to finances. So whos been? How much was it? etc etc. Was looking at the tucatan peninsula, costa rica or guatemala but open to suggestions. Thanks in advance

Balmed Out

that should be yucatan peninsula. anyone with any experience at all in these areas?

Flynn

Yeah sounds like the Yucatan would be an option.. you can get mayan ruins in there at tulum (which is also an incredible beach) also further inland is chitzen itza.. diving off playa del carmen or isla mujeres but if you head south into belize and hit caye caulker (a must visit) you can dive the blue hole, didn't get to dive it myself as wasn't certified then but they also have world class snorkeling. Only thing about mexico is the cost.. belize is cheaper though not as cheap as guatamala where you can do alot of hikes and treks. also visit pacaya an active volcano.. really cool trip you can bring marshmallows or steak or whatever and roast them on a river of flowing lava.. semuc champey can't be missed either..

if i was you i'd leave out costa rica (although that's where you wanna head for white water rafting ) because of distance and cost.. do the yucatan belize and guatamala and you can do pretty much everything you want there.. also your longest bus ride will be no more than 5 hours...

Flynn

and as for cost,
a rough guide on beds..
yucatan $15ish.
belize 7 - 10$
guatamala 5$ (did manage to find a hostel where a hammock was 2 euro) food in guatamala is extremely cheap too if you stick to where the locals eat.

Balmed Out

thanks for that info. how long a journey to the yucatan from mexico city? is 3 weeks enough to get in all that? seems tough. Thanks again

Flynn

i dunno maybe 20 hours.. if your short on time fly into cancun thats what i did and it only cost an extra 30euros.. yeah i think you could just about fit all that in to 3 weeks..although i spent longer than that on caye caulker alone ive met people who did all of central america is less than 3 weeks so you should be fine..

HankScorpio1985

do not miss semuc champey. not many people go there cos they dont hear about it but its a must for the adrenalin junkie

Flynn

HankScorpio1985 wrote: »

do not miss semuc champey. not many people go there cos they dont hear about it but its a must for the adrenalin junkie

adrenalin???!

HankScorpio1985

adrenalin junkie. as in a person who likes extreme sports. in the case of semuc champey you go caving, jumping off bridges into rivers, climb down a waterfall and go hiking.

max_power

Check my sig if you want. Went last year, flying to Cancun and heading down the Yucatan, then Belize, Guatemala and up the Pacific coast. Prices vary and people will be out to rip you off, especially in the tourist traps, ie Tulum. Any other q's shoot.

vinylbomb

Balmed Out wrote: »

thanks for that info. how long a journey to the yucatan from mexico city? is 3 weeks enough to get in all that? seems tough. Thanks again

Flight from Cancun to Mexico City is about 140 euro currently(edit: thats a return price). 90mins - 2hrs flight. Youd be looking at close to 24hours straight to drive it.

Balmed Out

Cheers for all the info. One more question if ye dont mind. What was / with who / and from where the cheapest flight ye found to cancun? Kinda 3 questions there, cheers.

max_power

Flights to Cancun shouldn't be too hard to find, we went with Delta who were ok, it cost 1200 but we booked very late and that was with a flight home out of Las Vegas.

Alyosha

How does the following rough plan look to anyone? There'll be 2 of us sharing budget budget accom. Looking at total of $40 each per day. Date wise mid-May to mid-June


Return flights from Dublin to Mexico City via Madrid (550 with Iberia)

Fly from Mex to Cancun (about 85 with Interjet, less than 100 anyway)

Spend just under 4 weeks doing Yucutan-Belize-Guatemala

Back to Mexico City. Home.


$40 not strict but desireable. If we can stick to it would be €1400-€1500 all in for the month. Tempting.

Balmed Out

i was looking at shannon newark to cancun for same amount with continental airline. what stops are yee planning on making, seems mexico more expensive then the likes of guatemala.

Alyosha

To be honest BalmedOut just planning. Finishing my college finals in May and am at nothing until the beginning of July. So no concrete plans, just going somewhere for about €1500. Thanks for the heads up on the continental flights to Cancun. Handier than grabbing an internal flight in Mexico I reckon.

And as for stops planned.....haven't a clue! Yet. Start with a few days by the beach, bus it around for 18-20 days, and finish with a few more days by the beach.

Then back to reality!

Balmed Out

Just to let you know alyosha i ended up flying dublin neark cancun on the way out and belize newark (stopping for a few days) dublin on the way back. Booked with continental airlines. 750 euro total. Reckon it makes more sense then going back up to cancun.
planning on doing the following
Talum
Lake Bacalaar
Tikal
alta verapaz
Semuc Champey
a boat trip up the rio dulce to Livingston
to Belize by boat to PUNTA GORDA
caye Caulker
Tobacco Caye

anyone any more advice would be much appreciates