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Florida is an excellent choice. I don`t know where you heard anything good about Playa del Carmen, it is a dive and full of purse snatching thieves and rape hounds, even the cops anre thieving pendejos.

Ft Lauderdale has good weather in December and the canals are a trip.

In My opinion there are 3 places in Mexico that I would visit. Cancun`s hotel zone, Cozumel and Cabo san Lucas.

Tampa Bay is just great. I stayed at the Bay Harbour Inn for 2 months and had use of their Sailboats which sealed the deal on My purchase of a 47 ft Catalina.

Here is what is going on in Mexico http://mexicovacationawareness.com/news.html There was a guy that lived there that denies this and other incidents are possible because he is promoting tourism in the area as he stood to lose money if he told the truth.

I think he was from Israel, however was very nauseating

Definitely Playa del Carmen.

The quinta Avenida (fifth avenue) is a very nice road. Is the main street in the city. Is as a mall on the free air. There are many shops, restaurants, crafts shops, boutiques, cafes etc etc.

The beach it's fantastic. The best of the world. Blue sea and white sand. Warm water.

The hotels are very nice and luxurious.

And you can know about the Mayan Culture. Also Travel to Tulum (mayan ruins in front the Caribean Sea). The Riviera Maya is better.

Greetings.

Bet you can guess which one I will advise you to go to! Playa del Carmen! I will tell you Playa and the surrounding area is safe for tourists. Playa has the famous 5th Ave running north to south the entire town just about always one block to the Caribbean Ocean. Along 5th you will find 100´s of shops restaurants and bars from around the world. All of the center area of Playa is walkable and safe 24 hours a day never a need for a taxi. Comfort foods MacDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Domino's, KFC, Spagos, DQ, Ben and Jerry´s Hagen Daz, Starbucks, Wal Mart all walkable from your hotel in the center of Playa. The Caribbean Ocean one of the most beautiful waters in the world. From the turquoise color to the sugar soft sand that never gets hot. Water temperature does change of course from July to January but never is it too cold to go swimming. Sometimes it is too warm.

Sightseeing? From the Seventh Wonder of the World, Chichen Itza, Tulum ruins, the only walled in Mayan ruin built next to the Ocean,to crystal clear cenotes to several Mayan themed parks, Xcaret (ish-car-et) Xel-Ha (shel-ha) Xplor. You will not have enough time to see all.

From Playa you are in the heart of the Riviera Maya close to all sight to see and things to do. A great ferry ride to the Isla Cozumel and enjoy a day snorkeling or diving around the second biggest reef in the world.

Hotels in Playa (be sure they are in Playa not Playacar or out on the highway) will run from 50 and up a night before December 20th and only rise a little after that until January 1st. You will find 5 star luxury rooms to the basic all on or close to the famous 5th Ave. and the beach.

Now this should keep you busy. If indeed you choose Playa get back to me as I live here 24/7 and am willing to help you have wonderful vacation.

When I stayed in Playa Del Carmen for a week, it seemed fairly nice, but if you go in an area that is less tourist oriented, then it won't be quite as nice. If you go to Cancun it is a little bit better :)

There is a difference in the water temperature in the Florida panhandle, near Jacksonville, Miami and Key West.

The water temperature in the Cancun, Mexico area remains about the same year round.

I do not know your likes and dislikes. I do not know if you are looking for backpacking rates or 5 star and above. I do not know if you have a passport or not (you will need one for Mexico).

Sorry you did not give enough information to recommend one or the other.

I was just in Playa del Carmen in August, I agree with Playa Dude's sentiments, I'd pick Playa del Carmen for sure (and I've been to Cocoa Beach in Florida, so some small knowledge that way). Playa is what you make of it, and no rapists and thieves aren't standing on every corner waiting to get you. That being said, don't be an idiot either--aka walking around flashing $100 bills, leaving your bag full of valuables unattended, going down dark empty alleys alone at 2 a.m., etc.

What do you want out of your vacation? Lay on the beach, lounge in the pool, & get wasted every night? I'd recommend one of the beachside resorts.

Planning on doing some scuba diving? Stay closer to Playa. Less time for driving to catch the ferry. And you should scuba dive if you can, these are some of the best waters in the world. But if scuba isn't your thing, I'd still recommend snorkeling. You can snorkel in Akumal Bay and see sea turtles. A little further out and to the south you can see some pretty beautiful reefs. Like if you entered the water at the dive shop and swam out a ways (sometimes you can spot other groups of divers) that would get you there. You can always book a tour if you're not comfortable, but we did it sans-tour and loved it, though it can be a long swim back, haha!

Other snorkel places I'd recommend, are in Puerto Morelos, which also has beautiful beaches. You do have to book a snorkel guide, as the reefs are in a national park protected area. The guy at the dock will want $25/pp. We walked down the beach a little ways, found a guy by his boat and got it for $18/pp. Totally worth it. Also if you want to hang on a private beach (no real snorkeling, though there is a small cenote nearby), Xcacel (not to be confused with Xcaret) will be the place to go.

Dos Ojos is probably the best place to snorkel in a cenote. They'll want about $40/pp for a guided flashlight snorkel tour, including the bat cave, but if you have your own waterproof flashlight, you can generally enter the batcave yourself. The cenotes have beautiful formations and you can see scuba divers below you as they pass through tunnels from cave to cave. Although I don't know what the average temp is in December, it's chillier water than the ocean. It was swelteringly insane hot in August, so we jumped right in.

As for ruins, Chichzen Itza is totally worth it, and probably better in December vs. even more sweltering heat in August. It's extensive, though there are a lot of natives selling souvenirs. Went to Tulum, maybe have just been the heat, but thought it was kinda sucky. You can't touch or climb on anything. If you still want to climb a pyramid, I believe Coba is the only place you can do it. And it's huge. Our friends went, said they liked it better than Tulum.

You don't have to rent a car either to get around in Playa/Cancun/the area. They have little "colectivos" you can catch in town, even out on the freeway. Often $2-3 per trip. I think it was $3 from Playa to Tulum. You could still hit Akumal, Dos Ojos and Xcacel this way. You could for Coba too, though I might look into direct routes with the ADO buses. Although if all of this is too stressful for you to consider, you can always book tours to all of these places, often buying the best deals in Playa on 5th Ave (or Avenida Quinta). Some hotels have shuttles that will take you into Cancun or Playa if it's not directly there for decent rates. There are taxis, but they're a bit more expensive. It cost us $3/pp to take the colectivo to our hotel vs. $22 for the cab fare. I guess if there's more than 2 of you it can be economic. Always ask about the price before you get in. We never had any problems, but we always asked first.

Use ATMs not on Ave Quinta, you'll get a better rate, especially ATMs at a bank. Take it out in pesos, you'll save money, although they do accept dollars, they usually tip the exchange rate to their favor. For example 150 pesos is close to $15, but not exactly the same. Also, you get charged a fee for taking out money, also for using your credit card. But you only get charged the $3 (or whatever it is fee) on the money you take out once (like if you take out $300 worth of pesos). You get charged a similar fee for EVERY charge on your credit charge, whether $20 or $100--it can add up.

Oh, and restaurant recommendations: El Fogon in Playa, best place we ate. Just a few blocks down from the Wal-Mart. Carboncitos on Ave Quinta. And Ah! Cacao if you like chocolate, at the end of Ave Quinta. Do Playa, probably a lot warmer and more pleasant!

barcelo in playa on the delta vacation package. i go back every year. way better then Florida! diving beach pools food shows flight, one price