you wont need anything like that amount we booked our trips to Tulum and Coba at thelittle shopping mall just up the road , walk right out of hotel about 5 minutes, not expensive, went into Playa Carmen by taxi about £3 then got the ferry ourselves over to Cozumel about £15 each return I think, then just money for tips,

Thank you bejay for your quick reply

I agree, you won't need anything like that amount of spends. The AI at these hotels is very comprehensive and you will only need money for tips.
There are loads and loads of trips to go on. Coba, Tulum or Chichen Itza for ruins, a trip over to Cozumel for diving. Xel-Ha and many more types of 'eco-parks' zip-lining. Swimming with dolphins, boat trips to remote islands.
Coco-Bongos for night time cabaret.

I agree with the others Michelle . I can't see you needing anything like that amount , particularly if it's just the two of you. The standard of A/I was far superior to what we are used to in Egypt

Cant really recommend any trips as my lot mostly went diving although they had their best day ever at the cenotes (caves) where you can go to snorkel as well.

If you wanted you could swim with the dolphins, our son daughter in law and grandaughter did that that was expensive but if you want something special. Think that was about £160 each

Swimming with Dolphins was brilliant, a bit dear especially if you get the video or photos.

Chichen Itza is well worth visiting, even though they have stopped people going up it.

AI is very inclusive ! but should you decide to eat out some tourist restaurants (Senor Frogs come to mind) can be quite dear.
Some good street food in downtown Cancun and fantastic bus service from there to hotel strip., really cheap too.

We are rturning to PDC in May next year for the 5th time, should be at the Yucatan, but because of the closure in April, we are still waiting to find out where we are staying.
A couple of years ago we went to Coba with a company called Yucatreks and really enjoyed it,on the trip we stopped at a Mayan family's home and got an insight into how they lived, pig asleep in one corner of the kitchen!!! and they had a tame spidermonkey.We climbed the pyramid at Coba and also swam in a cenote.
There was only 4 people on the trip,my wife and myself and another American couple as well as a guide and driver!
We ate next to a lake and I walked down to the edge and there was a crocodile in the water near the side (needless to say I didn't go to close).
I would say book some excursions at thr mall, like Xel-ha,Tulum etc,on that type of excursion you are probabally with 20-30 other people, but for something a bit more special try a company like Yucdatreks as they only take small parties.

Thanks everyone for your replys, although its not 100% yet but we are going to buy some tours from a company thats number 1 on another travel site and given it 5* called http://www.yourprivatetour.com/ They will take the two of us and it will be nice without the crowds.

I will do majority of trips hense the money we will be taking, the trips are in dollars and we do not pay until pick up.

By the way Roadgiant, if you have booked the Yucatan, some have got letters already stating they are moving them next door to the Palace complimentary if that helps.

I am not actually aware of anyone who has actually recieved confirmation of being transfered to the Palace, several people have mentioned it but AFIK no one has actually got it in writing, fingers crossed.

Congratulations on your forthcoming 25th anniversary, we celebrated ours earlier this year while we were on holiday in Cuba, we were actually in Havana (amazing city!) on the day of our aniversary.

Is it your first time in Mexico? Next year will be our 5th and we can't wait to return.

If you are interested, here is a link to some of my photos from the Riu Yucatan and PDC:-

http://community.webshots.com/user/Roadgiant

If you need any more advice or help, don't hesitate to ask either here or pm me directly
RG

I have to say that we were taken aback by how good AI was in our hotel( Sandos Playacar). We could easily have not got out at all at night. There were just so many restaurants to choose from. We had expected to just use it as a base as it came out as similar to price to B&B in the town centre. You won't need anything like the amount you are thinking of taking- but its nice to have it of course
I can't really recommend the best excursions to go on as we only did two. Be aware that if you want to go to Chichen Itza its a long day. 3 and a half hours to get there. I wouldn't have missed it, but its not for some folks. Next summer we are thinking of just taking the bus to a few places as we would have liked to have had a look around some of the places we passed on the way to the Chichen Itza. We are also thinking of a bus to Tulum.

Have a look at http://www.playa.info

Swimming with dolphins at Cozumel was brilliant. If you stay at any of the sister hotels of the Yucatan or the Palace -you cannot fail to be impressed, and I still don't think you'll need all of your spends. You'll have a brilliant time

HOLA

Well thats one of our tours booked for mexico with our private tour guide. Natural aquarium yal ku, snorkelling with turtles, beach side restaurant, snorkel cenote dos ojos. Also tulum ruins, zip line, mayan villages, canoeing and CLIFF JUMPING. Have our own personal guide, and all done on our 25 th wedding anniversary yey.

The private tour company is No1 on TA, we have spent $465 also to include the biodegradable sun block we need to have and they are taking photos of us under water, with turtles and the trip.The trip is all day and it is on our anniversary so that will make it special.

Thank you everyone for your recommendations and advice so far

Helen

The swimming at Cozumel with Dolphins was it natural, i get upset if they are in swimming pools and miss treated. Thank you.

Derwentrocker wrote:

Helen

The swimming at Cozumel with Dolphins was it natural, i get upset if they are in swimming pools and miss treated. Thank you.

The dolphins are in 'lagoons', at Chankanaab Park on Cozumel, so they are in captivity. WE did the Royal Swim with dolphins and it was thrilling. I felt the dolphins were enjoying themselves and their interaction with people. This program has a good reputation, others in the Caribbean do not.

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/cozumel-activities-dolphin-royal-swim.asp

Have you checked out the eco park Xcaret, it is not far from your hotel. They have a dolphin program too,
but I have not done it there. Do some YouTube searches, you can see lots of video of the different attractions.

Thanks emdia43 i will xx

No need to go all the way to Cozumel for a dolphin experience -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj3AdBIA6bk&feature=related

A belated thank you

Can you eat salads in Mexico? and those lovely cocktails they make, can you drink them with ice. I know ice is funny in some countries, thank you x