Is it the Riu Yucatan at Playacar that you have booked?
We stayed there in June and really enjoyed it (our 3rd consecutive year in Playacar) and are already planning to return next year.
There's plenty of excursions of every type to do over there,depends on who you are with and what ages (ie kids or teenagers or whoever) the choice is endless.
If you want history and culture there's plenty of that, nightlife is ok, whatever age you are (unless you have young kids with you) make sure you get to CoCo Bongos in Playa-del-Carmen unmissable night. If you want Scuba or Fishing lots of that around.
I could go on and on, if you want any more specific info, PM me or ask on here and I'll try and give you more details.
As a taster here's some of the photos I took around the Yucatan etc this year :- http://community.webshots.com/user/Roadgiant
RG

Des,

We went to the Riu Tequila (opposite the Yucatan) in January this year. The weather during the day was very hot but sometimes cooled off in the evenings. I would advise packing a few warmer clothes (thin jumpers / cardigans etc) for the evening just in case.

Cheers

Keith

thanks keith.

can you remember how many hours a day the sun was shining for?
does it get dark early in january like the uk.

thanks

des

Hi Des,

If I remember rightly, it used to get dark sometime between 6 and 7 pm. Not too sure when it got light in the morning as we were always still in bed The sun was shining all day for most days, but we had a little bit of cloud and rain at times (but very little). Don't worry too much about the rain, it was sunny then the couds came over and it howled it down for 20 minutes then the sun came out again ... and it was still warm while it was raining so it didn't matter all that much

Please be careful of the sun because even at that time of year it is very, very strong.

As for trips, I would highly recommend Xcaret (a short taxi ride from Playacar). It's an Eco-park with shows, zoo, culture, snorkelling, dolphins etc. Similarly Xel Ha is an eco park with much better snorkelling, but not as many other attractions. We combined Xel Ha with a visit to the ruins at Tulum. Swimming with dolphins is always a good one, but expensive. My youngest son and his girlfriend went snorkelling with the turtles at Akumel and said it was awesome.

The ferry over to Cozumel takes you to the 2nd largest coral reef in the world if you like snorkelling. It's also worth going over for the experience as well. Lots of shops etc over there and it's where the cruise ships dock. In Playa Del Carmen itself (a 15 - 20 minute walk or a $5 taxi ride), lots of shops etc in 5th avenue, but go off the beaten track into the "real" Mexico and there's lots of cheaper shops selling exactly the same stuff (and a Wal-Mart as well if that's what rocks your boat ). The Mexican people are very friendly and it is very safe to walk about.

For adults, go to Carlos and Charlies (just by the ferry terminal) for a cheap night out, or Coco Bongos for a more expensive night out. Both are crazy places.

Cheers

Keith

thanks for the tips Keith.

Hi,
We are going to the Riu Yucatan 1st April for 2 weeks - cant wait
Does anyone know if the hotel has wifi say in reception and if so has anyone used an iphone there? Other half sometimes likes to keep in touch with work if need be via e-mail.
Thanks.
Tabby.

Hi Tabby Iif you look at the Riu Website it mentions there is free Wi Fi under the services tab - see link

http://www.riu.com/en-uk/Paises/mexico/playa-del-carmen/hotel-riu-yucatan/index.jsp

Hope this helps

Hi Miss Pink,
Thanks for the link - loads of information Getting very excited now - only 73 days to go
Tabby.

I never realised that trying to choose something different and agree is a really hard thing to do for our 25th wedding anniversary Feb 13. We started off with Thailand, way over budget for everything we wanted to do and a short time to save. Florida, well we had done this twice and felt we wanted to try something different. Australia, well the flight would be to daunting for me and expensive. Even thought about a short break to Rome, but February toooo cold.
So .....

Both of us wanted a Caribbean island, with a lot to do, could go out at night, have nice restaurants to visit and a super beach. We eventually decided on

Mexico - Hotel Riu Yucatan in Playacar

It was a little over budget but it is booked with Thomson for 2 weeks, and we are very excited, and going the 9th Feb 2013.

Just looking at brochures is stressful, but we got there in the end

Michelle

Hi Michelle you've made an excellent choice. Although we haven't stayed in the yucatan, we did stay at the Tequila which is a sister hotel. As a guest at the Yucatan, you probably know that you can also use the facilities of the tequila and vice versa. It's a lovely hotel right on a beautiful beach and each time we ate there the food was plentiful, varied and good. Have a great time

Thank you Shirley, we cannot wait, just got to save really hard now. I noticed there are three complexes we can use, so it would proberly take 2 weeks to cover the ground ha ha.

Any information you may have would be advantageous at this point, cannot come down from cloud nine at the minute

Hello,

We are going here for 2 weeks in February and was wondering what the resort itself is like, what the gym is like and what activities there are to do?

The beach looks amazing and we will probably spend most of our time there.

What day trip would you recommend?

Also what is the boat trip where you can get in the sea and swim with dolphins?

Thanks,
Becky

Welcome Becky ... while you wait for some fresh input, I have merged your enquiry with this existing 2 page Riu Yucatan topic which may provide you with some useful info.

David