We're going for a solid week in February (!); figured if we've saved this long and we're only going to PDC/Mexico once, we might as well do it high season and stay awhile. This is the main reason I joined TripAdvisor i.e. to get some scoop on how to go about doing the things we envision when we get there. I can't figure how some of these lucky folks on this board can go year after year; I wish my income could cover it.

By the way Texas, have you taken the trip over to Cozumel? What do you "pack", when do you leave for the day, where do you get dropped off, and can you walk to anything from the drop point? Snorkeling? And on it goes..............

Hey Beachbumaz!

Do you happen to have that website? I would like to look at it. Did you book thru a travel agent? Do you mind telling me what it is costing you? I won't be able to go until next summer but I am getting prepared now. It takes me all year to save and research.

Thanks!

Have a great time!!

Cathie9

I have never been to Cozumel any of the times we have gone. I plan on it next time though. When you get to your hotel, they should have an excursions desk available that can set you up with all of that. They will be able to tell you where the pick-up/drop-off point is and how to get back and forth. Do you know if Shangri-La has a sister resort over there in Cozumel? If so, you won't have to pack much. You can eat at sister resorts too.

I always pack a light back-pack for excursions, that way I am not carrying a purse in crouds etc. Besides, I hate to carry purses and small packpacks are large enough for money, camera, light change of clothes if needed and a bottle or two of water.

We have done snorkeling at Maroma. It was fun. It's not far from Playa de Carmen. They have a lot to do at Maroma.

Gotta run.

If you have anymore questions, holler back at me. I'd love to hear more about Shangri-La. I think I'd like to go there. Can you give me more info... price, location, AI? Thanks!

txcowgirl - Howdy! The website is www.shangrilacaribe.net. There's tons of information, along with a lot of pictures too. As for booking, I tried booking through my travel agent. She called lots of people and tour companies, but no one she talked to was able to book. So, we ended up booking on our own. We booked our plane tickets seperate, and booked our room on their website. They charged the first 3 nights at time of booking, then you pay the balance when you get there. I did try to pay the full amount of the room when I booked, but they only charged for 3 days. Since then, I've been told that Turquoise Reef (?) is a company you can book through, but I'm not really sure. I'm surprised my travel agent wasn't able to learn about that through all of the phone calls she made. Anyways, I ended up paying around $1100 for round trip tickets for two America Worst NonStop from Phoenix, and we book an individual beachfront bungalow for $200/night for Dec. 3-10. They also offer roundtrip airport transfers, $100, through the hotel, which we are told to pay in cash to the driver. On the website they also list their different room types and their rates. The cheapest rates are during the summer months.

Good luck...let me know if you have any other questions I can try to answer for you!

Hi All,

Just returned from a week at Shangri-La yesterday. I have to say, I couldn't be happier with our selection of hotel! We stayed in Caribe section, garden view. Although they call this "garden view", we still had a slight glimpse of the beach from our porch. We literally were about 30 feet from the beach. I think you also have a little more privacy in the garden view cabanas, and I have to think it's a little quieter.

Playacar seems to be too far from all the action for us. You really are secluded in your own area of town. That's great if that's what you're looking for, but that's not our style really.

I thought the food was great. Breakfast was very good, and for dinner you have appetizer, choice of 2 soups, choice of 2 entrees, and either the dessert they prepared for the day or ice cream. Pretty much everything we sampled was great.

As for transportation...we rented a car in Cancun vs taking the hotel-provided transport. I wouldn't recommend doing this again. Driving is really a nightmare. I would only rent a car for the days that you're going to ruins or something of that nature.

Excursions - we booked an ATV tour, which I think was both my boyfriend and I's favorite. It's 2 hours, which is plenty time on an ATV. Half way through you go swimming in a cenote and check out a cave. We booked through www.playa.info Roughly $50/person. Definitely get your own bike and go in the morning.

We went to the ruins at Tulum as well. We made the mistake of waiting till the afternoon, which I definitely wouldn't recommend. It's way too hot to the point that it's not enjoyable. The beach is absolutely gorgeous though. If you go, go early...very early! the tour buses weren't a problem, just the heat. You can hire a guide when you get there to explain the ruins to you. They say it takes 45 minutes for the tour. I'm glad we didn't do this...45 minutes in that heat probably would've killed us. Seriously, go early and take plenty water. I can't stress that enough.

We also went to Cozumel one afternoon. If you're not going snorkeling or diving, I don't know that it's really worth it. It's the same shopping, same food, just way more Americans than Playa (from the cruise ships). We wanted to go to Isla Mujeres but never made it up there. I hear it's a pretty fun island and not so touristy. I thankfully didn't get sick on the ferry.

We also went snorkeling one morning. We booked through the dive shop on the beach in front of Shangri-La (Cyan Ha). This was fairly inexpensive ($20/person) for about a 2 hour trip. We had never been snorkeling before, and saw some great stuff. I got extremely sick on the boat ride back though, which was no fun. If you have any inclination to motion sickness, take some dramamine! Wish I would have :)

Also, you HAVE to catch the fire dancers at the Blue Parrot. It doesn't start till 11 pm, but well worth the wait!

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email me - kate019@hotmail.com