Mexico questions

[Nigellas]

Hi ladies. :)

My DH and I will be flying into Cozumel in April and are thinking about a few days in Merida as well. Considering we know next to no Spanish, and are not familiar with the area at all, is it completely crazy to consider renting a car and driving from Cozumel (ferry to the main land) to Merida?

Do you have any suggestions for either Cozumel or Merida as far as must-sees, and good places to eat? Or even a fun place to stay - We want to avoid touristy all inclusives.

Thanks so much!
:D

[angelmia]

Hi Nigellas. Merida is a precious place to go. Is called the white city and has a lot of history. Take your time walking the city, and i would recommend you to stay in a bed and breakfast or guest house instead of a hotel, there are colonial arquitecture jewels around the entire city, just make a search and you'll find them. The Yucatan Peninsula is a very touristy area so no matter where you are you'll find tourists. Hotels are packed of americans, B&B have more european tourism but still, although the difference may be that americans tend more to travel with kids, and can be an issue for a romantic geataway if that's what you want. So anyway, because is a very touristic area (maybe the most touristic of the whole country) almost everyone will talk to you in english (specially travel agencies and car rentals, mexicans don't rent a car, they use the bus which are actually a great option, cheap and confortable). Now, the beauty of renting a car is that you can stop wherever you can, and you would like to do this if you want to go to the hidden places. While you are in the city I recommend not to rent anything, the city is to walk it, the streets are narrow (like any other old spanish style city) and the traffic is terrible. The taxi cabs rates are not terrible (on less you get the "gringo rate"). Once you are ready to go to Cozumel, you can take 2 routs, the "private paid one" or the "federal one". The first one has a token but you don't see anything, is "faster" (like 3 or 4 hours from Merida to the ferry) but there's nowhere to stop and you are in the middle of nowhere (forest), there are no many gas stations, so be sure fill the tank right out of Merida. (i lived in the area for a year and my car just stopped in the middle of nowhere and was very scary). If you take the "federal one" my favorite, it may take you 4-41/2 hours to get to the ferry but you pass by every single little town, which is awesome, great food, great people, amazing things to see (un less you are another american worried about the water and the filthy tuberculotic mexicans like my friends O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs love to call us). This road is free of token but long long long, plan ahead cause you don't want to drive in the night, even though I warrant you total safety with the people, from one town to another gets so dark that can be scary for your first time. I used to love this though cause the stars look faboulous with nothing but just moonlight. Anyhow, you can stop in Chichen Itza in the town in Piste and eat there. There's a little restaurant which i don't remember the name, the only authentic food around. I'll try to remember the name and if you want me to i can find that out. Every time we go back there we just eat in this place. Don't eat in Chichen, no, bad, bad, bad, eat in the town with the people, they are cleaner (in water and food wise) and better (taste wise). Then, 30 min later you stop in Valladolid...i would spend a night there...is beautiful!!!! but again, very touristy. Then you'll find endless little villages in your road until the Riviera Maya where the real tourism starts. Cozumel was created for tourism so don't expect anything real in there, everything there is manicured and ready to sell. But you can't beat the beach, is beautiful, so you'll just find resorts and AI. The tourism there is a little bit more grown up than Cancun. Everything depends on the time of the year you are planning to go. Now, if you want a less manicured/spa like island, go to Isla Mujeres, which is my favorite. I used to love to go to it highest point at night and look towards Cuba, you can see Cuba in a clear night. There are many isolated spots there and much more secluded little hotels, not cheap, but little, confortable and luxurious. Isla Mujeres was a fish town and still keep a little bit of folklore in there. Feel free to ask more! I love this area of my country and know it like the palm of my hand! :D

[Nigellas]

Thank you so much, angelmia! I'm feeling a lot more confident about the drive now. :D

[Layla]

Don't drink the water, right?

This might be a weird question, but how do you prevent getting sick in Mexico? DH and I really want to plan a special getaway, but one of my big fears is spending half the trip really sick. Obviously drink bottled water, but what else should we plan for?? Anyone have any horror stories, tips, or general advice to share??