Mexico - The impact of Spring break in the Yucatan

I am playing around with some options for a weeks relaxation+diving next March. One possibility is splitting our time between Cozumel and Tulum. IIRC, early March is the start of the spring break season for university students. I am not overly keen on ending up in the same place as a horde of merry making students (I was one not that long ago, so I know what they are capable of ;) )

Am I likely to run into the scene? Or is it localised in a few hotels/bars and thus avoidable?

Any views on whether Spring Breakers get as a far as Belize or Honduras?

Thanks!

I am playing around with some options for a weeks relaxation+diving next March. One possibility is splitting our time between Cozumel and Tulum. IIRC, early March is the start of the spring break season for university students. I am not overly keen on ending up in the same place as a horde of merry making students (I was one not that long ago, so I know what they are capable of ;) )

Am I likely to run into the scene? Or is it localised in a few hotels/bars and thus avoidable?

Any views on whether Spring Breakers get as a far as Belize or Honduras?

Thanks!

My experience is Cancun is the college party draw. Cozumel is too pricey and really for hardy divers and shoppers. Tulum is on the "Mayan Riveria" and targets the honeymoon/couples crowd. I've stayed in Playa del Carmen and those resorts are too desolate and out of spring-breakers budgets although there are young kids in the town of Playa del Carmen. I would base diving in Cozumel as the boat ride from Tulum will be a really long one unless you are looking to do the Cenotes.

If you are interest in Quintana Roo (the Yucatán peninsula is comprised of three states, Mérida-centered Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo,) wish to dive and holiday, I 'd recommend Cozumel - best diving, lots of alternatives for lodging and eating.

Cozumel is not the party destination that Cancún is - it is full of cruise ship people during the day (except Sunday,) but for diving this is the destination you want. (When we go we usually dive with Aldora Divers and stay at Villa Aldora, on the quieter south side of town - but with easy walking, taxi etc. access of San Miguel Cozumel. (Villa Aldora is very comfortable, and includes such unusual offerings for the area as free WiFi and Vonage US phones in every room, and the dive op picks you up with a 6-pax using 80, 100 or 120 cu ft steel tanks with air or nitrox, and do the best dives in Cozumel without the crowding - their fast boats and longer dives are your best bang for the buck, IMO; I've dived with them for years.)

If you want to dive the cenotes, then stay in Akumal and dive with CEDAM, Dos Ojos Dive Center, Akumal Dive Adventures or Aquatech. We've stayed at Villas DeRosa in Akumal, and dived with Aquatech / Tony and Nancy DeRosa and Steve Gerrard's excellent outfit. Day trips can be made to areas like Tulúm - and better yet, to Cobá, a very large and undervisited Maya archaeological site.

Playa del Carmen has some spring breakers, but it is not a big center for them - too far south of Cancún, and Playa has its own denizens.

Thanks both for the reassurance and excellent advice. :)

Cozumel will be fine. If you bypass Carlos 'N Charlies, you can probably avoid Spring Breakers who have strayed over from the mainland entirely.