London_traveller

Hi All. I'm looking at options for the above two resorts, for a week at the end of May with my boyfriend (after a week in Peru). We're in two minds about these resorts. We'd like to kick back and enjoy some beach time and some R&R - including enjoying the sea (BF enjoys snorkelling). Some gay life would be great but it doesn't have to be party central. We're not interested in all-inclusive resorts.

Both seem to offer good things but I'd like some advice from those who've been. Appreciate it's a personal preference in the end, but all thoughts welcome!

carlosdca

Even just talking about PV, you can have completely different experiences depending on where you stay.
PV is definitely gay. There are gay bars, gay hotels and a beach where 100% of people around you will be gay (mostly gay tourists).
Everything gay is in town though, where hotels/condos have kind of an urban feel and the beach is just a few blocks away (or just out the door if you book an ocean front hotel/condo).
There are also resort style hotels and condos that are far from town and where the hotel pretty much wants you to stay all the day at the hotel and not go anywhere else. They usually succeed on that as it is a pain to get to town.
There are also some stunning and beautiful accommodations in Punta Mita (not far from PV) but those are also isolated.

The ocean water in PV tends to be cold and greenish and a little bit rough , not warm and blue as in the Caribbean, if you care about that.

I haven't been to PdC but I have never heard of it as gay destination the way PV is.

ikobi

Just south of Playa del Carmen is Tulum, which is much more charming.

tatterdema

PV if you want any gay nightlife at all. I loved Playa Del Carmen, but there is not much gay about it, expect the speedos worn by Europeans. Plus Playa Del Carmen you have to worry about the sargassum issues. If you want to do a lot of touring and spending the days away from the beaches, then Playa Del Carmen cannot be beat for the archaeological aspects. I plan on going back just to spend more time at the ruins. I found PV to be less expensive.

Adam1222

I've been to both in the past year, and agree pretty much with what's been said.
In Puerto Vallarta, you can easily take a taxi from any of the hotels in Marina Vallarta or Nuevo Vallarta into town for the night and it's pretty cheap. From Tulum or Mayakoba into Playa del Carmen, not so much.
The beach in Playa del Carmen itself is not particularly good. It's not that deep, and is very party central. The gay-ish beach, Mamitas, is like a Miami/South Beach scene. There is one gay club there, which was not so exciting. I think Playa del Carmen's days as a chiller Cancun are over, and it is now supertacky and filled with tourists. Overall, I think Vallarta provides more options. I have some pics and videos of Playa del Carmen, including Mamitas and the gay club, in a post i did from my trip there in February. Playa del Carmen and La Pasion Hotel Boutique ? You Went Where???

ITakeItDeep

Hi, I am not trying to hijack this post, so let me know if it's misplaced.

Another option to consider for a laid back gay beachy vacation in Mexico is Zipolite. It's very hippy, laid back, people stay out all night to watch the sunset in the morning, and has nude beaches for gay and straight. Be forewarned though, the accommodations/setting can be a little more rustic, and it's a little bit of a haul to get there (flight to Huatulco and a 1 1/2 hour drive). It's a really beautiful, sexy place to visit if you know what to expect.

HalconBCN

I would definitely visit PdC. The vibe is more sophisticated, the beaches are better, there is one gay bar that fillls up in the hot season and you can do the most fabulous day trips to spectacular Mayan ruins. Oh, and the clientele is much hotter too.

chipper

I have not been to PdC in more than a decade, but PV is a fun little town with a couple of nice gay beach clubs (Ritmos Beach Club and the Blue Chairs) in the older part of town. Snorkeling would be available by renting a boat from the pier just three blocks from the gay beach at Playa del Muertos.

Adam1222

Mantamar Beach Club is more popular than Ritmos these days.

TominLazybrook

Caveat Emptor with Mantamar. During peak times they charge a minimum of 50 USD per PERSON with minimum drink and admission fees. I went there, once during new year week 2 years ago. Couple next to us had 3 drinks each. The bill....200 dollars. Just go to ritmos unless youre looking for variable, and sometimes obscene pricing. Ritmos sometimes charges a fee too...but its usually 20 Pesos. Paying a waiter at Ritmos 20 USD to reserve a beach chair is much more effective. And Sapphire is nice and consistently priced. Maybe Mantamar has fixed their pricing issues, but Id be VERY careful about going there unless youre willing to risk paying 100 bucks for what you can get for 10 bucks next door.

TominLazybrook

I was in PdC last year. It was nice but totally oversold as a LGBT destination. There is one proper Gay bar, which is okay. There are people who organize gay nights at bars, which were more of the "meetup" variety. The "gay" beach was gorgeous...but not really gay. There is a gay strip club and sauna, neither of which I can speak to and there were kind of far from the tourist area. I enjoyed it, but would be bored out of my mind if I was looking for a gay nightlife trip. A minor warning. Someone opened fire in the Blue Parrot Bar in PdC in 2017 during a gay themed event, shooting 20 people and killing 5. The injured and the dead included foreign tourists. The CBC reported that it was because the bar/event operator didnt pay off the gangs. Also, someone bombed the tourist ferry from PdC to Cozumel the week I was there, injuring more people in February. Someone also opened fire on 5th Ave (the main tourist drag in PdC) in July 2017, shooting a cigar seller in the head in broad daylight in the middle of the tourist area.

Im not afraid of the world, but PdC is getting a bit sketchy. Id do Puerto Vallarta.

Holiday2019

ITakeItDeep

Ok, I write this at the risk of sounding like a real downer to vacation with - but I swear I’m a seasoned traveler and am not that demanding…

So I went to PDC last month for about 5 days and I did not like it. The trip started off bad on arrival to the Cancun airport (which I haven’t been to for a while). All of the international flights arrive at the same terminal which is basically one long hallway with escalators at the very end that go down to immigration. Downstairs it was a huge unorganized massive mob of hot frustrated people with no discernable line. Ahead of me, there was almost a bad accident on the escalator because the room was so packed that people could not get off the escalator. Luckily someone had the smarts to find the emergency button. Anyways – it took me about 2 hours just to make it to the first immigration counter. So I’ll stop about the airport already.

So I was with a straight friend so didn't do anything gay (except be myself, of course) - but there is really not a gay vibe there at all. I didn’t see many GLBT nor were there any festivities. There were a lot of western restaurants aspiring to be fine-dining that resulted in just so-so food that was expensive. I did take a food tour on the 'Mexican' side of the town - and that wasn't that great either.

For entertainment there's this big long street full of shops all selling the exact same tchotchkes reminiscent of what you would see in the French quarter in New Orleans. For outdoor adventures, like sailing on a boat -- you had to either go all the way back to Cancun or Cozumel – though there were a couple of eco-theme parks close by. We did stay in a nice hotel that was great value for the money – the pool came right to our back door – so we could walk out of our room into the pool.

Finally we all like a nice margarita in Mexico – and trust me, I tested out a lot of places and can tell you the best place to go – Jimmy Buffett's Margaretville at the Cancun airport.

Adam1222

The beauty of the area is outside Playa del Carmen, though there is some cool stuff in the city away from the tourist strip. Tulum and other towns on the coast. playa itself is indeed quite developed and touristy, though so are large segments of PVR.

david55

sounds like my nightmare to me.....