Cancun hotel strip beaches
 

Anyone been to the beaches in Cancun in Sept 07 or later? How did the last hurricane in Aug 07 effect the beaches? I am planning a trip to the Le Meridan in Cancun in April and was told that the beaches are not that great since the last hurricane. I hoping to not have to reschedule my plans but was hoping for some advice. Does anyone have pictures of the beaches along the hotel strip?

Thanks
Jennifer

cancun beaches
 

i just got back from spending a few days in Cancun over new years. The beaches vary from place to place, i was up on the punta cancun and the beaches at my hotel (the hyatt regency) was totally destroyed by the hurricanes. However, a short walk to the neighboring hotels gave us good beaches to use. Overall, my impression was that the beaches of Cancun were smaller than they once were but many are perfectly fine. I recommend calling the hotel and asking them or looking at reviews on trip advisor. Also, the beaches further south, in Tulum and Playa del Carmen seemed to be much less effected by the hurricane.

My family and me went to Cancun last december. Most beaches are pretty fine now. Only a few become a little small (like the beach in front of the Fiesta Americana Villas), but the sea and the sand are the same as always. It was our 3rd time in Cancun and we love it as usual.

We spent a week or so at the Le Meridien Cancun in March 2007. Even then the beach was nothing to write home about. The pools there are where the real scene is, plus the service. I don't think there's any drink/food service on the beach. I believe the beaches in Cancun are all public beaches that anyone can use.

That being said, I'd highly recommend the Le Meridien Cancun based on our experience there. Great hotel, great pools, good service, and on-site spa.

By constitutional law, in Mexico all beaches are Property of the Nation and anyone can legally use them. However, many hotels arrange "their" beaches so they're only accesible by sea or thru the hotel, which is private property. Many others share the beach with adyacent hotels, which are of very similar level and quality anyway.

Just came back from the Melia Me a month ago or so...beach was fine.

Just got back from the Marriott (marker 14km). Definitely less beach than normal by about 2 rows of chairs. But, in most places you can walk up/down the beach. Check out tripadvisor for more comments.

I can confirm the Tulum part. (I'm posting from there now.) The beaches we've seen, two of which we spent a good deal of time on, are in good shape. First visit to here, though; can't compare them with how they were in the past.

And welcome to FT!

Efrem, I am trying to plan a 2 week stay in Tulum. We are looking for a house near or on the beach with full facilities (especially 24 hour power). Since you are there, can you recommend anywhere?.

Many thanks

Mexico trip
 

I have searching online for photos and I found some. I have spoken to the Le Meridan Hotel and they said that the beach is not as big and that there is rock exposure now. So I am just trying to decide it the other activities in the area are enough to keep my vacation there or if I want to go to another carribean location. How does Puerto Vallarta compare to Cancun beaches?

The beach of Puerto Vallarta has more rocks and is more difficult to swim. Talking only about the beach, Cancun is far better.

Definitely. The beaches are much nicer in Cancun, however, those in PV are very 'tolerable,' especially at the nicer resorts as well as north of the airport (Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerias, etc.).

Unfortunately, I'm no longer there - I just came indoors from shoveling Massachusetts snow - or I'd ask around.

We didn't stay at the beach, but a family member did and we checked out a few places for future visits. The beach places we saw were all either hotels (Zama looked nice; probably where we'd stay on our next visit if we booked it today; had a nice dinner in their restaurant) or groups of palapas (cabins with thatched roofs, usually shared central plumbing). I don't know anything about house rentals.

Power will be tricky - town electricity ends at the end of the road to the beach, doesn't go north/south along it, so you'd have to ask about solar or generators at the specific spot.

Have you tried a local real estate agency? One that advertised in a town map we picked up is Tulumrealty, +52 984 871 26 93, www.tulumrealty.com. This is not a recommendation; we have no personal experience with them.

The Puerto Vallarta beach sand is not quite as nice as the Cancun beach, however, after the sand was pumped in after hurricane Wilma, it was not as clean, more black particles, not as soft.

The water in Puerto Vallarta does not compare to the water in Cancun. Cancun is Caribbean blue, while Vallarta is more of a Pacific Ocean green.

Both can be moderate to rough, but I think that Cancun's is rougher.

But what was most shocking was the rocks that came up in Cancun after Hurricane Wilma. These were not rocks but huge boulders in the water. It was amazing that all this beautiful white sand covered these boulders before the hurricane and it was washed away revealing these boulders. After the sand was pumped in, much of this was covered, but it seems that with some continued erosion, some of them are returning. I guess that is what they are talking about at the Meridian.

Though there are rocks in Puerto Vallarta. the ones in Cancun are a bit different.

Just as the quality of the beach in Cancun differs as you go from one end to the other, so does the quality of the beach in Puerto Vallarta. Remember the Bay of Banderas is quite large (I think the largest on the West Coast) and the beach is different along the whole coast. The beach in town is not great. The beach to the south and north in some parts is rocky. Parts are more sandy. I liked the beach by Punta Mita. So in my opinion, if you compare the best parts of either location

Cancun, better color, quality and temperature of the water.

Puerto Vallarta, more variety, better whale watching

Beach quality,Cancun vs. Vallarta: different but about equal.

Things to do: Cancun has more nearby history(ruins), Vallarta more activity(Zip lines, horseback riding, jungle)

Nightlife (about equal)

Ambiance: Cancun is more like Miami Beach with high rise hotels. PV has more variety. Downtown PV is more like Playa del Carmen (more Mexican) Nueva Vallarta, Marina area, more like Cancun (High rises and Americanized), Punta Mita: more quiet and exclusive.

I like both. Have been to Cancun 5 times, going to PV this year for the 4th time.

Le Merdiein = pretty much no beach
 

We just got back from Le Meridien in Cancun last night. It was our third time there in three years - there's slightly more beach then there was in 2006, far less than there was in 2007. There is not enough room for chairs or anything of that sort on the beach in front of the hotel. However, the bottom level of the pool has tons of chairs which are set up to look over the water (some of them even have sand under them, which I find weird as getting sand everywhere has got to be the worst aspect of beach going!). I'll try to edit this tonight with a link to pictures, but suffice it to say: if you're dead set on laying on the actual beach, forget Le Meridien, you'll only be disappointed (the Ritz, JW Marriot and Casa Magna Marriot, however, all have at least a few rows of beach chairs). hth!

Here are some pictures!