Hi

We did Mexico last year in the easter holidays and it was hot! Easter hols started at the end of march and by the time we left temperatures were almost 100, so although I haven't been to the Canaries at that time of year I would say it is hotter.

Mexico is expensive, compared to say the DR, so I would carefullly consider what you want out of the holiday other than your wish list for the boys. We chose Mexico for the variety of excursions and snorkelling etc, so if you really want to stay within the hotel complex, it probably isn't worth paying the extra. We stayed at the Tucan, which was amazing, but at the end of the day if you don't leave the complex you could be in a nice 5* anywhere, so it would make sense that if you could get a similar hotel, but cheaper elsewhere in the caribbean that may be your best bet.

If you haven't done so already, check out the FC direct booking arm Eclipse direct, not always cheaper than FC, but worth looking at. For example, their holiday village in the DR is very reasonable and I believe is getting better reviews this season. Our kids are similar ages to yours and for next Easter I had a quote for under £4000 compared to £6000 to go back to the Tucan!!

Mexico won't disappoint, if you do go- loads of good quality hotels to choose from. We stayed in Playacar, which was a great location. Any other questions, please feel free to PM.

Regards

Pam

I would certainly go with everything said by Keepupwith. We were in the hotel next door to his, the Sandos Playacar. In Jan. it was just into the 90s most days. This hotel is more geared to children/families than the Tucan with organised football, volleyball and water polo, its also considerably cheaper (booked online). There is a great hotel report by Clarebear in the hotel reviews section.

Thank you both very much - very interesting, useful and by the sound of it, very warm! Perhaps seeing that we just want an easter break we will stick to the Canaries and look more seriously at Mexico or DR for our main summer holiday. Thanks again - much appreciated!!

If I had the choice I would far rather go to Mexico or the DR at Easter. In the summer you run the risk of at worst a hurricane, and at best some wet weather.
Easter has much more settled weather.

Just beware- summer is not the best time for Mexico or the DR as it is hurricane season. It's a judgement call, but personally I wouldn't risk it- the obvious is the safety aspect, but also I'm not sure if British Travel insurance covers you for the loss of a holiday due to weather. I know the Americans can get hurricane cover, but for us the financial loss to be say two days into your holiday and then have a Wilma type situation would be horrendous.

Your alternative for the summer would be of course to look at Margarita, which is meant to be pretty much hurricane free and the summer climate is good, or else the Pacific coast of Mexico, which is generally safer although I believe it was affected a bit last year.

Pam

keepupwith, I see that you stayed at the tucan at easter, we go on the 22 april, I deliberately avoided easter and spring break as I had read that everywhere is extremely busy (also having been to florida at easter!). What was the tucan like at easter? , if not too bad then hopefully it should be pretty quiet by the time we go.
also, who did you fly with , we are going premier with first choice as it looks the best, one last thing, how was cancun airport, is it as awful as everyone makes out? thanks for any info.

hvasey, re.Cancun airport,
we arrived here on 1st Jan at the same time as a number of other flights. Inside the terminal which is large and modern it was not too chaotic,its getting to the transfer buses where the mayhem starts. A long queue 8 or 10 people wide shuffle towards their respective reps. Taxi drivers are coming through this queue looking at luggage labels, ours was First Choice, they then say 'Welcome, First Choice?' yes 'Follow me' This is a trick. You might imagine that you have a taxi transfer, remember you were up at the crack of dawn and have been on the plane for 10+ hours and its hot, people were being had. If you're staying in PDC this is a 40 mile trip i.e. expensive!! On a more positive note the F. C. flights are excellent, leather seats, loads of leg room and good entertainment. The beach by the Tucan and Sandos (where we stayed) is the best in resort and these hotels are superb, enjoy your stay, we loved it.

Hi hvasey

I'm very jealous!! The Tucan was wonderful, you will have a great holiday. Easter was fine- Iberostar do have a policy that deters all spring breakers not travelling with their parents, so we didn't find it too busy at all. OK there was the usual ritual of reserving sunbeds but other than that, reservations were no problem for the A la Cartes and we even managed to change rooms as we wanted to be nearer the pool.

We went with First Choice as well, just in the normal seats and the flight was great. Although it was long in many ways it was less chaotic than short haul even with the children as we just settled down and watched the films etc. Cancun airport is busy. To be honest going we had no problems other than the long queue for immigration- we made a bee line for the first choice rep and all was fine. Just be warned on the return- a company called hotel beds do the transfers. We were first off the coach and met by a guy wearing a hotel beds T- shirt who took our cases and said he needed to show us where to go and told everyone else to follow. We assumed this was part of the First Choice service- well it may have been, but he then left us in the wrong place and charged us $5. So get off the coach and do what you would normally do and look for the right flight desk. Don't ever let anyone take your cases.

Make sure you do some excursions- we booked all of them through First Choice (apart from the Dolphins at Dolphin Discovery- pre-booked in the UK) I'm sure if you shop around you could find them cheaper, but to be honest they were excellent. Well organised and a full day, meant a full day, so good value for money.

Have a great time. It's nearly a year since we went and the children are still talking about it. We are looking to go back in 2009 when both the girls are old enough to scuba.

Pam

While were on the subject of Mexican tricks we were warned about short changing in shops and restaurants. We took US dollars and Mexican pesos. When you pay in US$ the change is given in pesos so it helps if you work out the rate before you pay. As far as I know it only happened to us once and 20 pesos was returned immediately with apologies. I know thats only £1 but be aware.

In case you haven't seen them, we have reviews for the Iberostar Tucan HERE.

Pippy

I agree with the other posters, summer isn't the best time to visit the Caribbean. It's hotter, more humid, more rainfall, more chance of hurricanes and tends to bring out the mozzies and sand flies. In additon, it's a long way to go for a holiday at that time of year when hot sun and warm seas are available just 2 hours away in the Med. Best time to go is December to April.

We've just booked the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo for next Easter 2008. The hotel gets some of the best reviews I've ever read, so we're very much looking forward to it.

I wouldn't normally book so far ahead, but for the first time ever (I think), the 2008 UK Easter school holiday's do not fall over Easter, rather they start 2 weeks later on Friday 4th April. I got the impression the tour operators hadn't twigged this because the prices seemed quite reasonable when I booked, so I got in quick !!