Where to go for Spring Break
One very important decision of the semester is where you will spend your Spring Break! It’s a full 10 days that you can do whatever you want. Depending on the length, destination of your trip, and where you stay, costs and experiences will vary significantly. From this semester’s Spring Break, we’ve condensed the options into a few different categories: Staying in a resort along the Caribbean, staying in hostels along the Caribbean, going out of the country, half-week trip, visiting family in México, and staying in Mérida. We’ve compiled a short summary of what to expect in each of these cases based on interviews with students:
Staying in a resort along the Caribbean:
• Where did you go?
-Iberostar Paradise Beach Resort, about 20 miles north of Playa del Carmen
• Where did you stay?
- All-inclusive resort
• What was included?
- Food and drinks were taken care of, as well as activities like volleyball, soccer, the workout facility, snorkel gear, and more
• How long were you there?
• -6 days and 5 nights
• What did you do?
-We spent most of our days relaxing at the beach, laying out, swimming, playing sand volleyball, sand soccer, and reading. We would go out to dinner at some of the nicer restaurants at night, hang out in a resort bar, play cards, grab some drinks, and some nights head to the club at night. We used the exercise facility only a couple times, and walked around the shopping center as well which is really nice and has lots of gift shops.
• Advantages?
-Easy: you don't have to worry about anything, planning traveling or meals, it's all very accessible and right there. The beach is nice and there is a ton of activities to do, including a night club at the resort. Lots of people our age, and a very stress-free break
• Disadvantages?
- You aren't traveling and seeing new places, eating at different places all the time, or experiencing another culture. It's very sheltered and can feel touristy as most of the people there are Americans.
• Approximate cost?
-$500US per person
• Would you recommend it?
-I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a relaxing, stress-free break away from school and if you aren't in the mood for go-go-go traveling but would rather enjoy the moments than see how much you can pack in a week. I think it is a great deal for the money spent.
• Advice?
-Go to a travel agent and weigh with them/go over options of different resorts, what you are looking for in a resort, cheaper/more expensive, if you want things like a club, etc. Advice also is to plan ahead because prices go up as spring break gets closer. Also, try to have multiples of 4 people going because most rooms are for 4.
Xplor or Xcaret, shorter trip option
• Where did you go?
-Tulum
• Where did you stay?
-Posada los Mapaches (hostel)
• What was included?
Wi-Fi, bikes, breakfast, snorkeling mask for rent of $30 ($60 with flippers)
• How long were you there?
-3 nights
• What did you do?
-Snorkeled; one group went to Xplor and the other Xcaret
• Advantages?
-because you’re not spending money on a week-long vacation, you can afford to do one specific thing like the adventure parks that cost a little more money.
• Disadvantages?
-Tulum is a bit far from the adventure parks. Playa del Carmen would have been closer, however, it wouldn’t have been as good for snorkeling.
• Approximate cost?
-Hostel was about $60US total, X-plor was $100US, and X-Caret was $71US; the combi ride there was $30 (pesos)
• Would you recommend it?
-yes!
• Advice?
-take a combi instead of taking included transportation through park packages through resorts. You’ll save a lot of money.
Staying in hostels along the Caribbean:
• Where did you go?
-Cancún and Isla Mujeres
• Where did you stay?
-hostels: Haina Hostel and Poc na hostel
• What was included?
-Toast breakfast, sheets and bunk beds, free Wi-Fi, drinking water
• How long were you there?
-8 days, 7 nights
• What did you do?
Cancún: took buses to public beaches, read, ate and walked around in the market area, there’s also the option to go to popular clubs like Coco Bongo.
Isla Mujeres: Walked to beaches, rented a golfcart for the day and drove around the island, went to a turtle farm, read, and also there were a lot of interesting vendor shops and restaurants.
• Advantages?
-staying in hostels is the cheapest option and you meet a lot of people from all over the world who are traveling. We made a lot of friends throughout the week. Also we were able to practice Spanish some and continue to experience some of the culture.
• Disadvantages?
-Our hostels were nice so we weren’t “roughing it,” but it definitely isn’t the most comfortable option.
• Approximate cost?
For travel and housing expenses we paid a total of $1700 each.
• Would you recommend it?
-I would definitely recommend it, especially Isla Mujeres. It is extremely beautiful and for a small island, it has a lot of interesting things to do. We saved a lot of money staying in hostels and it was definitely worth it.
• Advice?
-When booking hostels, we used hostels.com. It gives you ratings on hostels and costumer reviews and you can book your room from the site.
Visiting family (trips of two different students)
• Where did you go?
-Michocan
-Guatemala
• Where did you stay?
-with family in their house
-aunt’s house
• What was included?
-food, everything
-everything, only had to take toiletries
• How long were you there?
-5 days
-10 days
• What did you do?
-hung out with cousins, talked to grandparents, rode motorcycle, drove truck, watched tv, went out
-visited tourist places, went to malls, the market, church, and did daily things with my cousins
• Advantages?
-being able to meet your family and they provide everything
• Disadvantages?
-had a long lag at the airport
-Because in México vacation isn’t until Easter time, our breaks didn’t correspond.
• Approximate cost?
-$340US for roundtrip plane tickets
-$500US for plane
• Would you recommend it?
-yes!
-yes, definitely!
• Advice?
-pay extra money for better plane tickets so you don’t have to wait as long at the airport
-take advantage of the time you’re given.
Going out of the country:
• Where did you go?
-St. Ignacio, Belize; Tikal, Guatemala; Playa del Carmen
• Where did you stay?
-hostels
• What was included?
-toast breakfast, sheets and beds, drinking water, Wi-Fi
• How long were you there?
-Belize:6 nights; Guatemala: full day trip; Playa del Carmen: 2 nights
• What did you do?
-Belize: toured caves and the town, relaxed; Guatemala: visited ruins; Playa del Carmen: Scuba diving
• Advantages?
- You get to see a different part of Central America. You're able to compare it to Merida and other places you've been in Mexico. Also, the nature is a lot different! In Belize they spoke English with a somewhat Jamaican accent. Then crossing into Guatemala, the languages switched immediately back to spanish. The jungles are thicker and greener providing more wildlife and fresh air! It was similar to Chiapas.
• Disadvantages?
- unless you wanted to use your card at an ATM which would probably result in your bank locking it, you had to bring the right amount of money. You had to exchange money in both countries. Belize would take either Belizian dollars (2BZ = 1US) or US dollars and Guatemala would take either Guatemalan Quetezals or US dollars (7.5Qtz = 1US). Either country would not take anything else. You were at a disadvantage because you had to keep exchanging, and with every exchange you lose money. I don't think there are any other disadvantages to traveling to new countries. You experience new cultures, meet new types of people, get more Spanish practice, and overall just trying new things is exciting!
• Approximate cost?
-travel to and from Belize was $2200 pesos, bordering crossing was $300, and hostels for the week costed about $1100
• Would you recommend it?
- Yes, I would reccommend it in a heartbeat! All the beaches and Islands are within a day-trip of Merida (Cancun, Playa, Tulum, Campeche, Progresso), so they are all places you can visit on a free weekend since fridays are free. If you're looking for something different and you're willing to do some traveling, its perfect! Spring Break would be your only option. If you try to travel to Belize/Guatemala on a 3 day weekend, you're going to spend 1/2 of your weekend traveling with very little chance to get a real feel of where you're at. The trip to Guatemala to the ruins and the caves in Belize were very much a rare occurance! It was well worth the trip!
• Advice?
-How to cross the border: We took a bus to Chetumal, and had to get off the bus with our stuff to go through border crossing, similar to the airport, before getting on another bus that took us to our destination. It was a one-time fee of $300.
Staying in Mérida
• Where did you go?
-the kitchen
• Where did you stay?
-Central House
• What was included?
-everything
• How long were you there?
-All week
• What did you do?
-caught up on homework, played videogames, hung out with friends
• Advantages?
-doesn’t cost extra money and you don’t have to plan anything, very peaceful and relaxing
• Disadvantages?
-might miss people
• Approximate cost?
-possible to spend $0
• Would you recommend it?
-yes
• Advice?
-online videogames and Netflix are great ways to pass the time
