We stayed at another resort in Playa del Carmen (the resort area is actually called Playacar and nearby town called Playa del Carmen) at Christmas in 1998 and absolutely loved Playa del Carmen and recommended to friends that if we went back,we'd see if we could afford the Iberostar there. Our friends took our recommendation and gave it RAVE reviews....the vacation of a lifetime, etc. The resort looks wonderful from the beach and is very large with lots to see and do. All the resorts in that area are under 5 years old and close enough to walk (about 25 to 35 minute walk) or ride a bike (10-15 min. ride) or take a cab (5 min. ride)into the small nearby town of Play del Carmen. The town has many neat shops but you can just see the prices quadruple when the cruise ships dock so be aware and don't buy anything on those days. In the town, you can take the ferry (just a few dollars...maybe $8) over to Cozumel for the day. If you do that, take your beach stuff and take a quick cab ride (maybe 20 minutes) to a National park called Chanakanab (or something like that). It's about $7 to get into this national park and they have a wonderful tourist set up with beach bars/restaurants, change houses, washroom with flush toilets,etc. There are even lounge chairs, etc. on the beach. We went snorkeling there and saw the most wonderful fish of the entire trip. The Mexicans have "planted" mayan ruins in the water which makes the snorkeling very interesting for the kids. We didn't do this but apparently, you can rent mopeds and tour the island, etc. The shopping on Cozumel and the restaurants are very expensive but very worth the ferry ride and trip for your own excursion for one day or two. (The ferry can make you seasick!). The Playacar area has exquisite white sand beaches that stretch for a long way but not nearly as long as Punta Cana. The scuba diving is excellent there and they have strange things called Cenotes that are sunken limestone formations with underwater caves,etc.,that are really interesting to dive in (don't know if I've spelled it correctly). The water in front of the Iberostar Tucan is crystal clear and beautiful blue but there won't be many fish in front of the hotel because there's no seaweed to attract them.
Based on our reviews of the area,my in-laws went to the Iberostar on Cozumel and really enjoyed it. The beach was apparently rocky and you're pretty much out in the middle of nowhere so if you want a very quiet vacation, that's the place. Also, if you take excursions, you first have to take the ferry to the mainland which makes day trips very long. Still they loved Cozumel and the Iberostar resort was top notch. I believe it is a bit on the small size. If you're a diver, you would probably feel like you just landed in heaven there because of the reef nearby.
Now, today, mainly because our experiences through friends of the Iberostar chain, we booked into the Iberostar Dominicana in Punta Cana and hope we don't regret not going back to Playa del Carmel. I don't think we will and life is much too short to keep going back to the same places all the time. I think the Punta Cana beach might be better (or at least as good) and I like experiencing different cultures so I hope it is as good as we had in Playa del Carmen. The one good thing about Playacar is that you can brush your teeth with the tap water and also drink it without too much worry but it has extra bleach in it so it might give you some trouble anyway. I'm sure you'll enjoy it and I hope we can both say that each area is great but maybe for different reasons. One more thing...from the Iberostar Tucan in Playacar you can see the Island of Cozumel way off in the distance and at night it's beautiful all lit up with faraway lights. Enjoy yourself!!!
