Riviera Maya: when to go, where to stay and how to dodge the seaweed

First, the North American winter: from mid-December to March this coast fills with travellers escaping the cold, and rates roughly double. Second, hurricane season, June to November, which suppresses prices most heavily in September. Third, sargassum — the seaweed influx that has affected the coast since the mid-2010s, typically worst from April to August.

Those three overlap in useful ways. September is cheap because it is both storm season and late sargassum season. Late November is the sweet spot: seaweed has usually cleared, storm risk has dropped, and the Christmas pricing has not started.

Punta Maroma and the beaches just north of Playa del Carmen have the widest, whitest sand and the calmest water. Playa del Carmen itself gives you restaurants and a walkable town. Tulum is further south, more design-led and considerably less convenient for transfers.

Smaller adults-only properties like Chablé Maroma trade dining variety for privacy; the large all-inclusives trade privacy for cost certainty. Decide which of those two matters before comparing prices, because they are not the same product.

Book transfers in advance rather than at the airport. Budget for eating on property if you choose an isolated resort — there is often nowhere within walking distance. And check the property's own sargassum management: the better hotels run daily beach clearing, which makes a substantial difference in the affected months.

Pick your resort, choose a month and compare every check-in date for the length of stay you want. On this coast the spread within a single month is wide, particularly across December, where the first week and the last week can differ by more than double.