[socktape]

I've benn down there 3 times as well. I personally haven't got sick yet but my wife did once. She had taken some oily fish dish from the buffet that no one else in our group did and said that it just "tasted funny" she was out for a good day and a half.

That being said, the water is fine, the ice is fine, neither one of us have the hep shot.

I'd personally go with more Pesos than USD these days. You can get a much better exchange rate here on them unless you go to an actual bank there and exchange your funds. Use your credit card for excursions etc.

A little hint on excursions... do some research on the internet as to where you want to go... there is a lot of good advice in this forum and other travel forums for places to go and ways to go there.

Personally I wouldn't take a packaged excursion to Tulum/Xceret/Xel-ha as it is cheaper and better to just hit the collectivos and go there yourself. The biggest advantage to this is you aren't pressed for time... if you like hanging out at the ruins at Tulum and the beach (which is phenominal, don't forget your swim suit) you can stay longer than the 3 hours or so allotted (same for Xel-Ha).

If you are really into snorkelling I'd suggest either Xel-Ha for a more controlled environment or going to Akumal itself. Akumal is supposed to be a lot better than either of the "Parks".