Hi. My wife and I are eyeballing some very affordable place tickets to PV in early May, and were thinking about a 5 night vacation somewhere in the region.
We are not averse to renting a car if necessary. We like to stay in hotels that offer a good midrange price deal, they don't have to be totally luxe but some comfort and relative shelter from the bugs is nice - we aren't the biggest fans of staying in Palapas, since it usually costs about the same as an interior room and you have to hide underneath mosquito nets the whole time. We like good food, as well. That said, we'd also like to stay someplace close to the beach and also within shouting distance of some hiking/jungle vegetation, and in a situation where we really don't need to move around too much - this is for 5 days, so relaxation is important.
Pretty important to us is that there is some snorkeling available from the beach. The tours usually aren't a lot of fun for us because we like to set our own timeframes/agendas. We know the PV snorkeling isn't like snokeling in the Caribbean or anything, but I'm guessing more like San Jose Del Cabo or Huatulco-style - we don't expect 100 foot visibility. It'd be nice, though, if there was an inlet/cove that was safe with relatively calm surf and a little bit of coral growth/rocky fish-gathering areas. It doesn't have to be in PV proper, but relatively closeby in the region would be preferable.
So, the question here: What area should we stay in? Any specific places we should look into? Any places we should avoid?
Is the surf fairly calm in May? What time of month do jellyfish usually show up? Any other advice?
Thanks!