Hello, just wondering if anyone has done Mexico with teens without going all-Inclusive? Going with no meals is a lot more attractive, financially, but would we spend as much in meals out as we would going all-inclusive to begin with?

I don't think all inclusives are a good deal at all unless you're drinking alcohol. It just never seems to add up the same.

We did with young children. Stayed in a condo. Shopped for groceries and ate out. Totally love it that way.

We rented a house via vrbo in Bucerias and went with our teens a few years ago. The house had its own pool and three different rentable units. A couple was in one of the units for part of our stay. We rented the very large house and a "palapa room," which was very simple with a bed, closet, etc. — our oldest slept there and loved it. It was great. We often ate in but Bucerias has lots of great, inexpensive dining, so we took advantage of that too.

Depends on where in Mexico you plan on going.

Hard to say.. but I would say my 2 teenage boys eat ALOT! And they would both tell you the favourite part of our 2 trips to Mexico is the buffets, & bars where they can go get anything they wanted at any time. My youngest would go to the bar and get virgin drinks of whatever I was having and loved that.. not to mention depending on the resort the all inclusive also includes activities usually and other kids that they can make friends with etc.. that you wouldn’t necessarily get depending on what your non all inclusive option is... my 2 cents
We got married with a large group in the Mayan Riviera last year. Sandos Caracol Eco Resort, they had a waterpark, cenotes, pools, shows, pool tables, teen club with video games, animals, feeding monkeys out of their hands!!,guided nature walks through the jungle, etc.. it was great for them and they had lots to do just hanging out.. which gave us time to chillax... worth it!

Teens don't eat 3 meals they graze all day
I'd go all inclusive.

Rent a vrbo or airbnb. It’s the best way to go. Make sure there is a good swimmable beach nearby.

Depends on how much they eat and where you are going. Food is generally considerably less expensive. At a roadside food stand you can get 4 tacos for the equivalent 3.00 CAD. We always rent a condo and plan our own meals and entertainment.

Eat like the locals! Mexican food is delicious, there are restaurants everywhere, always cheap and delicious. We've eaten at lots of great street vendors too - just watch that they have lots of locals eating there, and they have water for handwashing handy. Eating out at local restaurants and shopping at local mercados is one of the best parts of mexican travel for your kids to experience.

All inclusives make it difficult financially to justify leaving the resort (you stay because you paid for the food already). You also paid for booze in that price and hopefully kids are not drinking.
Stay off resort, do a little food shopping and Have a cultural experience with your kids. WAY more fun. price should be cheaper over all

We just got back from Mexico with 2 teens. We rent a condo and hit the grocery store. It is fantastic. Bucerias is great. Flamingos beach and golf is fantastic, it’s in Nuevo Vallarta. You can look on vbro. They also have a reasonable beach restaurant that is open from 9 to 6. Reasonable prices and the kids can get snacks if you don’t want to always cook.

Have done that in Mexico several times, we booked places on vrbo and did our research ahead of time. We always have fun and have never had any issues or concerns

Usually way cheaper to do an all inclusive pkg I find unless u r getting a super cheap flight way more to purchase flights and hotels separate plus all inclusive have so many fun activities for the kids to do

I never stay on a resort when I go to Mexico. You can generally find cheapish flights and accommodations and go to the grocery store and load up. My hubby and I went in Dec and spent 1000 each for everything for 8 days !

It comes down to what sort of vacation you want. Staying at an all inclusive is a very different experience than staying in a condo and seeing more of the area you are staying in.

depends where you go Neuvo - skip all inclusive - Mayan Riveria is a must

And we loved the area north of Huatulco. Loved that it is much less touristy and the state of Oaxaca is considered quite safe.

We've done both. Personally I prefer all inclusive because it feels more like a vacation. Whereas renting and making my own food, etc is too much like moving my home to a place with a nice view.
And the resort is safe (lifeguard, etc) so we can have some relax time and just let the kids go and have fun wherever and set up a time to meet again.

air bnb with kitchenette, and shop at the local markets like chedraui. Very economical. You can do a trip to Playa del Carmen or Cancun for about 500$ CAD per person

We’ve done both all-inclusive, and renting a house and eating in, though our kids are much younger. While staying at the house, having to prepare and clean up after meals and snacks took a significant proportion of my supposed vacation... perhaps your children are more self sufficient at this age though. When we’ve stayed all-inclusive, I so appreciated the ease of eating whatever, whenever; I did make it a holiday for me too.
That being said, when we compared our stays in the Mayan, All Inclusive was more costly. Though not nearly as significantly different than I would have expected. We concluded that the financial difference was negligible enough that it was best to just choose which we’d prefer. Spends on the area too though...

The final line should read “depends on the area...”

vrbo or motel with kitchenette is a great option. Load up on snacking foods, eat in as little or as much as you want. It does away with the hassle of having to make dinner reservations like you do at the all-inclusives (aside from the buffet.) Plus, even when you stay at all-inclusives you can end up going out for the day, going on tours that include their own meals anyway.

Way cheaper then All inclusive. Great diversity of food offerings at reasonable prices in Sayulita.

I'd second Sayulita as a destination. With teens especially, they'd dig it. (as the teens no longer say)

i found it too much work, i didn't get a vacation, always cooking, cleaning, planning to go out for a meal. i find my teens enjoy an all inclusive better for the variety of foods, or for the most picky one, she knew she could get the same thing every day.

I agree..however I kind of like having breakfast in our own place so I don’t feel like getting dressed before pool time...then it still feels like a vacation because we almost always eat dinner out...

We have gone to Puerto Vallarta a few times with young kids and teens...so much fun taking them to town and trying new restaurants and foods. And experiencing the towns outside of the resort...pretty sure it is less expensive than all inclusive....I hate feeling tied to the resort just because I have paid to eat there already...

If you're going to cook most of your own meals, then vrbo would be quite a bit cheaper. But if you're going to eat out most meals, even though meals are "cheap", you're going to spend more than a cheap all-inclusive. Especially if you want a beer with lunch and a drink with dinner.

When we go to Cabo (with or without our grown sons) we rent an awesome condo from vrbo - head to Costco for drinks, snacks, etc and go out for suppers. Way cheaper and we can then hit up all the hidden local spots for delicious Mexican food.

Rent a place that has a full kitchen which will make a difference with teens who eat a lot. Depending on where you are going there are supermarkets as well as farmers markets in the larger city. In PVR costco wasore expensive than i heard walmart was and i thinks theres another one called Lays or something i heard seasoned snowbirds talk about.

We own a condo in Puerto Vallarta. Costco is amazing for shopping for out teens. Mega is great as well.

Went to cancan not inclusive. Ate out on the strip and checked out the restaurants - not any roadside stands or anything. Not the cheapest. For one, dinner was $30 usd. So it depends on the deal you get and where you like to go for food budget v. Comfort/atmosphere.

We did the European Package with our then 4 & 6 year olds to Mazatlan. Our room came with a kitchenette and we went to Walmart to buy groceries for snacks, breakfast and the odd lunch. We saved quite a bit money by doing this even though we ate out for dinner. I agree in that it really depends on where you go to eat and how much you want to spend.

Depends where in Mexico you are going. Tourist spots are generally more expensive. But if you stick to the restaurants that the locals eat at, it's really cheap and for the most part excellent good.

I don’t know about other places but in Vallarta there is a place that u contact..give them your grocery list even brands and beverages ..they will deliver it to where u are staying and even put it in the fridge.. I think we paid about 20$ can it was awesome...who ants to waste a vacation day in Costco...yuck...I think it was called.vallarta concierge