Caribbean or Mexico for winter? A beach week costs $1,834 in Playa del Carmen and $5,145 in the Caymans

Most winter beach rankings are built on a hotel's own marketing. We used a number you can check. The State Department publishes the maximum lodging and meal rates it reimburses employees for official travel, place by place and season by season, in its foreign per diem tables (the November 1, 2026 publication). These are government ceilings, not hotel quotes, but they are priced by location and by high and low season, which makes them a fair way to compare places with each other.

One limit up front: this guide covers lodging, meals and safety status. We did not price airfare or flight times, because we did not read a fare source for these routes this week. For the booking window, see our guide to the cheapest days to fly.

What a winter beach week costs, ranked

Each total is seven nights of lodging plus seven days of meals and incidentals at the rate that applies in January. Example: Cancun is 7 x ($287 + $135) = 7 x $422 = $2,954. Flights, transfers, tours, taxes and resort fees are not included.

Destination	Lodging a night	Meals a day	Seven days
Sosua, Dominican Republic	$150	$63	$1,491
Mazatlan, Mexico	$130	$127	$1,799
Playa del Carmen, Mexico	$164	$98	$1,834
Cozumel, Mexico	$182	$105	$2,009
Jamaica (outside Kingston)	$220	$99	$2,233
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	$243	$129	$2,604
Los Cabos, Mexico	$272	$112	$2,688
Cancun, Mexico	$287	$135	$2,954
Eleuthera, Bahamas (Nov 15 to Apr 16)	$276	$150	$2,982
Turks and Caicos (Jan 1 to Apr 15)	$304	$165	$3,283
Barbados (Nov 15 to Apr 30)	$321	$178	$3,493
Nassau, Bahamas	$432	$181	$4,291
Aruba	$539	$160	$4,893
Cayman Islands (Dec 15 to Jul 16)	$588	$147	$5,145

Source: State Department foreign per diem rates, which we pulled on November 12, 2026. The meal figure is a per-person daily allowance, so a family should multiply it. The lodging figure is a ceiling for one traveler's room, and a resort can price well above or below it. This is a sample of popular beach places, not every island, so "cheapest" means cheapest of these. The Dominican Republic and Jamaica rows are the country's general rate outside the capital, not a specific resort town (Sosua has its own listing).

Where winter is the expensive season

The tables carry real seasons, and the Caribbean's jump is the part to plan around. Lodging ceilings in places that step up for winter:

• Cayman Islands: $588 a night from December 15 to July 16, against $307 from July 17 to December 14. That is 92% more. If you can land before December 15, the same island is almost half the lodging cost.
• Barbados: $321 from November 15 to April 30, against $210 from May 1 to November 14, up 53%.
• Turks and Caicos: $304 from January 1 to April 15, against $231 for the rest of the year, up 32%.
• Eleuthera, Bahamas: $276 from November 15 to April 16, against $213 from April 17 to November 14, up 30%.
• Manzanillo, Mexico: $282 from December 1 to June 30, against $226 from July 1 to November 30, up 25%.

Most of the Mexican resort listings in the table, and Aruba, Curacao, Jamaica, Nassau and Grand Bahama, carry a single year-round rate. That does not mean real hotel prices are flat. It means the government schedule does not split the year there. Treat a flat listing as "no official seasonal signal" and check live prices for your dates.

For the pre-Christmas window, the Cayman and Manzanillo steps mean early December is the cheaper side of the season on paper. Holiday weeks themselves are typically the most expensive stretch of any resort year, so expect the real price on December 24 to December 31 to be at or above these ceilings.

Mexico or Caribbean: the honest comparison

On this benchmark, Mexico's Yucatan coast is the value pick. Playa del Carmen ($1,834) and Cozumel ($2,009) are below Jamaica ($2,233) and well below Turks and Caicos, Barbados, Nassau and the Caymans. Cancun ($2,954) is the Mexican exception: its lodging ceiling of $287 is the highest in the Yucatan group and is close to Eleuthera's.

The Pacific side splits. Mazatlan ($1,799) is the cheapest Mexican row because its lodging ceiling is only $130, though its meals allowance of $127 is among the highest. Puerto Vallarta ($2,604) and Los Cabos ($2,688) sit in the middle. Acapulco is $3,017 on the same method ($283 plus $148 a day).

In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are the lower-cost rows, and the Dutch and Cayman islands are the top of the table. Aruba has no seasonal split in the schedule, and at $539 a night it is the highest year-round lodging ceiling on our list.

Check the safety status before you book

The State Department's Travel Advisories rate each destination from Level 1 to Level 4. We read the advisory data feed on November 12, 2026. Current levels and the date each was last published:

Destination	Advisory level	Last published
Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, Cayman Islands	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions	Aug 19, Sep 8, Apr 9 and May 20, 2026
Mexico	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	May 28, 2026
Jamaica	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	Jun 22, 2026
The Bahamas	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	Jul 27, 2026
Turks and Caicos Islands	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	Jul 6, 2026
Dominican Republic	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	Jun 11, 2025

Mexico's Level 2 advisory cites terrorism, crime and kidnapping, and says conditions vary widely by state and sometimes within a state. It also says U.S. citizens should follow the restrictions that apply to U.S. government employees, which include not traveling between cities after dark and using dispatched or app-based vehicles rather than hailing taxis on the street. Read the full advisory for the state you plan to visit before you commit to a booking. A Level 2 rating covers all of Jamaica, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic as well, so Mexico is not unusual in carrying one.

Health notes are on the CDC's destination pages for Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Aruba. We read them on November 12, and all four list dengue among the diseases spread by mosquito bites.

How to pick

• Lowest total on this list: Sosua, Mazatlan and Playa del Carmen, all under $1,900 for the week at government ceilings.
• Resort-town convenience: Cozumel ($2,009) and Puerto Vallarta ($2,604) sit between the cheap and expensive ends.
• Caribbean on a mid-range budget: Jamaica ($2,233) or Eleuthera ($2,982).
• Date flexibility: if you can travel before December 15, the Cayman Islands cost almost half as much in lodging as they do afterward. Barbados and Eleuthera step up on November 15.
• Splitting the cost: because the meal allowance is per person, a couple's food budget doubles while the room does not.

For the same method applied to U.S. destinations, see what a December week costs in 23 U.S. cities.

What these numbers do not tell you

Two cautions. First, a per diem ceiling is not what the average tourist pays. It is the government's cap for a mid-priced room and a day of meals, and a beachfront all-inclusive can be much higher or a guesthouse much lower. Second, not every row is equally fresh. The Cancun, Los Cabos and Playa del Carmen listings carry effective dates of 2024, and the Turks and Caicos, Cayman and Eleuthera rows date from 2015. Use the table to compare destinations, then price your own dates live.

FAQ

Which is cheaper for winter, Mexico or the Caribbean? On State Department rates, the Yucatan and Pacific coast resort towns we checked are generally cheaper than Barbados, Turks and Caicos, Nassau, Aruba and the Caymans. Sosua in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are the low-cost Caribbean rows.

When does the Caribbean high season start? Barbados and Eleuthera step up on November 15, the Caymans on December 15, and Turks and Caicos on January 1, according to the State Department schedule.

Are these actual hotel prices? No. They are government maximums for lodging and a daily meals allowance, useful for comparing places, not for budgeting a specific resort.

What are the entry rules? They differ by country and by citizenship, and change. We could not load the State Department's country pages this run, so check travel.state.gov and the destination's own government site before you book, and confirm your passport's validity.

Sources: U.S. Department of State foreign per diem rates (November 1, 2026 publication); State Department Travel Advisories; CDC Travelers' Health. Weekly totals are our arithmetic. Rates and advisories change, so check them before you travel. This is travel information, not financial advice.