Costs in both areas depend on the climate, making winter the high season, summer the low. The Pacific coast is deluged with rain in May through mid October.
Weather
Mexico--There are only two travel seasons in Mexico, high and low. The high season (and the best time to travel) runs from mid December through Easter (usually in March or April), and the rest of the year is low season. In a couple of beach cities popular with vacationing Mexicans on holiday (such as Veracruz and Acapulco), high prices are the rule again in July and August. Try to avoid the rainy season (May through mid October), which is also the hurricane season.
Central America--Climate here generally equates with altitude, the lower areas being hot and humid, the higher ones mild to a little chilly. In Guatemala City and San Jose, for instance, the local officials like to say they have eternal spring, which means warm (in the 70s) by day, chilly (in the 50s) by night. The rainy season (avoid at all costs) is from April through October. It follows, therefore, that the best time to travel is from November through March, happily coinciding with winter up north in the USA.
Activities
Mexico is the nearest country to the USA that is utterly foreign, with its different language, customs, food and architecture, not to mention an intricate cultural background that is in no way similar to our own past. And though outdoor activities are enjoyable here, the main purpose of visiting is to experience another kind of ambiance. So you will probably want to get indoors and see some museums, such as the fantastic National Anthropological Museum in Mexico City, and you'll want to visit important sites, such as the Mayan Chichen Itza. Outdoors, there is plenty of life on the beaches, where you can engage in every kind of water sport (including parasailing, sport fishing and snorkeling). Among the best beach places are Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido, Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo and Cancun. Don't miss regional fairs, held everywhere in summer. Mountaineering can be fun, too, especially in the Copper Canyon area.
