MOLI VIEW™

Yes, it's a little late to be planning for New Year's Eve, now just a month and change away. But with the US economy a slowly sinking ship, there are more affordable last-minute options than you might think.

I went looking online and found a round-trip flight from New York to Cancun on USA3000 Airlines, leaving on December 30 and returning on January 5, for just $340. Even though it's not an airline most people have ever heard of, I in fact have flown it before: It's bare bones, but totally legit.

One advantage to Cancun is that it's about equidistant between West Coast and East Coast, so its a good compromise if your friends or family are bicoastal. But Cancun's strip of cement towers, surrounded by Hard Rock Cafe-type nightlife and shopping malls, might not be for everyone. Even spruced up post-Hurricane Wilma, Cancun is still a bit tacky, and much too American to be in Mexico. But it's fun in a Las Vegas-on-a-beach kind of way, and the white-sugar sand beaches are spectacular and safe: You can frolic all day in the calm, warm Caribbean Sea, with frozen cocktails, hamburgers, and pizzas at your fingertips.

If that sounds like a horror show to you, don't write off Cancun just yet. The city is also the entry point for the whole of the Riviera Maya or Mayan Gold Coast (as the Tourism Board is now branding it). Just an hour drive from Cancun, the region offers a completely different experience, from the mind-blowing Mayan ruins all along the coast to the affordable boutique hotels of Playa del Carmen and Tulum; from the spectacular dive site of Cozumel to the funky beach town of Isla Mujeres. It's hard to think of another spot that offers this much affordable diversity.

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