The last time we were in Hawaii was many years ago, and we decided to attend the Hawaii Book and Music Festival this year! It's in a lovely park in downtown Honolulu.The weather has been perfect all day. The 11th Annual Hawaii Book & Music Festival is happening Saturday April 30 - Sunday May 1,  2016 on the Civic Grounds by Honolulu Hale (City Hall), in Historic Downtown Honolulu.

Expat Fever! Is at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival this weekend! Come and visit with us and enjoy the festival. We are in Honolulu, across the street from Waikiki Beach. We've forgotten how beautiful it is here! 

The view from our hotel room! It's a dream. We left for the festival in the morning but missed the publishing panel at 10AM. 

There are several author's panels and the speakers are great. 

Hi Lara!
Thanks for writing. Yes, we enjoy Playa Del Carmen, but we also travel to lots of other places, as well. The mosquitoes are really bad in Tulum, we found that to be a problem when we visited there. Playa Del Carmen didn't seem to be as bad for some reason. We usually stay close to the ocean and that seems to help. 

As for apartment rentals, there are plenty of nice apartments in Playa that are close to the beach and within your budget. It will be relatively easy to find an apartment for that price if you search locally (on the ground, so to speak). Do not use websites like Craigslist or Airbnb if you want the best price. The best prices are always found by walking around and looking for "SE RENTA" signs. We always suggest getting a temporary rental (for a few weeks or a month) and then searching for a long term rental in person.