WanderfulAdventuring
You should know these tips before you plan your Cancun vacation!
If you were thinking of planning a trip to Cancun, Mexico in the future, I highly recommend reading through these essential tips and tricks to ensure you have the best experience. Below is a list of information I used to plan my trip and some things I wish I had known before I went. I hope you find them as useful as I did!
Know what time of the year is best for your vacation.
Cancun is busiest in the early months of the year (Jan-March), as the weather there is best and many North Americans go to escape winter. There are also many Spring-Breakers during March-April, so if you would like to participate in the famous nightlife of Cancun, spring break should provide the perfect party atmosphere for you. If you still want to enjoy the beautiful weather, but avoid the crowds May might be a perfect time for you. Be careful, because the summer-fall months bring hurricane season.
I went in early March with a group of my friends. I didn’t find that it was too crowded, but the spring breakers were definitely present towards the end of the trip. Also, its important to note that even in March which is supposed to be the best time for weather, it was SUPER windy most days on the beach.
Check your international cell service options before you go.
Some service plans will already cover Mexico and Canada, and many others offer plans for an additional $5-10 US dollars (per day) for those countries.
I personally got around fine without cell service and instead opted to purchase the Wi-Fi at the resort. If you choose not to get cell service though, there are a few things to note:
- All-inclusive resorts do not usually provide free wi-fi* Okay so they might not be completely all-inclusive. My friend and I split the bundle price to buy wi-fi for two devices for the full week and it ended up being a total of around $50USD, which is around $3 per day per device.
- If you will be leaving the resort, I recommend that at least one person in your group has cell service in case of emergency (more than one if you will be splitting up).
Be prepared for CUN Airport craziness.
I’ve been through quite a few airports and Cancun International Airport is certainly one of the more confusing/hectic ones to exit. There are a few things I wish I had known:
- How Customs works. After you get off the plane and get your passport stamped, you’ll need to get in line for Customs. Although the signage wasn’t great in my opinion, if you just follow the huge mass of people that are eventually gathered into a mob that sorts itself into 5 or so lines, you’ve probably made it to the right place. BEWARE; once you make it to the front of the line, you will need an additional form that you were not given on the plane. This just asks about what goods you are carrying. Copies of that can be found against the wall near the lines. Don’t make the mistake of waiting in line just to find out you’re missing a form like my friends and I did. After your form is checked, you will need to press a button and cross your fingers for a green light. If the light turns red, you are the unfortunate winner of a random bag check, but don’t worry; It’s totally random and you did nothing wrong.
- Just say “no gracias.” Outside of customs, there will be many people offering to sell you things like taxi/shuttle rides. They may seem very persistent, but just say “no gracias” and try to look confident in where you are going and they will leave you alone.
Book an airport shuttle in advance to get from the airport to your hotel.
Some hotels will offer airport pick-ups for free and others will book one for you so definitely check what your hotel’s options are before booking on your own.
If you do book on your own, play close attention to the directions given online after booking. It should tell you exactly where to go and even what color shirt your driver should be wearing. Once you exit the airport there is an entire zone with shuttles from different companies at numbered “gates.” Just look for your gate number and shirt color and you should be good!
A lot of other companies will offer you rides, and might not offer the best advice if you ask them for help so just say “no gracias” and stick to your directions.
My friends and I booked through expedia and it ended up being almost $50USD split between 6 people ($8.33 per person) to get from the airport to our hotel in the Cancun Hotel Zone. Also be prepared to tip! We gave our driver a $6 tip.
Cancun is relatively safe.
Cancun is extremely tourist-friendly.
Cancun is built for tourism. You won’t likely have an issue with a language barrier, as the majority of hotel staff and locals speak English. Furthermore, it’s generally easy to find stores selling familiar medicine, snacks, and other necessities. There are even a number of chain restaurants and stores. Many businesses in the Hotel Zone even accept American money (although I would recommend using pesos for a better exchange rate.)
This tourist-y atmosphere certainly has a downside however, as much of traditional Mexican culture is missing from the Hotel Zone. For some travelers, eating at Mexican Restaurants and seeing the occasional mariachi (or other) show put on by performers at the hotels is enough. For those looking for a more authentic cultural experience, you may just have to dig a bit deeper to find it. To experience traditional Mayan culture and even visit authentic Mayan ruins without ever leaving the Hotel Zone, I recommend the Museo Maya de Canun.
Don’t drink the tap water.
Everyone warns you not to drink the tap water so avoid it just to be safe. You shouldn’t have to be too concerned with this, however, because bottled or filtered/purified water is usually provided for free at your hotel. (I also suffered no consequences for using the tap water to brush my teeth, so do what you will with that information.)
Be prepared to give a tip, or “propina”!
Make sure you bring some cash to tip bartenders, drivers, tour guides, ect. Oftentimes these people live off that money and it is expected that you tip. Plus, you will get treated a lot better by the staff that you do tip. In the Hotel Zone, American money is oftentimes accepted, but I would recommend tipping in pesos because it is generally a better exchange rate and that is what you will receive in change anyway.
WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!
Obviously you need to be wearing sunscreen at the beach, however for most visitors, the intensity of Mexico’s sun is not what they are used to and their normal sunscreen application process just isn’t going to cut it. I don’t usually have a problem with sunburns, but I found myself re-applying my 100SPF sunscreen every hour and still ending up a little red by the end of the day. You want to be really diligent about the sun because if you are careless the first day, you are going to be in pain the rest of the week and this could put a damper on whatever excursions you have planned.
There is a very strong undertow at beaches in Cancun.
The beaches in Cancun are certainly beautiful, but I would caution those who want to swim in the ocean there. Caribbean beaches have an extremely strong undertow, making swimming dangerous for even the most experienced swimmers. The lifeguards have a flag system to alert swimmers about the current water conditions; a green flag means the water is safe for swimming; yellow means use caution; red conveys dangerous conditions; and black means swimming is prohibited.
When I was there in early March, the flags were red all week. We were able to go in the water, but never further than chest deep and even that felt risky. Most people just enjoyed jumping over (or being knocked down by) the extremely strong waves rather than actually swimming. Keep in mind that this time of year is suppose to be among the best for weather conditions, but it was still very windy and the water was rough.
Don’t be too discouraged, however; the majority of hotels will have their own pool(s), so you will definitely have the opportunity to do some real swimming if you wish.
Go on excursions!
There are plenty of amazing things to see and do both in the Hotel Zone and outside of Cancun on day trips. Many tour companies will even pick you up directly from your hotel. Your hotel probably has a desk with lots of brochures and someone who will help you book these excursions. Just make sure you check the price online first, as hotels may try to inflate the prices, but should be able to adjust the price for you to at least match what you see online if you ask.
Our hotel, like many others in the area, partners with Xcaret tours. My friends and I went on their Xichen tour to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and on the Xenotes tour to swim in and zipline through multiple beautiful cenotes. Both were amazing experiences with awesome tour guides. I would highly recommend them!
Take advantage of the buses.
The local bus system is pretty easy to use and has stops all throughout the hotel zone and Cancun. It’s about 12 pesos(under $1 USD) per ride and your hotel or even the bus drivers themselves will help you know which stop to get off.
***If you take the bus to the clubs, just be aware that when you are coming home in the wee hours of the morning there may only be different, slightly more expensive buses to bring you back. My friends and I didn’t know this and didn’t have enough pesos, but were lucky enough to eventually find a kind bus driver who accepted what pesos we did have.
Haggle, haggle, haggle.
Most places with local vendors in Mexico, such as marketplaces in Downtown Cancun, not only accept haggling, but they expect it. This means that what you see on the price tag is probably a higher price than what the vendor is willing to sell it for, and therefore not the best deal. A good starting point is to offer about half of the listing price and work up from there. I would also recommend keeping an eye on the prices of similar goods at other stores to get a better idea of the usual price.
If you aren’t comfortable with negotiating, that’s okay, just be aware that you might not be getting the best deal (or have a friend do it for you, like me!)
I hope you find these tips useful for your upcoming Cancun vacation! Happy Travels!
