We have friends who live for the last 8 years in Cancun. They used to work as the city guides and now they own their own exotic photography business and they still do private tour guides. They helped us a lot with telling where we should and should not go. They saved our time and improved our experience.
Beaches In Cancun and near by cities
All beaches in Cancun are public.
However, there is not always access to the beach since many hotels are joined properties with other hotels.
Here are the hotels we visited with public access.
The first day we went to a beach near Alebris bar .
You park your car on supermarlet parking and the beach is across the street. You can buy something in the supermarket even somewhing very small and the parking will be for free. After you cross the street you access the small beach and you can go left. We personally did not like this beach it was very small and not cozy. We were there for 1-2 hours and since it was our first day we were happy to be there anyway.
Another beach which we loved a lot is by the old port. It is very busy when you just enter but you can make left turn and walk little bit further and there is very cosy beach.
Our favorite beach was on Isla Mujeres. We were there second time (the first time was 4 years ago) and we love it more and more. It is a small paradise on the earth.
We spent there half a day and watched sunset on the beach. The water is very calm and warm. There is a lot of yacht parked by with some Music. The vibe on the beach is calm and cozy.
Isla Mujeres
We love this island.
It is 18 minutes by the ferry from Cancun. It cost $8 both ways per person and parking is $3-4. The ferry is comfortable with AC and fast.
After arriving to the island we rented a golf cart for the whole day. It cost 700 pesos per day.
I highly recommend to Visit the island as early as possible so you can see the Island and spend some time On the beach.
So we rented two golf cards since there were 7 of us and our friends showed us around. First we went to a pier which is not a popular tourist place but it had great views and we took some pictures there.
Then we stopped by the overview to take few pictures
After that we went to popular tourist place. We spend a lot of time there and walk by the bottom of the cliff where water was very wild. It was scary but amazing experience with priceless pictures. We were tiered and hungry. The sun was at its peak.
We decided to go for a lunch and our friend said that they know an amazing place for lunch. While going there we drove through the cemetery. I love how sparky, and funny their cemeteries are. You do not feel of sadness there.
We stopped at the restaurant by the oute with the ocean view. The restaurant had rustick and authentic feel and food smelled sooooo good. After 2 bottles of model i felt like in paradise. Everything what we ordered (burgers and rise bowls were amazing and tasty).
The final destination is the beach. As i described above in the beach section.
The beach is like paradise on the earth it is like those perfect pictures you see on a postcards.
We were there until sunset. There was a guy who was there almost every day (according to Our friends) and blow big bubbles and allow others to do the same.
From the one fancy bout all the time played an album of Freddie Mercury. It hard to describe the feeling and the picture but it was one of those days which you can describe the best one in the world.
Since we had to return the golf cart by 5pm. Our friends retuned and we walked all together from the beach to the ferry. This day we did not have a chance to walk the famous street on the island but we did last time four years ago. Our daughter fault a sleep and the music was very loud on the street so we did not want to disturb her. However here some pictures from 4 years ago.
Playa De Carmen
The city is the city 60 minutes away from Cancun.
It is one of the destination I highly recommend for you to visit. The most famous thing in the city is the 5th avenue. There is not much else to do except the beach which is not so nice because of the sea weeds.
However the street is live and there many activities. I enjoyed the city very much and would love to there in an evening as well.
We age Our lunch at La Cueva del Chango . The food was delicious and highly recommend for you to go there is you have chance. We found it on google and at that time it had 3,000+ four and half star reviews.
Places to eat in Cancun
We did not eat out a lot in Cancun since we traveled a lot and eat out in different cities.
First day when we went to a beach we parked by supermarket. There was a food court on 2nd floor with the lagoon view seating area. You order your food and self service yourself. The baguette and pizza was Ok but our daughter spaghetti was delicious.
Tulum And Cenotes near Tulum
Our friends had a day off on Sunday and we went to Tulum.
One of the most luxury vacation destinations for celebrities.
On the way there we agreed to stop by by a cenote. Our friend offered us a cenote which not know by tourists. It was very exclusive. We drove 15-20 minutes by bumpy road. There was a caves where he gave us a tout.
After cave we went down to the cenote and there was 10-15 minute tour in the water in caves which were lighten up by light fixtures. The experience is unforgettable. And the best part we were there alone. No other people. Cenotes cost 350 pesos per person.
After the cenote we all was hungry and they offered us to eat in Talum in local cafe.
It is not popular tourist place but very popular for Tourists. The food was delicious. The price was very low for the whole bill we paid around $40 including tips for 5 people. The restaurant is El Camello Jr.
After the lunch. We went to see the famous Talum. The vibe in the city, tourists and hotels are very different from Cancun.
There are more rustic hotels and close to nature. All fancy and luxury hotels.
We stopped in one hotel to enjoy the ocean view and to have some drinks and we paid more for 5 drinks (3 alcoholic and two none) more than we paid for the entire lunch. Prices are high there.
It was evening and we stopped by one more location to get ice cream. And we were on our way back to Cancun (2.5 hours drive).
One day in Xcaret
Xcaret is one of the most famous parks in Cancun area. It is one hour drive from cancun and right by Playa De Carmen.
It cost $99 per adult and kids are free up to 4 years old. You can save 10% if you buy tickets online in advance. There two packages regular pass and plus. We get the regular one but we ended up eating at the buffet. So, It might be cheaper just to buy the plus because it includes buffet. The buffet cost is $29 per Person and kids are free up to 4 years.
The park is well design and has great way finding system by using colored lines on the ground. We started from the white route.
The beaches in the park were small and shallow. We did not like them much.
The views in the park and from the park on the Mexican golf was amazing.
We bought package at $150 for 3 person to play with dolphins. There were two families us and one more. We pet the dolphin, we took pictures with her “Maya” and we learned a lot about them. She was 32 years old.
We were little bit surprised for picture prices $39 per picture. You can buy all for $189. But we decided to buy only two.
Also, there is strollers (double and singles) for rent. I rented for our daughter since it was hot and she was already tired. $15 per day rental + $15 security deposit or you can leave your ID.
There is underground river in the park which spans across the whole park. Our friends highly recommended to experience but it closes at 5 pm so we did not make it because our experience with dolphins ended at 5.
Also, there is famous performance about Mecican history. We did not make it as well because we were tiered and our daughter usually goes to sleep between 7 and 8 and the show starts at 7.
Historic sites
This time we did not take any kind of tours to Historic sites.
We went to Chichen Itza 4 years ago. It was amazing experience. We went to Chichen Itza .
We visited cenote and other cities. We had a lot of fun then.
Cancun and other cities/places near by has a lot to Offer. We did not been in many places but everywhere we been i highly recommend each and every one location to visit. Also, if you do not have much time and feel free to choose and pick from places we cisited.