Cancun's "must do" activities?

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[I am going to Cancun next month for 3 days. I will dive one day and rest by the pool one. What did you find was the thing to do while you were there?
Is Chichen-Itza worth the full day trip since I only have a short time there?
Thanks
 
If you're not spending the time diving, then IMHO, "Yes."

Best regards.

DocVikingo
 
Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock and Carlos & Charlies
 
Mostly what to do in Cancun is day trips to get out of there. Don't get me wrong the beach is great there and the hotels very comfortable but it is not Mexico.
Chichen Itza is a great day trip and an important site in Mexico as well as being one of the few places where a major amount of restoration has occurred, and you can get there economically on the buses from the Downtown bus stop in Cancun - get the earliest bus possible to avoid all the tour buses which arrive at the site at 1030 hours. Or a rental car. The tour buses restrict where you go and where you eat, shop etc. You can walk the site yourself - allow 2 hours - or hire one of their usually excellent guides when you get there - the park opens at 0800 and it is the best time to arrive. Plan to have lunch in Valladolid on the way back, an interesting town, and visit the cenotes on the outskirts of Valladolid as your introduction to our beautiful cenotes.
In Cancun a shopping day at La Isla - a mall in the hotel zone, good variety of shops and the Aquarium.
Day trips to Isla Mujeres are also a lot of fun - bus and ferry. As the others said forget Xel-Ha and all the other theme parks pretending to be Nature's Wonderlands they are man made. Tulum is interesting for a look, a big day trip but also possible on the buses but a little more diffiuclt to get around once you arethere. The ruins near Tulum mentioned above are Coba. If you only want to see once set of ruins stick with Chichen Itza tho'
Come and visit our sleepy Mexican village Puerto Morelos , only 30 mins South on the 1 st class bus from Cancun and do some great diving and snorkelling where there is not so much traffic and carry on. Laze around on quiet beaches, dive where there are no other boats in our National Park and do a jungle trip to the fresh water cenotes with friendly helpful english speaking guides. Lots to do around here. Don't miss seeing the Yucatan!
 
yak:
My wife and I did a small sailboat cruise to Island of Women. The best part was the "drift snorkle" The first mate snorkles with you and the boat motors about a mile away and you drift down with the current.

Very nice time for a non-diving spouse.


Hey! Do you recall the name of that sailboat operator? Im doing my research from no to summer Cancun trip. My wife also non-diver.

thanks,

vieque
 
Allen42. There a few viewers on this board that put down Cancun. That may be because they haven't been there, or if they have, maybe they had a bad experience or it could simply be a lifestyle issue where Cozumel is more their speed. They may also get the wrong impression where they think Cancun is Spring Break every day of the year. Granted there are some times it is like that, but not as much as people might think. Cancun gets a bad rap. While some consider the diving in Cozumel better that does not take away from what Cancun has to offer. There is pleny to see and do there. We go to Cancun twice a year. Sometimes three times. In all the years we have been going, we still have not done everything we want to.

This will be a long post but since you asked...

Isla Mujeres. A small island off the coast of Cancun. A half hour ferry ride. The downtown area is made up of a few marinas, shopping, restaurants and a few dive ops. You can rent a golf cart and buzz around. There are a few nice beaches, a lighthouse and rumors of a pirate's treasure buried on the northern end. In the middle of the island is a residential area, the garbage dump, a naval base, and also Dolphin Discovery and a few theme cruises like Pirate ship or Booze Cruise. But my favorite part of the island is El Garafon which is an Eco Park. Diving opportunities on Isla Mujeres are plentiful. A few popular locations are Manchones Reef and the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks. Another is the Ultra Freeze and a few shipwrecks. Great snorkelling too.

A little beyond Isla Mujeres to the west is Isla Contoy, a Federal Nature Preserve. One of the most beautiful unspolied beaches I have ever seen in my life.

A bit of a drive west but a city rich in culture and crafts is Merida. This is a trip for repeat visitors or those who are in Cancun for an exteneded stay.

In Cancun (downtown) there is a bull ring, lots of markets and great restaurants. In the hotel zone is lots of shopping, restaurants and nightclubs. A good rainy day activity is a trip to La Isla in the hotel zone which has a shark feeding encounter. You are in an acrylic cage with cut out slits and you feed the sharks inside the interactive aquarium. You are given a snorkel, this is not a dive as you are submerged to shoulder level. Great photo ops!

A half hour south of Cancun is Playa del Carmen where you can take a ferry over to Cozumel

Further south is Xcaret, another ECO park, sister to El Garafon. Sort of commercial and man made but still a nice trip. Lazy river snorkelling, dive op at Barracuda Reef and a dinner show.

Ancient Mayan ruins are spread throughout the Yucatan. Chichen Itza is popular but my favorite by far is Tulum. The view from the cliff of tulum is spectacular. I was going to say breathtaking but that would violate the rule of don't hold your breath. There is a small but beautiful beach at Tulum. And the cenote diving is worth while which is right up the road a few minutes at Dos Ojos www.hiddenworlds.com.mx which you can incorporate a cenote trip with either a stop at Tulum or Xcaret at the same time. Others already mentioned Xel-Ha.

Feel free to PM me, I would be more than happy to share with you a few "locals" tips. Or to tell you about more opportunities. I would however, caution you against parasailing in Cancun. I have seen parasailers smacked into the side of the hotels or into palm trees by poorly trained parasailing operators.
 
Like Teamheatwave said, get out of Cancun. Maybe not so blantantly American Tourister, but yeah, get out of Cancun. Isla Mujeres is/was a nice place to stay ('til the dayboats come over). Hotel Garrifon alone at the south end of the island, six rooms with balconies over looking the ocean and shallow reef, was great for $50.00 a night. There used to be nothing else there, but I saw electric lines and street lights were going up. There aren't usually sharks any more in "the sleeping shark caves" due to divers but the currents are fun.
I guess I'll have to find another place that's still unspoiled by people like me.
 

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