Cancun Mexico Vacation Questions

[Matt5266]

We took my MIL and wifes brother to playa del carmen march of 2023. My wife and i had some time in cancun ahead of their arrival. We rented a car and rented an apartment on the outskirts of pdc, went to grocery store to get food and cooked for ourselves some meals, ate all sorts of street food, walked around town and went to restaurants, public beaches, drove to some cenotes and swam, took a trip to chichinitza and had lunch and wandered around valladolid as well as a few smaller towns, etc. Its a cool area, if youre in an all inclusive I think you’d miss most of the good stuff, but if thats your cup of tea it seems that would be way safer than most US cities. Otherwise, while gritty outside the tourist areas, it did not feel unsafe, and people were very friendly especially if you try to speak a little spanish. There were folks that cleaned up the sargasso weed every other day on the public beaches, but on the off days it was certainly a thing.

Cool, thanks for the advice

 

[Matt5266]

We went on a 10 day trip during Covid and bounced around AirBnbs all across the Yucatan. Stayed a couple nights in Playa, Tulum, Valladolid, and Holbox. Ended up missing the ferry back to Cozumel due to weather and stayed an extra night there too.

My wife can fumble around some Spanish and it saved our ass. Was it a bit sketch, yes, did I enjoy that part too? Yes. One of my best friends lives in Merida and the best advice he gave me is to bring a few hundreds and a couple hundred in 20s and that will be able to get you out of anything.

The things we did and got to see would be impossible at a resort. The people we met that were genuinely great people and wanted to teach you about their culture was very heartwarming. Some of the best food I've ever had was on that trip and it cost me like $2 in pesos. I left them a $5 bill and we stopped back by on the way back from Holbox and they remembered exactly who we were. Probably the only two white tourists crazy enough to ever stop there.

So my advice, go get the real culture and ditch the BS resorts. Go to Sac Actun cenote and take a tour, it's really amazing. Go take a fishing charter for a day, go visit the ruins, it's not as scary as people make it out to be and there's some real culture there.

Awesome. Thanks ill look into it. See what I can talk the wife into haha

 

[Matt5266]

Had a friend who visited with a few of his friends. Right after they got off the plane they went to go try to buy some weed. Well it was a sting operation and he spent the first 3 nights in a Mexican jail. He said it was not so pleasant.

I've enjoyed my times in Cancun. I like to stay at the resorts and not venture to the shopping centers as I am not a fan of people constantly trying to sell me cheap products.

Now I am a much bigger fan of going on cruises. Highly recommend trying one sometime.

Haha well we have zero intentions of trying to buy any drugs or go looking for trouble, so hoping for no Mexican jail time.

We did a Bahamas cruise years ago. It was all inclusive as well and we had a freaking blast!

 

[woods89]

We went on a 10 day trip during Covid and bounced around AirBnbs all across the Yucatan. Stayed a couple nights in Playa, Tulum, Valladolid, and Holbox. Ended up missing the ferry back to Cozumel due to weather and stayed an extra night there too.

My wife can fumble around some Spanish and it saved our ass. Was it a bit sketch, yes, did I enjoy that part too? Yes. One of my best friends lives in Merida and the best advice he gave me is to bring a few hundreds and a couple hundred in 20s and that will be able to get you out of anything.

The things we did and got to see would be impossible at a resort. The people we met that were genuinely great people and wanted to teach you about their culture was very heartwarming. Some of the best food I've ever had was on that trip and it cost me like $2 in pesos. I left them a $5 bill and we stopped back by on the way back from Holbox and they remembered exactly who we were. Probably the only two white tourists crazy enough to ever stop there.

So my advice, go get the real culture and ditch the BS resorts. Go to Sac Actun cenote and take a tour, it's really amazing. Go take a fishing charter for a day, go visit the ruins, it's not as scary as people make it out to be and there's some real culture there.

I was thinking it but wasn't going to say anything. You said it well.

We were fortunate to have family that were finishing up 5 years in El Salvador as missionaries at the start of '22, and we went and spent a week with them. Of course it's an amazing advantage to have someone to take you around who know's where to go and where not to, but seeing that culture as it exists in everyday life was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life.

It's hard to give concrete advice on this, but I think I'd at least entertain the idea of getting outside the resort scene a bit. Northern Mexico, and especially the border area, would be a different story, of course.

 

[Matt5266]

I was thinking it but wasn't going to say anything. You said it well.

We were fortunate to have family that were finishing up 5 years in El Salvador as missionaries at the start of '22, and we went and spent a week with them. Of course it's an amazing advantage to have someone to take you around who know's where to go and where not to, but seeing that culture as it exists in everyday life was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life.

It's hard to give concrete advice on this, but I think I'd at least entertain the idea of getting outside the resort scene a bit. Northern Mexico, and especially the border area, would be a different story, of course.

Ya, thanks. Im feeling a lot better about the whole think with people's experiences on here. I don't trust the Google machine all that much with the media pushing certain things. I wanted advice from like minded people.

 

[woods89]

Ya, thanks. Im feeling a lot better about the whole think with people's experiences on here. I don't trust the Google machine all that much with the media pushing certain things. I wanted advice from like minded people.

I had people tell me not to go (especially with my family) to El Salvador before we went. Feelings are just feelings, and not a great indicator sometimes, but we never felt that unsafe. The driving is probably the most dangerous part, it's kind of every man for himself down there.

Good luck with your trip, whatever you choose. I will say, seeing how a 3rd world countries culture operates will change how you think about living in the US.

 

[SloppyJ]

Ya, thanks. Im feeling a lot better about the whole think with people's experiences on here. I don't trust the Google machine all that much with the media pushing certain things. I wanted advice from like minded people.

The thing I was the most uncomfortable with was renting a car as you read all of the horror stories. That turned out to be the easiest part of the trip. Driving on those roads with that traffic is a different story. If you decide to do your own thing and need any advice, feel free to shoot me a PM man.

 

[Matt5266]

The thing I was the most uncomfortable with was renting a car as you read all of the horror stories. That turned out to be the easiest part of the trip. Driving on those roads with that traffic is a different story. If you decide to do your own thing and need any advice, feel free to shoot me a PM man.

Awesome, thank you!

 

[307]

I've enjoyed my times in Cancun. I like to stay at the resorts and not venture to the shopping centers as I am not a fan of people constantly trying to sell me cheap products.

Now I am a much bigger fan of going on cruises. Highly recommend trying one sometime.

Resorts and cruises… might as well stay in the USA.