First stop on our trip to Mexico was Cancun and Tulum in the Yucatan peninsula, after a day in Madrid between flights!

Cancun

Journey to Cancun:

We arrived in Cancun on Monday 27th April at 17:45 after a 10 hour flight from Madrid. Although we had a slight panic at the airport that maybe the surfboard wouldn’t arrive we eventually had all our luggage and paid an extortionate $40 USD for a taxi to get to the centre of Cancun.

What to do:

Chichen Itza

Perhaps the most common thing to do in Cancun is to go on a day trip to see one of the wonders of the world, Chichen Itza. We decided out of the thousands of tours on offer to go with one by Amigo Tours which promised to arrive before the crowds. So at 5:40 in the morning we were picked up at a meeting point about a half hour walk from our hotel. We arrived at Chichen Itza at about 7:30am just before the gates opened (it was about a 2 hour journey but we crossed into another time zone!) We were the first tour group to arrive and apart from a few cars there was nobody else there yet so when we entered the site there were only a few people. Marco, our guide, was great and gave us so many interesting facts about the area that I would have had no clue about and Chichen Itza definitely did not disappoint.

Following our tour we were taken to another archeological site called Yaxunah. This site is only in the very early stages of recovery so we were only able to see a little but it was great to compare two very different archaeological sites. We then stopped at a cenote for lunch and a swim (where Thomas managed to lose his sunglasses and his GoPro in one go – he still hasn’t learnt to not bring sunglasses into water!) After learning the cenote could be about 45m deep we abandoned the search. Finally we returned to Cancun at about 6pm! It was our main reason for staying in Cancun and the visit has definitely been one of our highlights so far.

Isla Mujeres

For our second day trip from Cancun we decided to take the ferry to visit Isla Mujeres. We took an Uber from our hotel which cost about $6 USD to the ferry terminal where we bought our tickets. Although only a 15 minute journey to get there, our return tickets cost about $30 USD per person, which we thought was quite pricey! We chose to rent a golf buggy to get around the island since we were only there for the day and bought this in advance from Prisma Golf cart rental for $48 USD for the day. I wouldn’t recommend going through this company as they were quite rude and gave us no explanation as to how the golf cart worked so off we went without much idea what we were doing. It was an interesting way to get around the island but in hindsight I would have just rented a scooter or bicycle as the golf cart was a bit more annoying to park and probably the more expensive tourist option! We circled around the island, however many of the areas you had to pay to enter like Punta Sol at the end of the island. In the end we went back to the northern part where we had originally hired the golf buggy and stayed around this area where the beaches were swimmable. While I’m glad we went to the island it was very touristy which spoilt the otherwise very beautiful beaches a little and made it very expensive so I probably wouldn’t return.

Where to stay:

We stayed in Villa Sofia which was in the central area of Cancun rather than the hotel zone. The hotel itself was in a lovely safe area, near to a couple of big supermarkets. There was a shared kitchen space, pool and terrace which was an added bonus. Whilst the room was maybe a little small it was very comfortable and nicely decorated, would definitely stay here again (and we did on the night before our flight to Puerto Escondido!)

Tulum

Journey to Tulum:

To get to Tulum we took an Uber to the Ado bus station in Cancun. We had booked our bus online which cost us about $30 USD in total so $15 per person. The bus was air conditioned, super comfy and took about 2 hours 45 minutes to get to the centre of Tulum.

What to do:

Cenote encantado nuan

To start exploring Tulum the easiest way is by bicycle! There are plenty of places in the centre renting bikes or scooters. We found ours about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and rented 2 bikes for 5 days for a cost of 1,500 pesos. Once we hired bikes we set off for the beach only to find beach access barred unless you paid entry to a beach club (some of these had a minimum spend of $70 USD) so we continued cycling along the beach road and eventually came to the entrance for Cenote encantado nuan. The entry fee was 100 pesos per person and there was only a handful of people about. It was a lovely cenote with lots of wildlife and we had a great time swimming and paddle boarding there!

Tulum archaeological zone

Probably one of the most famous things to do in Tulum but definitely worthwhile. We cycled to Tulum archaeological zone which took about 30 minutes from our hotel. We arrived just as the ruins opened at 8am so as to try and avoid the crowds. The entrance fee into the area is 58 pesos per person and entrance into the ruins is an additional 90 pesos per person. Being right on the coast there were amazing views and the ruins were incredibly scenic. The whole area took about 1 hour to wander round and then we continued cycling along the road to reach the beach.

Playa Paraiso

We finally managed to find a beach with free access so we parked our bikes at Playa Paraiso. Although had we come a bit later I think we would have been firmly directed to their sunloungers or restaurant rather than just walking down to the beach! We walked along the beach and went for a swim. When we were there we found there was huge amounts of seaweed along the beach which they were having to pick up with a rake attached to a tractor. Apparently this seaweed appears during hurricane season in the Caribbean.

Coba ruins

We caught the bus leaving the ado bus terminal at 8:36 and after leaving a good 20 minutes after this time we reached the ruins at about 10am. The bus cost 61 pesos per person and dropped us about a 5 minute walk from the entrance. The entry fee was 100 pesos and there was also the option at the entrance to rent bicycles to get around the ruins as the area was huge, we chose to walk and it took us maybe 2 and a half hours to walk around the entire site. There was a lot to see including the Nohoch mul pyramid, the largest pyramid in the Yucatan peninsula standing at 42m high. Until quite recently people had been allowed to climb the pyramid although this is not the case anymore but still a very impressive site to see in any case! We also spotted a lot of wildlife including birds and monkeys. We decided to catch the bus back to Tulum at 2pm, however after waiting for half an hour without a bus appearing we eventually shared a collectivo back to Tulum along with a few other tourists for 100 pesos each.

Muyil ruins and Sian Ka’an biosphere

We also got to the Muyil ruins by another bus, this one was even more straightforward and took 20 minutes at a cost of 33 pesos each one way. The Muyil ruins were very empty of tourists and although there wasn’t a huge amount there it was still worth a visit, especially since you could access the Sian ka’an biosphere at the back of the el Castillo building. Entry to the ruins was 70 pesos per person and entrance to Sian ka’an was 50 pesos per person. There was a boardwalk through the jungle where we got bitten by about a thousand mosquitos (if going anywhere near a jungle do not forget the mosquito spray like us!) The boardwalk leads you to a dock where there are boats that can take you further into Sian ka’an, but at 1000 pesos per person we decided against this option! We saw lots of birds and butterflies along the way and also climbed a rickety looking viewing tower about half way along the boardwalk. Although it looked a bit scary and is definitely not for those suffering from a fear of heights the views from the top were worth the climb!

Tulum jungle gym

We decided to try out Tulum jungle gym the morning before our bus back to Cancun. The one in the town is 300 pesos per person which is still pretty expensive, but in comparison to the beach location which is 600 pesos it was a bit more reasonable! This was definitely a lot of fun and not too busy which was a surprise, however it’s a bit too expensive to become a regular gym!

Where to stay:

We stayed at Los Amigos which was about $57 USD per night. It was in the centre of Tulum and also featured a kitchenette in each room, a rooftop pool area and free use of a nearby hotels gym and spa which was a nice added extra! The staff were also super friendly and we really enjoyed our stay there!

What to eat:

Although we mainly made our own food in our little kitchenette so save on costs here were some of our favourite places we visited for food/drink!

Burrito amor

Definitely our favourite meal. We had guacamole and tortilla chips, a margarita, a coconut water, vegetarian burrito, chicken burrito and an egg burrito and everything was amazing. Although not super cheap at about $40 USD for our order.

Raw love cafe

I had an amazing Frappuccino here and the garden at the back of this cafe was super cute, although Thomas had a coconut milk latte which was nowhere near as nice.

Me Latte

Just next to our hotel was this lovely little cafe serving breakfasts and incredible drinks. The choco ice latte I got here was one of the best drinks I’ve ever tasted and was sadly gone in about 2 minutes it was so good. Very reasonably priced too.

Dune Boutique Hotel (smoothie cafe)

We can’t remember the exact name of the cafe but it was part of the Dune Hotel next to the beach in Tulum. Although the staff weren’t too friendly and we weren’t huge fans of the beach area of Tulum the smoothie bowls we had were amazing. Very overpriced but very tasty.

Summary: So far we love Mexico, the food, the people, the nature, the ruins. Everything was amazing although we are looking forward to going to a slightly less touristy area next!