Great Side Trips

  En Español

Cancun may be the ideal resort and full of interesting things to do.  You must remember you are in the land of the Maya and also the Caribbean.  There are other very interesting and incredibly beautiful places to visit, just a short distance away from Cancun.  All of the places listed on this page can be visited in a day,  although you may want to allot more time than that.  A new four lane highway now stretches almost all the way to Tulum, making for easy day trips to Playa del Carmen, Xcaret, Xel Ha, Tulum and even Coba.  Cozumel can be reached by way of ferry from Playa del Carmen or plane from Cancun and Isla Mujeres is just a short boat ride from Cancun.  Plan some time to visit one or more of the ruins or  beautiful islands or parks.  Chichen Itza is a little further away (2 1/2 hours by car), but there are many day tours available from Cancun.

Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres is one of those great places that defy description, the name means "Island of Women".   A small island, just a 45 minute ferry voyage from Cancun.  Isla Mujeres is always blessed with cooling breezes.  This is a great place to kick back and forget everything but the urge to relax.  Or...rent a motor scooter and tour the island, have a massage, dive or snorkel in the national park, take in a Dolphin show or even swim with them, visit the turtle park.  Or just relax on a beach and read a book.  The small town can get a little crowded when all of the tour boats arrive, but you can always get away.  The beaches on the north end of the island are very calm and vendors will pass by and offer you coconuts and tropical fruits.  There are a some charming restaurants right on the beach.   A few hotels and condos offer more than adequate accommodations, nothing quite as fancy as offered in Cancun. 

Playa del Carmen, a 45 minute drive from Cancun is a pleasant beach town and the home base to the ferries that cross to Cozumel, Mexico's largest island.  The town center is situated so that you are never very far from the beach.  Shopping here offers incredible variety with many quaint shops.  The town square is right on the main beach and is a great place to just relax and watch the world go by.  Beachfront restaurants and hotels offer an alternative to the much busier Cancun.  Playa del Carmen is growing at an incredible pace, but somehow manages to retain the small town atmosphere that has made it a long time favorite for many.  Playacar, an adjoining planned development with an 18 hole golf course, is more modern and seems to cater to a different crowd.      

Mexico's largest island is also the scuba diving and snorkeling paradise of Mexico.  This kicked back island could be the perfect South Seas retreat, except that it is just 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.  If your a diver, this is where you will want to go.  But the island offers much more to the tourist than just being a divers paradise.  Great shops, selling almost everything, are everywhere. There are many open air bars offering up relaxing tropical drinks, Mayan ruins and endless miles of deserted beaches that all play a part in the mystique that is Isla Cozumel.  Many sportfishing charter operators are located in the small marina located just north of town.  Accommodations range from very luxurious to very basic with a little of everything else thrown in.  All accommodations are located within a short distance of, or in San Miguel, the only town on the island.  The good beaches are just a short taxi ride from San Miguel, so it is easy to plan your time on this island.  The best reef diving is along the coast just south of town, with many reefs for different diving skills.  Rent a buggy, car or motorcycle and drive around the island to discover what this island is all about.  Be careful, you may not want to leave Cozumel once you have discovered it's charm.

Xel Ha (pronounced Shell-Haw) national park seems like the largest aquarium in the world, only you are in a natural environment and it is a park, with many other attractions.  Swimming and snorkeling in the warm protected lagoons and canals offer even the novice a chance to enjoy thousands of brightly colored tropical fish.  This can be combined with walking trails and even a small museum. There are parrots, dolphin shows, hammocks and music, ice cream vendors and of course - rolling beer bars.  Everything you need can be rented, there is even an all inclusive entry package that includes meals and drinks along with your snorkeling gear. Xel Ha is a really great place to spend the afternoon after a early morning trip to see the ruins at Tulum.  Great relaxing fun for the whole family.

Xcaret, 50 miles south of Cancun, is an all day family adventure located around natural grottos, fresh and saltwater pools and underground rivers that run to the sea. A tropical "island like" ecological amusement park with snorkeling sites, an exotic tropical rainforest where endangered species are protected, and a few archeological sites thrown in for good measure. You can walk around on the bottom of a Caribbean lagoon with a dive helmet or glide down a jungle river, both above and below ground. There are turtles, monkeys, dolphin encounters, snack bars and palapa restaurants with roving regional musical groups. A spectacular evening Mexican themed light and sound show starts at dusk with a demonstration of the pre-Hispanic Ball Game. Daily tours depart from Cancun starting at 8 AM with return trips running all day until after dark.

Tulum is the only oceanfront city the Maya ever built, also the only one that is walled.  Located on incredibly beautiful Caribbean beach,  whoever it was that picked this site had some real estate experience.  Tulum is small, it can be toured in about two hours, but offers some incredible insight into the life of the Maya.  Tulum may lack some of the grandeur of Chichén Itzá, it contains 60 buildings, which are thought to be about 10 percent of the original city.  It stylized designs and the incredible setting more than make up for the lack of major pyramids.  Up until the 1960s the only way to get to Tulum was by boat.  Now it is one of the Maya world's most visited sites, visit early if possible, to avoid the crowds.  A small admission fee is charged.  Multilingual guides are available.  An early trip to Tulum, combined with lunch in Playa del Carmen, and an afternoon at spent at Xel Ha makes for an great full day trip from Cancun.

Coba is the largest of Yucatan's archeological sites, it is also the least excavated of all the major sites on the Yucatan peninsula.  Coba is none-the less important, to many Coba is simply put, AWESOME. Containing 20,000 structures, Coba once was home to as many as 40,000 Mayans. Coba, which means "Ruffled Water",  was built along the shores of five shallow lakes.  Coba is a striking site with magnificent pyramids and incredibly detailed stelae. The Nohoch Mul pyramid, the tallest on the peninsula, reaches 140 feet into the sky.   Many experts say that the pyramids here rival those of Tikal in Guatemala .  Multilingual guides are usually available, a good investment, considering the size of this site.  Leave early, as this is an all day trip from Cancun.  These ruins are considered a favorite stop for the more adventurous traveler.  In the summer the heat and humidity here can be overwhelming. 

Chichén Itzá is undoubtedly one of the wonders of the archaeological world.  Founded in 495 AD, Chichén Itzá has been meticulously restored and this incredible site, with it's columned structures and warrior images, is reminiscent of ancient Rome.  The entrance to Chichén Itzá features a large visitors center and museum where you will find many of the best preserved sculptures and artifacts, on display.  The ruins at Chichen Itzá are well grouped and although very large, it is fairly easy to get around and to see the most spectacular attractions.  On the other hand, you could easily spend a week in Chichén Itzá and not have seen everything there is to see.  For that very reason it might be best to take a tour to visit Chichén Itzá.  Many tours leave daily from Cancun. Another idea is to plan ahead, rent a car and spend one night in Mérida, a charming city about an hour and a half drive west of Chichén Itzá.  You could then return the next morning, on your way back to Cancun.  The archaeological zone itself is approximately a two and a half hour drive from Cancun.  There are several "more than adequate" accommodations and restaurants close by.