October 2021
This is more of a report of an impression than a guide of any kind for Cancun. We were there because our flight from Oaxaca to Guanajuato was routed through there & we were to arrive in our destination close to midnight which was an awful time for the house manager to come out and greet us. So we broke off the plane ride and spent a night in downtown, Cancun, so that we could take an earlier flight out to Guanajuato next day. It did not cost much more to do this on Volaris Air, the second biggest airline in Mexico which nobody outside of Mexico has ever heard of.
Cancun was never on our radar to be honest. It’s just another resort town that is set up to pamper tourists who are there to relax and/or have fun for a few days. It could be anywhere as long as it’s away from home and near a beach. We understand why people might want this, but, we did not need this. After all, our home is in sunny southern California very close to a nice beach. When I found this map, though, I cracked up. The “Hotel Zone” is on the stretch that starts from #2 on the map. Downtown is where all the other numbers are, and, if you look at the descriptions, Walmart and McDonald’s are included. That tells a lot about this town, doesn’t it? There is not a whole lot to see in downtown.
I had read that Cancun is the city in Mexico with the most expensive taxi prices. The 12 mile ride from the airport to downtown (US$ 20) confirmed it. My thinking was stay in downtown, which is closer to the airport, then, check out the beach area before getting on the plane the next day. I chose Hotel Kavia Plus ($42/night) based on the photo of the rooftop pool. It was comfortable enough, and we could just go across the street for a quick dinner.
After breakfast, we got in a cab and asked to go to a Westin Hotel, and we got there in 10 minutes (US$ 10). I thought we could go to their rooftop bar, enjoy the view, have lunch, then call it our Cancun experience. Well, that’s not how it worked in Cancun. Each resort hotel is for guests only, thus, we would need a “day pass” to use their restaurants. In other words, there was no way to see the beaches unless you stay in one of the resorts. All the view you get from the main drag is the hotels because the beaches are on the other side of the buildings.
Sorry. That’s the most scenic Cancun photo from us. There are certain access points to the beaches if you know where to look, but, we gave up. It was too hot for us to be walking around aimlessly. We went back to our hotel and ate lunch in the neighborhood.
So was it worthwhile to make this stop? At least now we know for sure Cancun is not for us unless there is an offer that we can’t refuse. And we arrived in Guanajuato around 8 PM, which was a much more reasonable time for the house manager to welcome us.
Small Wide World 