ESSENTIAL CANCUN TRAVEL GUIDE (2025)

4. If your resort doesn't offer airport transport, book it before arriving in Cancun, Mexico. Trust me when I say this is worth doing BEFORE you leave home. We booked ours on Orbitz, or you can try Expedia (click 'cars', then 'Airport Transportation'). Generally, these are the BEST prices online! And since you are looking at reserving transportation, you can also look at things to do in Cancun on Orbitz!

• When you walk out of the baggage claim area (in the Cancun International Airport) & through the double sliding glass doors, prepare for chaos and to be bombarded with multiple offers for taxi rides, excursions & resort viewings... POLITELY SAY 'NO THANKS, I'M ALREADY BOOKED' & KEEP WALKING OUTSIDE!! You will have plenty of time to book these excursions either at your resort, OR I suggest searching HERE on Viator or HERE on Orbitz (sometimes Viator & Orbitz have better prices)
• Once you are outside, EYES PEELED! The person with whom you booked your airport transport should have your LAST NAME printed out on a piece of paper, and they will be waiting for you.
• DO NOT BOOK A SHUTTLE BUS!!! We made this mistake, and it took 2.5 hours to get to our resort in Playa Del Carmen (only 35 minutes from the Cancun International Airport). Pay the extra couple of bucks and get your own taxi/car. It took this long because we stopped about 20 million times at MULTIPLE resorts letting other passengers off... N.E.V.E.R  A.G.A.I.N!!!

5. Grab a taxi and make a friend—there is no shortage of taxis in the area, especially if you are in the hotel zone! 

• QUICK TIP: Taxis only take CASH. They do not accept anything else at this point, but obviously this can change in time!

6. Hop on the local bus if you do not want to pay a little extra for a taxi, MULTIPLE local buses run up and down the hotel zone and all over Cancun, and it's like 10 pesos, aka SUPER CHEAP (that's about .50 cents US). 

7. Get outside of your resort! Ok, I say this with caution. You are in a foreign country, and there are still sketchy areas in Cancun (like anywhere in the world), so use your best judgment. I wouldn't suggest walking too far at night (or at all), but it's not that big of a deal during the day! Nate and I walked all over the place while staying in the hotel zone! I'm not sure about the rest of Mexico, but a good rule of thumb is to go with a group of people or at least two people, not by yourself & be aware of your surroundings.

• QUICK TIP: Download an 'offline' map of Cancun (or the general area you will be in) from Google Maps. If you are walking around and don't have cell service, you can still use this offline map to guide you!

9. Don't fall for the 'FREEBIES' - If and when leave your resort on foot, especially in the hotel zone (DURING THE DAY), don't fall for the FREE excursion tickets in return for attending a timeshare presentation.... trust us.... the free excursion tickets are NOT worth it 🥴🤦‍♀️  (yes, we fell for it and lost a whole day... but in hindsight, we did get to experience Hotel Xcaret - WATCH THAT HERE or READ about it HERE) 

10. If you want to buy your own hard liquor (now I'm about to sound like a lush 🤷‍♀️)

• DO NOT BUY FROM THE DUTY-FREE store inside the airport... MASSIVE ripoff
• DO NOT BUY FROM YOUR RESORT.... another MASSIVE ripoff
• Our FIRST suggestion is to buy liquor at the grocery store at the end of the Hotel Zone in Cancun, close to the roundabout. It's called Súper Chedraui Selecto, and it's MASSIVE... 2 stories worth of food, alcohol, & even clothing. I would compare it to a Kroger or Fred Meyer and the grocery side to a Safeway or Publix. If you are not staying at an all-inclusive resort, I recommend you go here and get all your groceries... VERY COST-EFFECTIVE!
• Our SECOND suggestion for buying liquor is at a decent-sized liquor store called La Europea, close to the massive shopping Mall. They had a little different selection than the grocery store, and the prices were identical and 'normal' ... not inflated! 

11. DO NOT DRINK THE FOUNTAIN WATER (THIS ALSO MEANS ICE) - Stick to bottled water only or take THIS filtered water bottle with you! Mexico does NOT have the proper filtration like the USA (or your country), which will make you sick. Luckily 99% of the resorts in Mexico will supply bottled water for you. Oh! And be sure to ask for extra water bottles first thing when you arrive to your resort & again when they clean your room or in the morning. 

12. Departing Cancun - When you are headed back home and departing Cancun, I'm not going to lie, traffic can be incredibly chaotic and long checkin lines at the airport are typical! With saying that, here are a few tips, to hopefully help make your departure a little smoother:

• Check into your departing flight immediatley (typically 24hrs - 48hrs prior) - In my personal opinion, I feel like Airlines are getting sneakier & over booking flights. Obviously, this means someone is NOT getting the seat they paid for and this is when chaos occurs! Also, I have noticed the seats you may have previously reserved, mysteriously change... NO BUENO! So be sure to check in as soon as you possibly can via your airlines app or email!
• Verify your transfer back to the airport (24hrs prior) - I suggest you have this booked before you even leave for vacation! But if you haven't, I would get this booked asap and then confirm with company via email! We always book a roundtrip transfer with Orbitz & print off our documents to show proof of payment. Also, we suggest having a plan B and verify with the concierge if taxi's will be readily availabe, if you need one!
• Arrive 3 hrs early - Yes, you probably already know this, but this, I can't stress it enough! You will want the 3 hrs! You never know what the flow of congestion will be like, and cutting international flights too close, is not something I would suggest, unless you want to miss your flight on purpose to hang out at the airport and people watch!

foratThe infamous Visitax & what to expect when leaving Cancun - If you stayed in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico (Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Tulum Playa del Carmen, etc.), then you will be subject to pay the 'Visitax', prior to passing through security . If you follow any of the Cancun focused Facebook pages (we follow this one and this one), this is a hot topic that there is a lot of confusion around. Let me clear this up for you and quickly summarize this! This is a new tourist tax created in 2021 (not to be confused with the other taxes/fees that are charged within your airline ticket or the fee you get charged at your hotel), that all foreigners, aged 4 and up, will have to pay the $17 fee (per person & yes this fluctuates), prior to departing Cancun. Now... here's where the confusion lies. Some travelers say they paid, some didn't, some got stopped and asked for proof of payment while others were not stopped. As of now, the verification is RANDOM, and not being enforced on a regular basis. What we are telling our traveling clients: we give our clients both sides of the story & let them decide if they want to pay it or not. There are two ways to pay, online (do NOT pay on random websites, you can and WILL be scammed) or with the representative (rep will be in a maroon colored vest) verifying your passport, prior to clearing security. We personally chose to arrive t the airport and pay in person vs online. Full disclosure, we did not get stopped, and I did not see any Visitax signs or QR codes to pay  it. Caution to you, if you choose to do the same, this could create a delay when going thru secuirty & enforcement could change in the future (there is no telling at this point).