So my buddies and I are going to Cancun in early September(don't even say the H word...)

We're planning on
-The Jungle Tour
-Isla Mujeres
-Chichen Itza

Your standard jet ski / parasail / snorkelling adventures

For those of you that have gone, which outfitters have you used, had experience with, and which would you recommend.

It seems that Aqua World is the biggest from what we can find on the net.

Please give some suggestions on food(good but budget friendly), activities, and any other tips you might give.

We're all in our mid-20's so almost anything is cool.

I've already heard to avoid the time share people in the airport.

Thanks

 

I don't know if this has changed but last time was there (6 yrs ago) they do not allow the jet skis to go up and down the beach, they were all running in the lagoon. The lagoon is kinda skunky water so the jet skiing was not so popular.

I did the aquaworld trip to "Paradise Island" which is a floating concrete slab parked in the middle of a snorkeling reef. It was kind of neat and came with a "submarine" tour. The subamarine is just a boat with 75% submerged and you get to sit underwater and tour the reef. I liked it.


Chichen Izta is great. Most of the tours will stop at a buffet and some are better than other but the food tends to be ok. I have done that tour three times. The tour guide will walk you around and give a speech at each site and it moves kind of slow so you do not get to see and explore much on your own. I always ditch the tour guide and group, ask what time to meet at the bus and go on my own to take pictures, climb the pyramid and spend the time at the sites you want to see. Some of the tour guide stuff is interesting but I want to see my own stuff.

Night spots are a tough thing in the off season becuase they spring up and go out of business all the time but you can always find people at Senior Frogs and Carlos and Charlies. It gets old after a while, but at least there will be others there. Sept. is slow season.

Isla Mujeures is an nice day trip but I got kind of bored there. We took the ferry out there for the day and the thing to do is get a snorkel tour or a scooter and tool around the island. My GF was scared of both so we walked around town and sat on the beach.

Beach access is supposed to be required so you are intheory supposed to be able to legally go through any property to get to the beach although some hotels will give you a harder time about it. The closer you get to the Club Med end, the nicer the beaches get. If you go al the way down to Club Med, they won't let you walk around thier grounds, but it is the only hotel with snorkeling reef righ in front of the property if you have gear.

Don't bother with cars or taxi's, always take the bus. You'll see how great easy and cheap they are after about ten minutes.

Have fun

 

^^^ I'd agree, but add that it is worth your time to go into Cancun proper a few nights and walk around the bar district. Strolling mariachi bands, unique small bars, and plenty of nice people, locals included, make it a pleasant change from the hotel district clubs. The last time I was there, the busses stopped running long before the bars, so taxis are the only way home. Spending a day or two in town is also worthwhile, if only to walk around and really feel like you are in a foreign country and not a tourist disneyland.

As far as food goes, it was all generally very good, but it might be best to avoid buffet-style dining, especially the fruit. Just like here, food that has been sitting out has a much higher chance of making you sick.

 

The paradise island one sounds like a decent plan for a day trip. Isla Mujeres does seem liek it would get rather boring from what I've heard.

Hmm no Jet skiing on the beach? Our hotel states that we can rent them from the beach in front... I'll have to call ahead to find out. I love Jet skiing. Although here in Chicago, it really is useless as you would only be able to use it a few months of the year...

Well my buddies and I are really just going to relax. Catch some waves, hit the beach, snorkel etc....

After working our asses off its the motivation we need to get through another month of corporate life.... Not that I dislike my job. I LOVE IT.....



They could be listening.....

 

From my post in the Bay Area forum a couple of months ago when this was asked:

I've been there numerous times, including earlier this year. I've been in Sept also and it was pretty slow. Only had one night with a thunderstorm

You can kill one whole day by going to Xel-Ha (like 10hrs total), it's like a water theme park kind of thing. They have snorkelling and a river you can take a tube ride down. It's a good 2hr bus ride though each way. You get to stop off in Tulum to check out some Mayan ruins along the way though, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. The other water park place is Xcaret which is about the same, but you don't get to see the ruins and is almost as far away. There are other ruins places like Chitzen-Itza, where they have a huge pyramid, but that will take a whole extra day of travelling by bus. That's why I'd recommend Xel-Ha for the first timer, it's more time efficient. It's ~$100/person.

Jungle Tour is hit or miss. I had a miss on the one I went on and never bothered to try again although others have said it was fun. For me it sounded good on paper, riding on a jet ski or boat through the jungle, but they were really slow and it gets boring. I don't remember the location or name of the company that we used, but there's a couple of different ones.

ATV riding is ok. They're not the newest things, but you can still have some fun on them.

You can jet ski on any beach. They probably try to charge you $50 for 30-45 mins, but you can get it for $25-30 if you try, especially if it's slow.

Isla Mujeres is pretty boring too, but it's a short ferry ride away so you might as well check it out. They have some snorkelling there too, and a flea market area.

The beaches are beautiful and the Sea water is always warm. A lot of the area is still rebuilding from Hurricane Wilma, so there's gonna be a lot of construction. Hopefully the hotel you're staying at won't have much if any.

At least one night you need to go have dinner at La Parilla, in downtown. Take a cab (make sure to ask how much before you go, they don't use meters.) It's pretty cheap and good food. I generally don't care much for the restaurants in the hotel zone because they're overpriced and don't have very good food. They survive by their location. Most of the good places are downtown, ask hotel staff or cabbies for recommendations. If you get sick of Mexican food (it'll probably happen) and the "American food" at the hotel doesn't cut it, Ruth's Chris in the mall is pretty good, not quite as good as in the States, but still better than almost anything else there. I think the steaks were ~$35.

Clubs - they're all pretty similar and very cheesy. If you like that type of thing, you'll be in heaven. Each one has a night where they have special events (usually wet t-shirt contest) and they rotate. La Boom is still closed, but it might be opened by the time you get there, that was probably the least cheesy. Coco Bongo is always packed. They put on little shows throughout the night which can be entertaining. Basic is relatively new. Dady'o/Dady'Rock is what you would typically expect for a spring break type of club. Fat Tuesdays and Senor Frog's are what they are (bars with DJ's), but a good place to get smashed.

Take the bus up and down the Blvd (I wouldn't go downtown on one though) if you can. They're $0.65 (6.50 pesos) a trip, are safe and run constantly. Since you're justing going up and down the Blvd, you can take any one. Cabs can take you downtown and back.

Cancun is a tourist town and the locals while usually pretty nice, they're still there to make a buck. Most of them in the hotel zone speak basic English, enough that you can communicate. Haggle when you can for on stuff you buy on the street. If you book activities at your hotel they will be more expensive than getting them from the numerous places on the street, and you can negotiate with those guys too. The hotel is just more convenient. The exchange rate at the airport sucks. If you hunt around the Zone you'll find different rates at different booths. Most places take USD too, but they get you a little on the rate, sometimes it's so small it doesn't matter. If you go downtown you need to be a little more careful than if you were in the hotel zone, but it's still pretty safe. Don't drink the water, don't eat the ice. They have numerous little markets where you can get bottled water if you need it. Beer is cheaper than water at lots of the small eateries, $1 for Pacifico, Sol or XX vs $1.20 for water. Tastes almost the same

Have fun.

 

Keep in mind this is not really Mexico, it's a tourist destination that happens to be in Mexico and nothing works like you'd expect.

If you've gone to Mexico before and liked it you will be extremely disappointed. Get outside the city, as far as possible and you'll get the Mexican flavor back. You might as well be in Ft. Lauderdale during spring break.

I took a taxi down to Xcaret and the ruins there. It was cheaper than the bus tours and we had our own personal guide. He got us into Xcaret thru the back door for free and also got my daughter a dolphin ride for free.

We found some great native restaurants and ate in an open air seafood restaurant right on the beach during an afternoon thunderstorm. Food and atmosphere was great.

 

Have you booked already? If not I have some suggestions for you.

I stayed at a resort right next to Chichen Itza. We walked there and had a private tour, just me, my friend and our tour guide. After the tour we were free to walk around for as long as we liked. We rented a car in Cancun and drove out there, stayed for a couple days to see Chichen Itza and nearby Ek Balam. There are some big centoe (sink holes) nearby that you can rapel into to or just get down into them and swim.

Then we drove into Playa del Carmen, it is south of Cancun about 40 miles to stay there for a week. Turned our car in the day we got there, took a cab to our hotel and just walked everywhere. We took the ferry over to Cozumel and rented another car to drive around the island.... if you like playing in rough surf the Eastern side of Cozumel is the place to go! There are plenty of bars and there are some places that have dancing right next to the beach.

We only spent one day in Cancun and honestly after the Chichen Itza resort and Playa del Carmen I though Cancun sucked some serious animal balls. You couldn't pay me to stay in Cancun proper.

If you want more info, PM me and I can give you the names of the places we stayed. If you do end up staying in Cancun though, go to Perico's in downtown Cancun for dinner one night. Good food and the place is a blast!

 

One word: Xcaret

It's like a natural waterpark. You'll have to take a bus there, but it's great for about a half-day.

If you plan on getting into trouble, then I'd recommend going to the police station right when you arrive. Give the Chief some kind of gift. This way, if you get into trouble, he'll remember you.

 

i stayed in secrets of excellence just south of Cancun, in Riviera Maya

all i gotta say is that this place was incredible...all inclusive, all you could drink, and not the cheap stuff. all you could eat, 24 hour room service included. the food was great, the people were awsome..there was a show every night, i wish i could have stayed there forever, i mean seriously it was the best time of my life.

we went snorkeling with this outfit (cant remember the name) we went out three times, it was a full day affair. they gave you lunch, i got to hold a wild sea turtle my guide caught. AWSOME stuff!!!

we went on a jungle adventure, were you went rock rapelling(sp) kyaking across the river, hiking, and swimming in this underground cave, oh and zip lining, and visited some ruins...it was fun but not worth it IMO..i was exhuasted by the end of the day..

plus the mayan food was a little different, but i was starving...
chocolate flavored chicken i found out i dont like to much.

i get marriend next year and plan to go back for the honeymoon, or go to the dominican republic,

didnt go to cancun though, other than when we flew in and flew out..

btw, carry your own luggage, or be preparred to give tips :-)

 

Thanks for all the advice. I'm wondering if my group should have went all inclusive....

We figured that we wouldn't be spending much time at the hotel and going on excursions etc.... but oh well. Trip is booked and set. Got a KILLER deal.

Read all the reviews and all but wanted to stay budget friendly for the hotel at least. Ended up booking at Ambiance Villas. Got a 3 bedroom beach front villa. Reviews on Expedia and the like were excellent. I also wanted to stay away from the "big" name resorts, as my last time in Nassau we got hounded by the time share and vacation home people in the lobby... The reviews simply said great service, and a relaxing time.

Wanted to book the Marriott but we had an extra person come along.... so room sharing would have been awkward, so just opted for the 3 br villa.

I think Isla Mujeres is out the window as it now seems rather boring.

Xcaret sounds like a nice place to go. Same with Xel Ha. Contemplating the trip to Playa del carmen or the like....

This is actually everyone's first time in Mexico, and we're really just going to have some fun and relax on the beach, so I'm sure whatever we do it'll be a blast.
I've been to Puerto Penasco, and thought that was a nice getaway, but anything to get away from the office is good enough. Everything else is just gravy!

I can't wait. Just hope for good you know what...