Our Cancun Travel Diary and a Few Tips for Visitors to Cancun, Mexico

Need an editable PowerPoint map of Mexico

Whenever I look for travel related information on the web, I always find what I was looking for, thanks to other travel enthusiasts. I am writing this detailed report as a way to thank all the nameless and faceless people whose forum posts, reviews and blogs have never let me down. I hope this Cancun travel diary helps some of you plan your own trip to Cancun.

It all began with a great deal (Austin-Cancun) my husband found on Viva Aerobus (vivaaerobus.com) in February (Yes, for us, vacations always begin with good deals!). We booked our tickets and then applied for a Mexican visa- We need one because we are not US citizens. We were not sure of the procedure and we tried googling terms such as “How to get a Mexican Visa” and “How citizens of India can get a Mexican visa in the US” but no luck. Since US citizens can travel to Mexico without a formal visa, there was not much information on the Internet about this.

We called the Consulate directly and they asked us to bring some documents to the Consulate during working hours, which I believe are 9 AM to 1 PM. We were asked to bring a few documents (for those interested- passport with US visa stamp, bank statement, itinerary/booking and 36 dollars in cash) to the Consulate (sre.gob.mx/austin/) on 31st March 2009 at 8 AM. Visas are issued only at 8 AM so if you do not want to visit the Consulate twice as we did, make sure you take all the valid documents and reach the Consulate by 8 AM. The whole process was not a big hassle at all. In fact the Consulate staff was very courteous and accommodating.

We then started looking at hotel options. Since we had our tickets booked for one of the busiest weekends in Cancun (Good Friday- Easter) we had a tough time finding nice hotels at reasonable rates. But as usual, Priceline did not let us down. We were going to stay at Omni Cancun (omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/CancunHotelAndVillas.aspx). The next obvious step was visiting Google to find out everything about Omni Cancun. We were a bit disappointed to hear that the beach there was all but non-existent. But, hey, we could always visit other beaches. In general, the hotel had positive reviews, especially for its great service and kid-friendliness (which by the way turned out to be true).

We then started reading guidebooks. We are the kind of travelers who chew up, gobble and digest every possible guidebook before we visit a place. So we read DK, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet and a couple of other guides. Our best source of information was the Internet followed by the Fodors guide to Cancun. I also visited the Yucatan tripadvisor forums and Cancuncare.com frequently for tips. All this for a couple of days in Cancun!

Since we had ruled out renting a car and driving in Mexico, we figured out we would have to take a guided tour if we wanted to go to Chichen Itza (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza). We did a lot of research and narrowed down on Best day tours (bestday.com/) and Entertainment-plus (entertainment-plus.net/). Best Day would charge us 55 dollars per person plus around 30 bucks for our four-year old daughter (who probably would be bored to death at Chichen Itza) and Entertainment-Plus (62 dollars per person for the Chichen Itza Classico tour) had no charge for kids under 6. So you can guess which one we chose. I immediately received an email from Brant saying they had got our deposit and we were booked for a tour on the 10th of April, 2009. We would be paying the balance 104 dollars on the day of the tour. Our tour company was Emotion tours (emotioncancun.com/).

We packed minimally (thanks to the luggage restrictions on Viva Aerobus) but since we were going on a short three day trip, one bag per person worked out for us. In March, we received a notification from Viva Aerobus informing us that we would be reaching Cancun only at 7 in the night, instead of 3 in the evening, which meant we would lose around half a day. A big disappointment!

In case you did not know, Viva Aerobus flies from the South Terminal (10 mins from the main terminal- they also have an inter-terminal shuttle – 5 dollars per person- in case you decide to park at ABIA). When you park at the South Terminal (staustin.com/), remember to take your parking ticket with you because you validate it and pay for it inside the terminal and not at the parking lot. And whatever else you lose at Cancun, don’t lose this ticket because the fee for a lost parking ticket is a whopping 85 dollars! Viva Aerobus does not serve free snacks or drinks on its flights, but you can buy chips, drinks and a variety of other stuff for a few dollars.

We landed in Cancun at around 7 PM. We had to go through immigration (takes 15 mins) and customs (takes 20-25 mins). We were immediately accosted by a gorgeous lady who claimed to be an Airport Information Official. To her credit, she did give us some tidbits of information and a few nice maps, but then came the pitch I dreaded- for the Palace Club (attend a presentation and get two trips free, a day at the spa and food blah blah). We said we had other plans the next day and moved on. We then paid 12 dollars each for a shared taxi to the airport (Greenline tours . The good thing about Omni Cancun is that it is one of the first big hotels on the Zona Hotelera when you arrive. So you are one of the first passengers to get dropped at your hotel.

The view from our hotel room at Omni Cancun

Check-in was quick. We were lucky to get an ocean view (and pool view) room. Watching the ocean gleaming in the light of the full moon was a sublime experience. The room itself was like any other hotel room with a few extra comforts (I would put the room somewhere between three and four star though it is advertised as four star, the main reason being the thin walls. Reminded me of The Stratosphere at Las Vegas where we could hear every passerby at night. Another reason is that there is not much to do here besides hang out at the pool).

The bed was comfortable. The pillows, not so much

We had dinner at La Paloma, the Mexican restaurant at the Omni. The food was OK; the service was pretty good. This is what we noticed at the Omni throughout the duration of our visit – the level of service was always exceptional. The concierges, the housekeeping staff, the attendants and the check-in staff are all extremely polite and helpful. The drinks at the restaurant were fine but for some reason, they had artificial sweeteners in them, instead of sugar. We had had a long day and we could not wait to crash.

A mural in the lobby of our Hotel

Day 1: Chichen Itza tour, Suytun Cenote and Live Entertainment

We woke up to the sounds of raging waves and when we pulled back the curtains, a feast awaited our eyes. The pristine blue ocean stretching endlessly towards the horizon, the gorgeous pools and palm trees swaying in the wind. Picture perfect. (A confession: We actually woke up to the sound of the alarm. I added the ‘sounds of the waves’ part for effect. But every other word of my description is true, I promise). We had breakfast at the same restaurant as before. The buffet was around 25 dollars but we weren’t thaaat hungry, so we opted for continental breakfast (croissants, Danish rolls, empanadas served with coffee and a juice/fruit). We also packed some food for our trip to Chichen Itza.

Waking up to this was sheer bliss

Our tour company representative (Entertainment-plus booked us on Emotion tours) was at the lobby at 7 AM sharp, just as scheduled. We were taken to a mall where we paid the balance amount and did some window-shopping at a gift shop. We then boarded the bus to Chichen Itza. Our tour guide was a humorous guy, which made the tour a lot of fun. He talked about the ruins for a good 45 minutes. My husband and I are both history buffs and any piece of such trivia fascinates us. We listened with rapt attention. The drive to Chichen Itza takes around 2 and a half hours (if you drive straight from Cancun to Chichen Itza). But we made a stop at a Mayan restaurant and curio shop en route. We were then taken to Chichen Itza (No, no lunch yet. We were told lunch would be served after the tour of the ruins. Which, in a way, was good, because we reached the ruins at around 12 noon when we had the energy to explore them. Had we reached later in the day, we would be too tired to enjoy the place).

Make sure you take something to drink because this part of Mexico is HOT. You will be walking in the hot sun for a good two hours. So be prepared. (I am just repeating what our tour guide told us at least a dozen times before we got there. He made us expect the worst, so we were relieved when we got there and the temperature was just 90 degrees F!!). Our guide bought tickets for us (30 pesos extra if you want to bring your video camera along) and we were ushered in. We then split up into English and Spanish speaking groups.

Chichen Itza, “The edge of the well of the magicians of water”

We were given a nice tour of the ruins. Chichen Itza definitely deserves its place in the seven new wonders of the world. The buildings (yes, even El Castilo) had all been built based on a number of mathematical calculations by these ancient astronomers (who were known as ‘itza’ or the water magicians). The aim of most structures here was to predict the arrival of rain (or sacrifice humans). Unfortunately, you can no longer climb the pyramid. You can read all about Chichen Itza in any guidebook, so don’t worry, I am not going to offer you a guided tour here.

The only complaint I have was that the tour was shorter than promised- the website says an hour and a half but our tour was only an hour long. Plus, we did not get any information about the observatory, which is a key building or the sacred cenote, which is another important aspect (so say the guidebooks we read before our trip). Anyway, at the end of the tour (we did some exploring ourselves too) we were exhausted. We could not wait to get to the comfort of our air-conditioned bus.

The Observatory: Don’t ask me anything about this building. I have no idea what its significance was.

The sacred cenote at Chichen Itza

We were then taken to the same restaurant for lunch (El Balam Restaurant). Note that the Entertainment-Plus website says that you will have lunch first and go to the ruins next. But we did it the other way round. Not that we minded (we carried some food with us that we ate at around 11 AM when we stopped at the Mayan crafts shop), but this is for all those of you who do not want to wait until 4 PM to have lunch. Not that this should be a deal breaker, but be prepared. I personally did not eat well because I did not enjoy the food (we are vegetarians and there were almost no options for us save dessert, which was not all that great either). But the best thing about lunch is it comes with live performance- Mayan dancers perform traditional dances to folk music and entertain you while you eat (or don’t eat, as in my case). We enjoyed watching the skilled dancers balance trays and bottles on their heads while dancing and spinning around.

Mayan dance at our restaurant: No, none of the bottles slipped and fell down

We were then taken to Suytun (Suy-toon) cenote. We were warned in advance by the tour guide to not spend time at the centote. He said “This is a very different tour. This is not a tour for swimming or snorkeling. You can take a quick dip here but remember that we have to get to Cancun and it takes an hour and a half to get there.” And he said this not once, but half a dozen times. This seemed a bit contradictory to what Entertainment-Plus says on its website. In their own words, “…..we will go the Sacred Mayan Cenote of Suytun to admire its beauty and unique formation where you can swim in its pure, crystal clear waters.” It looked like the tour guide wanted us to take a peep into the cenote and get back to the bus so we could drive back to the hotel. Some tours take you to Ik-Kil, some to Ditznup centote and so on. So make sure you know which one you are visiting, if this is important for you. (Oh, and by the way, the cenote was beautiful).

Swimming or ‘taking a dip’ at Suytun cenote

The bus took us back to Cancun and this time we were dropped in front of our respective hotels. Again, Omni was the first stop. We reached the hotel at around 7.30 PM. We were about to head out for dinner when we noticed a live performance near the hotel pool. We stayed back and enjoyed the dance performances, each of which depicted a region of South America. This was unexpected and it came as a surprise to us, a spectacular one at that. Since we did not have much time for dinner, we walked to the convenience store opposite the hotel and picked up a few things. The prices were quite reasonable (Expect US gas station prices).

A spectacular pool-side performance at our hotel

Day 2: Beachside fun

The next morning was pretty relaxing since we did not have to wake up early. We lounged on the patio for some time drinking our coffee and reading our complimentary newspaper. If you have read reviews of Omni Cancun, you probably have read that the beach is tiny. Fact. Actually, it is not the beach that is the problem, but the huge rocks and the gigantic waves that make swimming almost impossible at this beach. You can feast your eyes on the white sand (a bit coarser than the other beaches we saw) and admire its contrast with the blue waters, but there is not much else you can do here, other than sunbathing. Most people were at the pool rather than the beach.

We decided to go to Playa Tortugas (at the top of the seven) for a swim before we hit the pool. We took the bus to the beach.

The buses (R1 is your best bet for most places in Zona Hotelera and downtown Cancun) stop at designated bus stops (there are several stops on Kukulcan blvd that runs along the seven). The fare is 7.50 Pesos. There are two ways to request a stop- You can ring a bell at the exit (we figured this out much later) or you can walk up to the front and wildly gesture hoping the driver will stop (we did this most of the time though walking up to the front usually did the trick). The bus system is extremely efficient and there is a bus every 3-4 minutes. We were impressed!

Our private cove at Playa Tortugas

We got to Playa Tortugas (it has a public access point just like most other beaches in Cancun), which was extremely crowded. We walked a bit and found a tiny private cove on the beach. Before I visited Cancun, I thought its beaches would be just like most other beaches- the pictures you see online are usually photoshop modified and look much better than they actually are. So I expected to see above average beaches. But what I saw blew me away completely. Before my eyes, was the best beach ever- the kind of beach that you see in travel guides and magazines, the kind of beach that you always dream about, the kind of beach that you think of when you think of the word ‘beach’. If you are looking for privacy and isolated stretches of beach, you might want to go elsewhere, but if you are looking for powdery white sand coupled with crystal clear blue water (and are OK with sharing the beach with other homo sapiens), Cancun is for you.

My daughter had a whale of a time here

We then went to our hotel (again took the R1) to enjoy our pool. As many other reviewers had pointed out, Omni Cancun is very kid-friendly, which means you will see quite a few families and you will also share the Jacuzzi with a bunch of kids. We have a kid ourselves and Omni was ideal for us. Our daughter loved the pool and had a whale of a time. (Yes, she was one of the kids you saw in the Jacuzzi).

After a nice refreshing shower, we were all set to explore the town again. We took the R1 to Playa Delfines (South of the Hotel). This was a nice and wide public beach. Did not see too many tourists here though. Took a few pictures and hopped aboard the R1 again for dinner.

Playa Delfines: One of the wider beaches we saw in Cancun

We went to an Indian restaurant suggested by our concierge. Good food. Back to the hotel again. Made a short stop at the convenience store to pick up a few things. Crashed. We had to leave the next day.

Dinner at the Indian restaurant was a fitting end to a wonderful day

Day 3: Time to go home

We checked out from our hotel at around 9 in the morning. We took a cab to the airport (costs 250 pesos from Omni Cancun) and arrived at Terminal 2 for our Viva Aerobus flight to Austin. The airport was crowded and we expected long lines but passing through security was a breeze. The airport is lovely and affords quite a few shopping opportunities.

As we were leaving Cancun, I remembered my last glance at the ocean.

If you lived here, would you ever want to leave?

I had fallen in love with it. A twinge of sadness hit me. I did not want to leave. What would life be like if I could wake up to that view every morning. Well, we could always come back some other time, consoled my practical side, especially since our visa was valid for 180 days. Perhaps next time we could visit Isla Mujeres and Cozumel too. Perhaps we could have a longer vacation. However, for now, real life beckoned us, and it was time to bid farewell to the dream. Adios Cancun. Hola Austin.

 

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