Introduction
In October 2023, I fulfilled a dream of mine: My first long-distance trip with my boyfriend. We flew to one of the most beautiful places in the world: the Caribbean. More precisely, we went to Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. Here you can find white, Caribbean dream beaches with crystal clear, turquoise water, but also Mexican culture. So not only can you enjoy the paradisiacal beaches of the Caribbean, you can also enjoy delicious Mexican food, tasty cocktails and tequila. In addition, Yucatan was once inhabited by the indigenous Mexican people called Mayas. Their culture and traditions, as well as incredible sights, still adorn Yucatan today. This place really is a world of its own and a must-see.
Climate and best time to travel
The Yucatan Peninsula has a tropical climate. This means that the humidity is very high and the outside temperature is constantly between 25 and 35 degrees Celsius, depending on the season. Hurricane season is between June and November. Hurricanes and cyclones can form here. Rainfall can also increase during this time. You can find the exact details in the table. Although at first glance October seems to be one of the worst months for a trip to Mexico, we were there for two weeks at the beginning of October and we had perfect weather! Of course it rained from time to time, but mostly at night or very early in the morning. And even when it rained, it didn’t bother us at all: the downpours usually only lasted a maximum of 10 minutes, but they were heavy. But even when it rains, the outside temperatures are still above 30 degrees Celsius. It doesn’t cool down at all. In our two weeks, it rained about four times, and only once a day, and as I said, it wasn’t bad at all. Nevertheless, there is of course a hurricane risk. However, we were very well informed about this and decided to take the risk. Here you can also check in advance whether a hurricane is developing (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/). As you can see, the weather in the Yucatan is actually very good all year round and the water is very warm. Yucatan is therefore always a perfect destination for a beach vacation. Of course, there is also a lot to see. For an excursion, however, it’s best to set off early in the morning to avoid stewing in the sun in the midday heat.
Where we stayed
We stayed at VIVA Azteca by Wyndham, a wonderful all inclusive resort. With 335 rooms, it is a relatively small resort. It is located in Playa del Carmen directly at the beautiful white beach of Playacar. The resort is about an hour’s drive from the airport. It’s best to book a transfer in advance. At the airport in Cancun are of course also many possibilities to book a transfer, or to buy a bus ticket, but it was relatively full with us, due to the passengers from the arriving airplanes. We booked a transfer to the hotel in advance, which was of course a very relaxed option. Playacar is a separate area where mainly villas and resorts can be found. There are strict controls at entrances and exits. You don’t need to worry about your safety there. And the Mexican vibe is not lost either. In addition, the city is very close. The city is about half an hour’s walk away, or five minutes by taxi. Wyndham owns two resorts there. The VIVA Azteca and the VIVA Maya. They are not far apart. After a few minutes of walking you reach the other one. This has one big advantage: you can use all of the other resort’s restaurants. You can easily make a reservation at a restaurant via the VIVA app. Apart from the buffet, there is one Mexican, but also an Italian and an Asian restaurant at the VIVA Azteca.
Of course we liked the Mexican the best. In the picture, you can see the “Xul-Ha” restaurant, an traditional Mayan restaurant. It is the most beautiful and authentic restaurant in my opinion. At VIVA Maya we visited the “Hacienda Don Diego”, an authentic Mexican restaurant too, with the best Mexican food. Overall, all the restaurants were very beautiful and the food was really delicious. We particularly liked the extremely good and happy atmosphere and the friendly stuff everywhere. The resort itself is beautifully grown and very natural. There are even some wild animals native to the Yucatan Peninsula that live in the jungle parts of the resort. Very often we were treated to the so-called Aguti Marrón and the Coati. They run around freely in the resort and can often be seen at the front of the beach. Spider monkeys and iguanas live in the resort too, although we saw them just once. We were very surprised how idyllic and pleasant the all inclusive resort was. We felt very comfortable there. I can only recommend the Viva Azteca by Wyndham, as I have never seen such a beautiful, natural and culturally rich hotel. You could really feel the Mexican vibe everywhere.
Activities
Snorkeling Tour Cozumel
Of course, during our two-week vacation in Mexico, we didn’t just want to chill out on the beach, but also see some of the beautiful nature and culture of the Yucatan Peninsula. We went on a total of four excursions. The first was a snorkeling trip to the island of Cozumel, which is just off Playa del Carmen. Here you will find the Cozumel Reef National Park, which is a real snorkeling and diving paradise. The island is very easy to reach by ferry. There are two different ferry providers, which depart every half hour. It doesn’t really matter which provider you choose, as there is almost no difference in price. We booked a snorkeling tour with GetYourGuide the day before, which was really easy and I can only recommend it. We only had to look for the meeting point at the harbor and show our voucher. As we were at the meeting point a little earlier, we spent another hour in the city. Unfortunately, it is full of small stalls where the vendors are very pushy and try to lure you into their store. We then walked back to our meeting point, where we were taken to the boat harbor on time by car. From here we started our snorkeling tour on a small boat with about 8 other people. It was a totally relaxed atmosphere on the boat and the crew, which consisted of the captain, photographer and guide, were super fun and entertaining. We made several stops at famous snorkeling spots, as well as a food break. After half an hour’s boat ride along the island’s beautiful natural beach promenade, we reached our first snorkeling destination: the Palancar Reef. The water here was relatively deep and unfortunately the sun was also obscured by clouds for a brief moment, so visibility was limited. Our second stop was in less deep waters. There were no more coral reefs to be seen here, just a sandy bottom slightly covered with algae. The captain said that we were hoping to come across turtles here. After about 10 minutes of searching, we were lucky enough to spot the first turtle. It was an unforgettable experience. You could really swim in open water next to these fascinating animals. Of course, we were advised to keep our distance and respect the turtles’ privacy. After a short time, a second turtle even came swimming up. We watched them for about 30 minutes as they breathed, ate and swam around before we made our way to the famous El Cielo. El Cielo is a beautiful white sandy beach with extremely turquoise water, which can only be reached by boat. This beach is breathtaking for its natural beauty alone. El Cielo is known for its starfish. No matter where you look on the ground, the sand is full of hundreds of starfish, which you can observe perfectly. The last stop of the snorkeling trip was at El Cielito. The water here is very shallow, which is why the beach is ideal for a snack break in the water. Ceviche and nachos with guacamole were served on a floating board in the water. It really was a dream: eating in clear turquoise water, a white natural beach with palm trees and lots of stingrays swimming through the shallow waters. You could already see them from the boat. Of course, it was particularly spectacular in the water, as the stingrays swam extremely close to our feet. This was a really special highlight at the end of the trip! After that, we made our way back to the harbor, where we actually got caught in a small storm. It suddenly started to rain heavily and the boat began to rock because of the waves. This was of course exciting at first, but our captain was totally relaxed and just said “Welcome to the Caribbean!”. The rain stopped after 5 minutes and we arrived safely at the harbor. All in all, the trip was absolutely perfect and a real experience that we will never forget!
Chichén Itzá and Cenote
Our second excursion took us to what is probably the most famous destination in the Yucatan: Chichén Itzá. As one of the seven wonders of the modern world, Chichén Itzá is of course a must-see.
We were picked up by a minibus at our meeting point at around 7 a.m. This minibus drove us and a few others to another meeting point, where a tourbus and other participants were already waiting. Now we were off to Chichén Itzá. We drove 2 hours from Playa del Carmen. When we arrived, there were already many other buses in the parking lot. It was busy and a bit chaotic at first, but we all got stickers from our guide so that no one could get lost. We also all went to the entrance together. Our guide really had a lot of knowledge. Even on the bus, he told us enthusiastically about the Mayan culture. He also had photos of the Mayan sundial with him and showed us around. The ruins are in a square with no trees or other shade. There is shade and trees all around, but of course the guide explained what the ruins were all about directly at the ruins, so we had to take a break every now and then and go into the shade. That was a pity about the explanations, but it was just too hot for us in the sun. There were always boards with explanations in front of the ruins so that you could read through them. Of course, this was not detailed information. We would therefore recommend taking a small parasol with you. The maya ruins were truly breathtaking. The famous El Castillo was of course the largest and best preserved building. Our tour guide explained to us that the building served as a kind of calendar and told us exactly how it worked. It was very exciting to learn more about the mayan culture. El Castillo stands right in the middle of the ruined city. But there were actually also some other fascinating ruins, such as this sports field in the second picture. We were really pleasantly surprised at how much this ruined city has to offer and had only expected to see El Castillo. Hidden around the ruined city, under the trees, are some stalls. Here you can buy maya statues or bracelets and other things. However, the prices are very high, which is why I wouldn’t recommend it. After about 2 hours in Chichén Itzá, we went back to the bus. The time there was enough for us, as otherwise it simply gets too hot inland and in the midday sun. We then went on to the saamal cenote, another big highlight of our tour. It took us 30 minutes by bus from Chichén Itzá to the cenote. Once we got there, we could decide whether we wanted to eat something in the buffet restaurant first (the meal was included) or swim in the cenote first. As we were already looking forward to cooling off, we went swimming first. There were also outdoor showers and changing rooms. We had a relatively long time and were able to organize our time freely. As we mainly wanted to enjoy the Cenote, we bathed in the refreshing water for a very long time. Before you were allowed into the water, you had to put on a life jacket. Our guide explained to us that this was necessary due to the depth of the Cenote and the underground rivers. Swimming in the Cenote was an extraordinary experience. The Cenote really was a special natural spectacle. The access to the water alone was beautiful: a long wooden staircase led down the walls of the Cenote into the water and as you can see in the picture there is even a small waterfall. The water was cold, but that was very good after the morning in the sun. After swimming in the Cenote, we enjoyed the mexican buffet. It was really very tasty. Finally, we made a stop in the colonial city of Valladolid before we were driven home again. The city itself doesn’t have much to offer, but there you have the opportunity to try some tequila ;). All in all, the trip was simply magical and I would do it again at any time if I fly to the Yucatan again.
Tulum
Our last excursion took us to Tulum. We did some research beforehand and decided to go there on our own by public bus rather than booking a GetYourGuide tour. There is a large bus station in Playa del Carmen. ADO buses go everywhere from here. It is a bit chaotic there, so we definitely recommend getting there early enough to have enough time to buy a ticket. The tickets cost around 100 pesos per person, which is really okay. However, you have to be prepared for delays on the buses. Our bus was about 40 minutes late because there were some problems. It is very difficult to get information about this as everything is only said in Spanish. The bus was comfortable with pleasant air conditioning. It took us about an hour to get to our stop in Tulum. The bus driver let us off directly at a tourist information center and told us to get information there. After 10 minutes of being talked at, we realized that they were trying to sell us a tour. So we quickly made our own way to the archeological zone, which was only a 15-minute walk away. Once there, we had to pay a tax and the entrance fee. You can find more detailed information about the prices and taxes here. We really liked the archeological zone. Sure, there are more maya ruins, but the landscape is really indescribable. The ruins alone are of course very beautiful, but the location, right by the sea, is particularly great. It’s really worth walking around the whole area. There are beautiful paths with different views of the dream beaches of Tulum. With the ruins in the background, the picture here is breathtaking. However, as you can see in the first picture, many of the ruins are completely in the sun. Just the walk in between is very tiring. Once again, we recommend a sunshade or taking a break in the shade. A special highlight were the so-called iguana negra de roca. These iguanas could really be found everywhere. We had already seen a few in Chichén Itzá, but there really were hundreds here. Small ones, of course, but also extremely large ones that reached a length of around 2 meters with their tails. Some of them were well camouflaged, but they were also just walking around on the paths. A special highlight were the so-called iguana negra de roca. These iguanas could really be found everywhere. We had already seen a few in Chichén Itzá, but there really were hundreds here. Small ones, of course, but also extremely large ones that reached a length of around 2 meters with their tails. Some of them were well camouflaged, but they were also just walking around on the paths. However, we couldn’t go down the famous steps to the beach. The beach was closed due to the turtle nesting season, which was a shame. However, it looked to us more like the beach was permanently closed so as not to destroy the beautiful landscape there. We spent about two and a half hours here and then went for a swim outside the archeological zone before taking the bus home.
How to get from A to B
Hotel
If you don’t need more than half an hour to walk, a sunny stroll along the beach is of course always an option. But you have to bear in mind that the air is extremely humid and the sun is very strong, so it could be a bit strenuous. The much more relaxed option is the cab. You can simply ask at the hotel and a cab will be waiting in a few minutes.
Trip
We have booked most of our trips through GetYourGuide. There is often the possibility to book a transfer with pick-up directly from your hotel. We have booked most of our trips through GetYourGuide. There is often the option to book a transfer with pick-up directly from the hotel. This is of course the most uncomplicated way. You simply specify your hotel and are given a time when you will be picked up. Of course, you will also be dropped off at the same place after the excursion. However, we booked our snorkeling trip to the island of Cozumel without a hotel pick-up. We took care of the transport ourselves as we wanted to spend more time on the island before the excursion. Independent travel is no problem at all in Mexico. In Playa del Carmen, for example, there was an extra ferry port where you could simply buy a ticket on the spot and reach Cozumel every 30 minutes. There are also bus stations in every city where you can easily buy tickets. The ADO buses take you almost everywhere. We took one of these buses to Tulum, for example. It’s much cheaper than a cab, but it’s still very quick and uncomplicated. However, you have to be careful with the bus drivers. We were a bit late, so we almost didn’t have time to buy a ticket. The bus driver then wanted to give us a lift anyway for cash directly on his hand. Fortunately, we thankfully declined and were able to buy a ticket in time. Others accepted this offer, but then had the problem of not getting a seat on the bus. When you buy a ticket, every passenger is allocated a fixed seat. The passengers without a seat then of course had to make room for passengers with a ticket several times. We therefore recommend buying a ticket in any case. Overall, we were really positively surprised by the public transport and can definitely recommend traveling on your own.
Helpful tips
- You have to pay various taxes for the archaeological zone Tulum. We didn’t find these on the internet, but only found them out at the entrance. You also had to pay these taxes accordingly. These are the taxes (as of 10.2023):
- 95 Pesos per person for the ruins entrance INAH ticket
- 60 Pesos per person for the Tulum National Park CONAP bracelet, but it’s free for less than 12 years old
- It’s worth getting up early! There are lots of animals out and about in the morning and the sunrises are beautiful. We were lucky enough to spot a spider monkey in the morning.
- Do not take an extra camera with you to Chichén Itzá or Tulum. You had to pay taxes at the entrance for each extra camera (in Tulum 30 pesos). So a cell phone is perfectly sufficient, and you don’t have to pay for it. Extra taxes were also charged for extra powerbanks.
- The sales staff in the tourist stores in the city will probably recognize your wristband and can therefore identify which resort you are in. Don’t be lured by fake waiters who supposedly know you ;).
- Make sure to get tacos in the city, even if you have an all-inclusive resort. Believe us, it’s totally worth it! They are prepared in a totally different way than we expected, and since then we only prepare them that way!