Your First Visit to Cancun or the Riviera Maya

Cancun is the most popular arrival destination in Mexico by far, seeing eight to ten million international tourists pass through its airport doors each year. The region usually receives more air traffic than the next three most popular beach places in Mexico combined. If it’s your first visit to Cancun though, the arrival can be overwhelming.

For many tourists, it’s the gateway to the country, where they arrive for the very first time on Mexican soil. As such it has some of the less savory aspects of huge resort areas everywhere: over-development and a lack of culture, for a start. Cancun itself is an unapologetic “fun in the sun” destination, with lots of all-inclusive resorts, nightclubs, shopping, and restaurants. The vast majority of people living here work in tourism.

It’s popular for a reason though, especially for those guests who want to know up front what their vacation is going to cost and then they can let loose after arrival with no worries. It’s a prime place to de-stress from a tough job or to escape the harsh winters up north, with plenty to do nearby, from Mayan ruins to theme parks.

Preparing for Arrival in Mexico

You can be carefree after arrival, but there are some preparation aspects to keep in mind for your first visit to Cancun or the Riviera Maya. First of all, is your passport current? Most countries want to see at least six months remaining on it when you land, so if it’s close to expiring, you might want to get that renewal done well in advance.

Fortunately, there’s now only one travel document you must fill out before going through immigration. That’s the Mexico customs declaration form you hand over when you exit baggage claim. You just have to declare what you’re bringing in that’s relevant, if anything, and vow that you don’t have $10,000 in cash stuffed into a briefcase.

In some airports you’ll push a button and if you get green, you go straight through, red and they look through your baggage. Others are on the honor system and you just roll through the “Nothing to declare” lane if you have nothing to report. For some airports you must put your baggage through an x-ray machine on the way out, in others not.

Before that though, you go through immigration. In some airports this is becoming electronic, based on facial recognition, but that’s not always a good thing. If you see one of those and you’re wanting to stay the maximum 180 days that is allowed, it’s best to find a real human to grant that (have proof of a return ticket and reserved lodging ready) rather than taking your chances. If they don’t stamp your passport, you don’t know how much time they gave you.

In most cases you’ll approach a window though where they will ask you how long you are staying. In some airports they’ll just give you 180 days automatically, but if it’s clear you’re flying back in a week from Cancun, you’ll probably just get a week. You have to get through all that before you get to enjoy this:

The hardest part isn’t over, however. The Cancun airport has let the touts, scammers, and timeshare sales reps run wild, so you’ll go through a gauntlet of people trying to get your attention or sell you something before you get outside in the open air. It doesn’t stop there either: once while waiting for my prearranged pickup, 27 people approached me to ask if I wanted them to arrange a taxi. (Even though there are prepaid taxi booths you can walk up to for a booking.)

If there’s any airport in the Americas where you should have airport transportation set up in advance, this is it. Even if it seems overpriced, you’re paying for the ability to ignore that sea of yelling people and just look for the person holding your name on a sign. You follow him or her and start your more peaceful vacation in air-conditioned comfort.

Staying in Cancun or the Riviera Maya

The best luxury Cancun hotels are on a strip of barrier islands that extend out and around from the mainland, looking like the top of a rectangle. None are very far from the airport. The luxury options start at Nizuc on the southern corner and extend up through the Live Aqua, Secrets the Vine, Kempinski, and Le Blanc toward the other end.

If you keep going, there’s a smaller SLS Cancun option near a marina. You can take a ferry from that area out to Isla Mujeres. Not to be confused with that is Playa Mujeres, a purpose-built resort area on the mainland that’s another strip of resorts and…not much else. These are the kinds of places where you check in and don’t plan to leave for a week.

Heading south from the airport though, there is a long string of more spread-out resorts from Puerto Morelos down to Tulum. (Which has its own shiny new airport, but with fewer flight options.) Most of these are stand-alone, sprawling complexes where visitors arrive from the airport and only leave for an excursion. For those who don’t want to be so isolated at an all-inclusive the whole stay, Playa del Carmen is a better bet with its long pedestrian-only main drag and a wide choice of places to eat and drink.

Choosing where to stay and what to do in the Cancun area can be overwhelming, so see our vetted Cancun & Riviera Maya hotel reviews on Luxury Latin America for the best options with reliably good service.

What to Do Away From the Mexican Resorts

There’s no shortage of things to do in the Riviera Maya and beyond, but there’s a wide range of prices and also a wide range of authenticity. You can be dazzled at a night show at Xcaret or the Cirque du Soleil show in its custom theater, or take a journey to Chichen Itza, Coba, or Tulum to see Mayan ruins. Of course there are plenty of good fishing, snorkeling, and scuba diving options, including the Underwater Museum of Art off the coast of Cancun and a coral reef off the shore of Cozumel.

Fortunately this is one of the easiest parts of North America to explore by car. Wide roads are well-maintained, everything is flat, and signage is good. Car rentals in Cancun are reasonably priced, but allow plenty of time for check-out and check-in since things never move very quickly. Photograph or video any existing damage in case they try to blame a scratch on you later: they note every little dent on a form, so make sure it matches what you see.

Note that leaving the car at another destination will likely result in a sizeable drop-off charge. Mexican liability insurance is required when renting—not covered by your credit card or home insurance—and this is where visitors get scammed all the time. It should only add approximately $12 to $15 a day to the rates you see online, but agencies like Budget and Europcar are infamous for showing low rates online and then jacking that up three or four times for “mandatory insurance” at the counter, leaving you no choice but to pay up or walk out.

Try to find a reputable agency that includes the liability insurance in what they quote you up front instead and take screenshots of your booking as backup. We’ve had better luck with Avis and Mex Rent a Car than the other agencies for this.

Departure Considerations From Cancun

Cancun is one of the busiest airports in the Americas and the area around it is oddly designed, with only one road in and one road out, so traffic can get backed up sometimes, especially if the taxi drivers are protesting about Uber and making things difficult, which has happened far too often here. Leave plenty of extra time to get to the airport.

Inside the airport, the lines can be long to check in with baggage, so allow time for that too, especially if you’re on an understaffed budget airline. You also must pay a 283-peso exit tax that’s simply an extra money grab from the Quintana Roo state government. They’re reaching into your pocket for a third time since this is on top of all the taxes you paid to enter the country (included in your plane ticket) and the hotel room government taxes that made up more than 20% of your bill at checkout.

This third one is called the Visitax and if you didn’t pay it in advance already via the official site, you’ll be hit up for it at the airport. Unless you are a Mexican resident, you need the QR code proof of payment to exit. You can pay it with a credit card online or in person.

Once past security, this airport is no fun, with tiny lounges to access and waiting areas that are far too small for the number of passengers awaiting flights. More than half the space in one terminal is devoted to shopping spaces instead. It’s worth it to duck into a bar or restaurant for a while just to have some room to yourselves.

If you’re checking a bag and going through a hub in the USA, such as Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, or Houston, you must pick up your bag from the luggage carousel and take it to a designated area for rechecking after you exit baggage claim. Then you’ll need to clear security again in the states, no liquids. So if you picked up a bottle of tequila at the last minute, stuff it into your checked suitcase.

Then when you get home, sort out your photos, talk about the good times, then figure out where you’re going on the next vacation!

Article and all photos by editor Timothy Scott of Luxury Latin America.