Traveling the Yucatan Peninsula on a Budget

Traveling to Mexico can be so much more than gated resorts and over-priced goods.  The Yucatan Peninsula is filled with so many adventures from climbing ruins, jumping into cenotes, relaxing on un-touched beaches, walking the streets of colorful colonial towns and eating cheap street food.

I bought a cheap flight from Chicago to Cancun on American Airlines for $112 on Skyscanner.com.  Find the closest main airport and check flights into Cancun (it’s one of the cheapest to fly into in Mexico). If you only plan to stay a day or two, try to get in at an earlier time so you have time to enjoy your time there.  I’d just stay in Cancun if you’re there a few days. You can find a cheap hostel to stay at.  My favorite sights are Booking.com and Hostelworld.com.  Wait to get Mexican Pesos once you arrive in Cancun.  I used the ATM in the arrivals area.  Roughly 20 pesos are $1.  I didn’t like my hostel in Cancun called Quetzal Hostal, it was too loud all night long.  There are some better ones though.  You can visit Isla Holbox or Isla Mujeres on a day trip, hang out at one of the nearby beaches in the “Hotel Zone” area (my favorites were Playa Delfines or Chac Mool but many like Playa Forum or Mandala because of the parties).  Take the R1 or R2 local buses everywhere to get around and to the beaches (only 10.5 pesos (50 cents)) When you arrive in Cancun, they will try to charge you a lot for a bus ride from the airport into town, it will be very hard to find a regular taxi too.  You can either go to the ADO bus station at the airport and take a cheap bus into town (check with your accommodations to see their location from the ADO bus station in town) or if you want a simpler ride, look for the Super Shuttle van right outside of arrivals (they quoted me $12 but I said that I had pesos so they charged me 170 pesos (roughly $8.50))  When going back to the airport when departing, use the ADO bus station or get a taxi for around 300 pesos.  There is no entrance or exit fees or tax for Mexico.  Be sure to hold on to the bottom half of the customs form for when you depart from Mexico, otherwise you’ll be charged $35 for losing it and getting another one. Immigration will ask why you are in Mexico, for how long, and your departing flight.

If you decide to stay in Mexico longer than just one or 2 days, I’d highly recommend taking an ADO bus (or Maya bus, all from the same bus station), for cheap (140 pesos ($6.50) 2 hour ride) to Tulum.  Tulum is a smaller, beach-like town.  Much smaller and calmer than Cancun.  The beach is much nicer.  It’s touristy but not like Cancun.  You can spend time going to cenotes (awesome small deep lakes, great for swimming or diving), relaxing at the beach, climb ruins, take day trips, and admire it's awesome street art.  I would recommend saving your money to do some shopping elsewhere though.  Tulum is pretty overpriced when it comes to buying souvenirs, same with the majority of Cancun.  

I stayed at Hostel Che Babel (there’s a Che Babel II online but that’s not the one I was at).  It’s cheap, fun, great location, great staff, and popular.  You can actually bypass staying in Cancun overall if you’d like.  You can arrive at the Cancun airport, go to the ADO bus station at the airport, buy a ticket to Tulum, walk to Hostel Che Babel (other whatever hostel you have since it’s a small town), stay for a few days, then buy a ticket straight from Tulum to the Cancun airport (just 2-2.5 hour drive, many people go straight to the airport).  Tulum is much more fun than Cancun.

I took a day trip from Tulum to Valladolid.  It’s a cute colorful colonial town about 3 hours from Tulum.  My two-way ticket cost around $12 or so. 

 

Valladolid is filled with rich history, as well as being speckled with several cenotes.

I also took a day trip from Tulum to Coba.  I decided to visit Coba over Chichen Itza.  Coba has a really high ruin that is still open for climbing.  It was quite scary climbing it but it was worth every ounce of fear because it had a great view and it also made me feel good for facing my fear of heights.

There are many cool places to visit throughout the Yucatan Peninsula other than the overly touristy cities of Playa del Carmen, Cabo, Riviera Maya, and Cancun including Bacalar, Mexico City, Merida, Chetumal, and Campeche.

Mexico is such a great place to experience such history while relaxing on beautiful beaches, climb ancient ruins, explore small towns, eat cheap street food, mingle with fun locals, dance the night away at clubs, and why not learn a bit of Spanish while you travel!