Cancún & Tulum, Mexico

Caribbean water, Mayan ruins on the cliff, and cenotes to swim in. December to April is dry and cool.

beachcenotesruinsnightlifeluxury

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	26°	22°	51 mm	prime
Feb	27°	23°	31 mm	prime
Mar	28°	23°	32 mm	prime
Apr	29°	24°	36 mm	prime
May	30°	25°	91 mm
Jun	29°	26°	196 mm
Jul	30°	26°	102 mm
Aug	30°	26°	137 mm
Sep	30°	26°	182 mm
Oct	29°	25°	200 mm
Nov	28°	23°	91 mm
Dec	27°	22°	58 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $150 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Pesos. Cards are fine in resorts and restaurants; colectivos, small cenotes and beach stalls are cash. Tipping is expected in restaurants and by anyone who carries something for you.
money · editorial
Hurricane season peaks from late summer into October. Separately, sargassum seaweed piles up on the Caribbean-facing beaches through spring and summer, and no hotel can do much about it. Spring break floods Cancun.
when not to go · editorial
Cancun splits into the Hotel Zone, a sandbar of large resorts, and downtown, which is an ordinary Mexican city with better food. Playa del Carmen is the walkable middle. Tulum splits again between the pueblo inland and the beach road, which is expensive and has no pavement.
where to stay · editorial
Shared colectivo vans run constantly along the highway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. In Tulum itself the beach road is done by bicycle. A car earns its keep only if you want cenotes and ruins away from the highway.
getting around · editorial
Cancún airport handles most arrivals; Tulum now has its own airport as well. From Cancún it is a two-hour drive south to Tulum down a single highway, by shuttle, bus or hire car.
getting there · editorial
Cenotes ban ordinary sunscreen and insect repellent; you rinse before entering. The ruins at Tulum and Coba are worth doing in the first hour of opening, before the heat and the coach parties.
know before · editorial

Tulum ruins
The only Maya city built on the edge of a cliff. Go at opening time.
Gran Cenote
Clear fresh water with turtles in it. No sunscreen in the water.
Cenote Dos Ojos
Two sinkholes joined by a flooded cave.
Cobá
The pyramid in the middle of the jungle, with the lake beside it.
Akumal
The bay where the green turtles graze. Guide only, and no touching.
Playa Delfines
The public beach in Cancún, with no hotel in front of it.
Punta Sur, Isla Mujeres
The easternmost point of Mexico, with the cliff and the lighthouse.

Eat cochinita pibil in a market, at breakfast, the way it is done
Eat cochinita pibil at lunch, with red onion on top
Pork roasted in the ground. A Sunday dish that became an everyday one.
Eat a marquesita rolled up in front of you
Crisp crêpe with cheese and something sweet together. Trust it.

Reach the Tulum ruins at opening, before the buses
Get into a cenote right at opening, before any group
Half an hour of still water to yourself.

Dive a flooded cave on tanks, with a guide
Thousands of years of formation, and light coming in through the roof.