
It
was raining when I went to Cancún, so imagine my bitch face while I was there.
By Cancún, I mean the hotel zone. Okay, fine, let’s clear things up a bit, shall
we? Cancún is a resort city in Quintana Roo. It used to be THE ultimate beach getaway in
all of Mexico, except that along with the white sand and turquoise waters of
the Caribbean, its enviable location also lies at the hurricane belt. There was
a time in its history when it was ravaged by a hurricane so badly, tourist
traffic redirected to Los Cabos at the Pacific Coast for a while.
But Cancún has recovered since then. It is still one of the prime Caribbean beach destinations, ever popular to Europeans, Americans, and Canadians, as evidenced by the constant international traffic its airport receives every day. While it ranks second only to Mexico City’s airport in terms of size, it is actually number one as far as international passenger arrivals are concerned. And no, it’s not totally unheard of for first time tourists in the country to skip the capital in favor of Cancún. DF has no beach, you know.

Look
at a map of Quintana Roo and you’ll notice a jut of land extending toward the
sea in the form of a giant number seven. That’s the Zona Hotelera. It’s a long
highway sandwiched by hotels and malls on both sides. DO NOT make the mistake
of thinking that said stretch of terrain is walkable. Technically, it is. The
road is paved after all. But it will take you a few hours to get from one end
to another. Don’t be a cheapskate and take the buses plying the road. They cost
no more than MXN10.50 (~PHP27) per way.

Most
of the beaches are not accessible unless you stay at one of the hotels, but don’t
be sad now. There are two or three public ones that are free for all, and
once you get your ass on that white sand, the entire outer edge of the giant
seven is yours. The one I went to was called Playa Delfines. I did not see any
dolphins, but I definitely enjoyed my short stay there. The area is almost at
the tail of the giant seven, so taking the bus is the better option, unless you
have a lot of time to spare.

Once
you reach the tail of the giant seven, the highway heads back mainland to the airport. That means if you have an early flight the next day, it
might be a good idea to book a hotel somewhere at the southern edge of the Zona
Hotelera. As for me, my Airbnb place was downtown, which is closer to the
northern edge. And so we have come to this question. What
should you expect? Well, white sand and different shades of blue!

Like
I said, it was raining when I went to the beach. This is perhaps the reason why
whenever I try to reminisce about my beach time in Quintana Roo, it’s Tulum’s
beaches that automatically come to mind instead of Cancún’s. Don’t get me
wrong, though. It’s still the same stretch of the Caribbean Sea. It’s just that
the skies were predominantly grey that day so it was rather depressing. The mood did take a
turn for the livelier once I reached Playa Delfines, and it felt like I was
back in Varadero again!

There
is no entrance fee for Playa Delfines. There is a giant CANCUN sign overlooking
the stunning blue and white background, but it's always full of camwhores. At
least they fall in line and patiently wait for their turn. Yours will
eventually come too. There is also a viewing deck where people take selfies. It
doesn’t have a solid shade per se, but the trellis does provide some semblance of
it, albeit incomplete. This is a non-issue because you can just go down to the
beach and invade one of the huts there.

Nobody
approached me asking for payment so I suppose those huts are free. After all,
this is a public beach. I guess we have the government of Quintana Roo to thank
for that. The beach is teeming with hawkers selling food and drinks. Of course,
they are overpriced. Everyone’s got to make a living, you know. Hunger is not
an issue here either because you can just head to one of the malls and find a
resto where you can chill and refuel.

Cancún
has a small archaeological zone called El Rey, but I no longer bothered to
check it out. I mean, I’ve already been to Tulum the day before. It would’ve
just been an underwhelming experience. The main attraction here is the beach.
No more. No less. On a sunny day, your panoramic shots will come off as travel
brochure-ready. My camera is a cheapo one, yet I am just so amazed with the
pictures I took. If yours is better, then imagine how fun it will all be for
you.
[CANCUN] Travel Brochure Ready Shots
2 creature/s gave a damn:
This post reminds me of my Cancun trip! Good read!!!
@David Ramos - Thanks, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did
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