Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

The Yucatan is situated in Mexico’s south east coast surrounded my clear tropical waters and white-coral sandy beaches. The peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea and the gulf of Mexico and everything that one associated with the word “Caribbean” is on full display along the shore line.

The area is so diverse; from the most amazing and diverse coral reefs saturated in colour to Mayan ruins, colonial cities and towns to underground caves of fresh water called cenotes, slow beach towns to the bright lights and party scene in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. The Yucatan has something to offer for every type of traveler.

Time to go: The dry season which is also the high season is November to March where it is less humid and slightly cooler than the humid summer months. The wet or hurricane season is from late August to October. This is where you will find cheaper deals and having travelled to this area myself in September, I would not hesitate to go back at that time of year. One of the days during the 10 days in Mexico was rainy, other than that we had perfectly clear and sunny days but it was hot!

We had only ten days in Mexico so it was very brief but we managed to pack a lot into such a short space of time. Here is a rough guide to ten days in the Yucatan Peninsula:

1) Cancun: Anyone arriving by plane will usually arrive into Cancun International Airport. From Europe is it definitely the cheapest place to fly into with plenty of options to choose from. There are also cheap flights into Cancun from Havana if you fancied coupling Cuba into your trip.

We didn’t stay in Cancun downtown, we hired a car and got out of there! I can’t comment on Cancun downtown but from what I had heard it didn’t have too much to offer. We did however to the all-inclusive resort to finish off and relax after an activity packed 10 days in Mexico. We stayed in Sandos Resort. I’m not the type who does nothing very well but I welcomed three days of doing nothing and having amazing food and drink on tap. You either love them or hate them but I think everyone should try them out once. The hotel had lots of organized activities and a great selection of restaurants to choose from so we were never bored.

2. Isla Holbox- Paradise island. There are no cars on the island, it has retained such a charm despite the large number of tourist who visit the island. It receives a lot less tourists compared to Isla Mujeres. The center of the town is brimming with cool rustic and brightly painted wooden eateries, hostels and bars. It really was a different world compared to Cancun. Along the beach there are more exclusive lodges and hotels which are dotted along the beach. We caught a ferry from Chiquila and parked the car we rented from Cancun airport in one of the many car parks near the ferry. It took about two and a half hours to drive from Cancun airport to Chiquila, the roads are excellent for the first 2 hours. The ferry takes about 30 minutes and goes every hour.

Where to stay: We opted for a hostel in Holbox and got a private room in Che Hostel. Good fun and things on each night and tours going from the hostel daily. Nice pool and bar in the hostel. Free buffet breakfast included and great food at the pizza and BBQ nights.

Where to eat and drink: So many options! Lots of cute bars and cafes in the town center you will never be stuck of somewhere good to eat.

What to do: Chill on the beach, walk to see the Flamingos, take a trip to see the whale sharks, go snorkeling, party and let the day pass lying on a hammock on the beach.

Things to note: There is only one ATM on the island with Mexican pesos so bring cash! There are a few dispensing US dollars but you will need pesos to pay for things on the island.

3. Merida– we drove from Chiquila to Merida. If driving my advice is take the hit and pay the tolls, it will be unbelievably slow going through all the small towns. It took about 3 hours from Chiquila to Merida centre. Merida is a charming colonial city and the capital of the Yucutan peninsula. It is the only city to be twice named American Capital Culture. The city’s white washed walls are actually outnumbered by the colourful pastel architecture which only adds to city’s the vibrant colonial look.  Again, completely different from the island life of Isla Holbox. The city itself is beautiful with cathedrals, arches and grand buildings and avenues. There is plenty to do around Merida if you’ve had your fill of the city. It is a good base for travelling to nearby ruins. You will notice the considerable price drop when you get to Merida compared to overpriced Tulum or the islands.

Where to stay: Hotel Caribe Merida Yucatan, this hotel was very central with a lovely roof top pool. It was very reasonable for such a great location, lovely pool and free parking.

Where to eat: You cannot go to Merida and not go to La Negrita. It’s a place where you can eat, drink, dance and listen to some live music. It’s an open air space filled with some tables inside and lit by fairy lights outside. It gets very busy at the weekends with locals so get there early to get a table. They do great cocktails which are very strong in jars and bring free snacks to the table. They do great Mexican food too.

Chaya Maya: This had come highly recommended by tripadvisor. Reasonably priced tradition Yucatan food served.

Cubantio: We had breakfast here, a family owned café which does a lovely brunch and breakfast menu which is pocket friendly.

Hennessey’s Irish Pub: We couldn’t go to Merida and not try the Irish bar. A bar filled with expats, good atmosphere in the evening and a good menu of international food. The prices are more akin to Irish prices than Meridan prices though!

What to do:

• Mayan World Museum of Merida: Well worth a visit! Discover more about Mayan tradition, people, culture and history. It’s well outside the center so take a taxi or drive to it. It is no more than 10 min drive from the city center. Its closed on a Tuesday and costs 150 pesos.
• Plaza Grande
• Paseo de Montejo- Merida’s answer to Paris’s Champs- Elysees. Have a stroll up, stop for an ice cream or lunch and take in the historical buildings.
• Take the free walking tour- 9.30am every morning from Merida Tourism office and it’s free.
• Lucas de Galvez Market- get lost amongst the chaos of the market selling everything from fresh food to clothing to homemade crafts.
• Grand Cathedral de San Ildefonso
• Explore free public building surrounding the Plaza Grande

What to do outside of Merida:

• Dzibilchaltun and its cenote: Mayan ruins and a big cenote in the centre of the ruins. You can explore this area on your own without a guide. Again you will need either a taxi or a car to get to this, it’s about 20 min drive from the city center.
• Day trip to the ancient ruins of Uxmal, Ek’ Balam and Chichen Itza: The only one I made it to was Chichen Itza but heard great things about Uxmal and Ek’ Balam.

Get a tour in Chichen Itza, this is the one place I wouldn’t scrimp on a tour. We asked another couple in the line if they wanted to get a guide together and split the cost so it didn’t end up too expensive. Chichen Itza was incredible, one of the seven modern wonders of the world. A must see when in the Yucutan! The area is steeped in history and the guides are excellent at passing on their knowledge of the Mayan people who inhabited Chichen Itza. I’ll let the picture to do the talking.

• Ik Kil Cenote- This is very close and easily got to from Chichen Itza. You can rent towels here and shower after. There’s a platform you can jump off as well. I would recommend stopping off here for a dip.

4. Valladolid: I wished we had a spare night to spend here. It’s a quiet colonial city en route from Merida to Tulum. We stopped for lunch here, a wander around and a dip in Cenote Zahi. It’s quieter, bigger and less expensive than the popular Ik Kil and has a great platform for jumping off.

5. Tulum: Be prepared for your eyes to water at the price hikes compared to Merida. Tulum is well known for its famous beaches and Mayan ruins that tower over the sea. It’s surrounded by jungle and beach and a popular destination for millennials to become to do beach yoga and eat acai bowls. Personally I loved Tulum! It is undergoing a lot of construction and it is a changing beach town with lots of development in the jungle with hotels and Airbnbs. There is plenty to do in Tulum and around and easily a place where you may plan to spend a week but find yourself there a month later.

Where to stay: We stayed in Los Amigos Airbnb. This complex of self-catering apartments was about a 10 min cycle from the town center. There is a lot of construction going on in the area here and I would love to go back in five years and see how it has turned out. The complex had a roof top pool overlooking the jungle and hosted yoga in the mornings. Each guest had the use of a bike which is essential in Tulum and access to Central Park and it’s facilities. Central park had more apartments, several pools, a bar and restaurant for those health conscious, a gym and a climbing wall. There are plenty of hostel in Tulum, I would recommend Che Hostel here too. Airbnb is very popular in Tulum and there is plenty of choice.

Where to eat and drink:

• Pizzeria Manglar: one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Gorgeous outdoor seated lit with twinkling lights. Traditional Italian and they do great Aperol spritz!
• Matcha Mama: Not exactly budget friendly prices but great smoothie bowls! You will see plenty of Instagram clichés of people on their swings, go for the photo if nothing else. They do a great selection of smoothies, energy balls, matcha lattes and acai bowls.
• Taqueria Honorio: Dirt cheap and tasty tacos. Food is delicious and no frills relaxed atmosphere.
• Batey Mojito bar: Amazing mojitos, the real draw here is the freshly crushed sugar cane made in front of you out of a converted VW Beetle. Great atmosphere, cocktails and love music.

Things to do:

• Tulum Mayan Ruins

• Explore the Sian Ka’an Biosphere: now you’ll need to book a tour to do this and at 120 dollars it’s not cheap but its worth every penny. It’a a protected home to thousands of species of flora and fauna as well as some of the most pristine waters in mexico. If you want to see dolphins, turtles, crocodiles, snorkeling with colourful fish and see more species of birds than you’ve ever seen, this tour is a must do. It was the highlight of the trip I would say.

• Hang out on the beach– Playa Paraiso. Some of the most amazing beaches with crystal clear waters are in Tulum.
• Coba ruins: not as impressive as Chichen Itza but you can climb to the top of the main pyramid (which is forbidden in Chichen Itza.
• Grande Cenote, Dos Ojos and Cenotes Zacil- Ha: go early! We arrived at 9 am when Dos Ojos opened and we were the only ones in the cenote. It was amazing having it to ourselves. I have never seen water so clear it is hard to tell where the level of the water is. You can scuba dive in the caves, something we didn’t do but I believe it incredible. The Grande Cenote is the busiest of all and opens at 08.15 so I recommend getting there early. The Grande Cenote has turtles in it that swam right up to me and were climbing on the rocks. I rented a bike and cycled to the Grande Cenote (12 mins) and to Cenote Zacil-Ha (25 mins) from Tulum center. Cenote Zacil-Ha is much quieter and I had it to myself also. There is a zipline there too which you can go on for a small fee.

Get a photo with the Tulum sign: a little touristy, ok extremely touristy but you have to do it. On a bike.

• Zine: This was one of my favourite evenings in Mexico. It was ranked number one restaurant in Tulum on tripadvisor. It was located in Central Park and run by the Los Amigos team. Zine is a private cinema and dining experience. A slice of luxury and a real treat is how I would describe it for an extremely affordable price. We had a private cinema with over 250 movies to choose from, very comfortable sofa and cushions to lie down. The food was delicious and was served during the meal. We started with popcorn and a drink before the film started and followed by dinner and dessert. I would recommend doing this for a date night in Tulum.

Playa del Carmen:

We only stopped for here to get the ferry to Cozumel island but I didn’t like what I saw. I couldn’t walk 10m without being hounded by venders to buy sun glasses, bags and other items for sale. It has been very much commercialized and was a stark contrast to the charming beach town of Tulum. It is known for its party scene and all-inclusive resorts.

Cozumel Island: we got the ferry from Playa Del Carmen to Cozumel which took about 40 minutes. Unfortunately we only had one night here so it was a whistle stop tour but I had heard about the world class diving that attracts divers from all over the world so I had to check out the diving here. The island is lot more commercialized then Isla Holbox and much larger. Cars are on the island and it is more expensive due to the influx of tourists daily due to the numerous cruise ships that off load its passengers onto the island for the day. We found the island dead in the evening. Perhaps due to a mixture of the cruise ship tourists returning to their ships, it being low season and midweek. That said the island is beautiful with its white sandy and insane emerald turquoise waters.

Where to stay: We treated ourselves and stayed in the Westin for the night, which is north of the island. It was well worth the 100 euro. Biggest bed I’ve slept in, great gym, amazing views from the room, private beach and gorgeous pool overlooking the sea.

What to do: Diving! Scuba diving in Cozumel is amongst of the best areas to dive in the world. I did two afternoon dives with Scuba Tony and would highly recommend Tony and his diving company. He takes only small groups and I managed to get a last minute booking with only three of us on the dive.

Lake Bacalar:

On a separate trip as a solo backpacker I went to Lake Bacalar from Tulum. I caught the ADO bus from the station in Tulum and it took about 3 hours on the bus to get to Bacalar.

Lake Bacalar is also known as the Maldives of Mexico and the Laguna of seven colours due to the lakes ability to change colours depending on the weather and where abouts you are in the lake. The lake famous for the colour and water clarity, partly the result of having a white limestone bottom. Like most bodies of water in the Yucatán peninsula, the lake is fed by underground rivers. The rivers pool in cenotes and they feed into the lake.

I know I keep saying how clear the water is but the tourquoise colours of Lake Bacalar rivial all the other bodies of water in the Yucutan.

Where to stay: I visited Bacalar on a solo backpacking trip so this time round I stayed in hostels. The best hostel by far is The Yak House. It was so clean, the cleaners were cleaning ALL THE TIME! Great free breakfast included,really good wifi, nice bathrooms and comfy beds and fluffy towels. It’s located right on the lake and they organise good tours to do daily.

Things to do: Bacalar is a small sleepy town so apart from exploring the lake there isn’t a whole lot to do here but that is the attraction of the lake. Chilling out and enjoying a kayaking and swimming in the tourquoise waters. I did a standing paddleboarding sunset tour which was organised through the hostel. It was a brilliant tour to do and cost US $25. Paddleboarding is harder then it looks!

I also did a 2 hour afternoon boat trip around the lake to see the cenotes that feed into the lake. This was good and was only $15. I preferred the paddleboarding tour but it’s fairly active so not everyones cup of tea.

Where to eat:

• La Playita– not that cheap but really extensive menu and vegan and veggie friendly. The restaurant overlooks the lake and they do great wraps for lunch. Their watermelon vodka cocktail is a great shout also.

• Mango y vegan and vegetarian burgers and fries at there best.

• Yerbabuena: this eco conscious cafe is cheap and cheerful vegan and vegetarian sandwichs and the best smoothies. The cafe is a small cafe run by one lady and has cute swings to sit on in it.

• Mister Tacos– I didn’t eat hear but I heard good things about the tacos here.

Places I wish we had time to visit:

Islas Mujeres

Las Colorades with its stunning cotton candy pink lakes

Rio Lagartos Bioshpere Reserve