Cancun, Mexico 4 Day Itinerary
Ever had a 4 hour facetime/phone call that ends up with you deciding to take a spontaneous trip somewhere? Well this is exactly how this trip came about where my friend Zyie and I, decided to take a impromptu trip to Cancun, Mexico. We planned everything in less than a weeks time and by the following weekend we were ready for our 4-day venture. As known, some of the city’s most beautiful spots, ranging from the wildly popular places to those almost totally devoid of tourists, we put together this itinerary for first-time visitors to Yucatán Peninsula.
DAY 0: ARRIVAL
The trip started off a little rocky and unfortunately, my flight was delayed so instead landing in Cancun around 3 p.m which would have given my friends and I enough to do for half a day, I got there around 7:00 p.m. It was already dark so there wasn’t any point checking out the beaches like we wanted to. In addition to that, prior to our arrival agreed to rent a car from AVIS. ALERT ALERT- DO NOT RENT FROM ANY OF THESE INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES. They do amazing deals where it is $2/day but then when you pick up the car you find out there is like $1, 000,000 in hidden fees that need to be taken from your account. Thankfully, my friends were able to ask the right people and find a company called Easy Way Car Rental. It was a little more expensive (i.e $38 for 4 days as oppose to “$6” for 4 days). Thank God for small miracles.
Moving along, once I landed, it was already dark and there was not much to do but grab something to eat and walk around a popular area. We drove to the Hotel Zone which was 30 minutes from the airport and found a cute and lively spot called Restaurante Mextreme. The food was good, but it could have been better. We more enjoyed the ambiance as there was a live mariachi band performing. Personally, I would recommend the Mexican (in the grill section), Al Pastor Tacos and the Tampiquena Steak.
After having a late dinner we walked around the nearby bars and clubs such as Congo Bongo, Senor Frogs, etc but we didn’t feel up to going into the clubs so instead we hanged out by a lively bar on the same road, drank a couple Coronas and went home to unpack and get ready for the following days.
INFORMATION:
Location: Plaza Zócalo, Blvd. Kukulcan Km. 9.5, Zona Hotelera, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico
Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. every day
Price range: MX$151-300 ($7-25 USD)
TIP: Rent a car. Driving around the Yucatan may seem daunting to some, but it is no more stressful than driving in NYC. Rental cars are cheaper than most tours and gives you the freedom to go where you want when you want.
DAY 1
On our first day we planned to visited Chichen Itza, Ik Kil cenote, and Tulum. We got up around 4:30 AM and drove approximately 3 hours from where we stayed in the Center at THIS Airbnb. There are two routes you can take to get to Chichen Itza. There is the toll free route (click HERE for directions) that is a little longer and there is a toll route which is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes but VERY costly. For one way, there are 4 toll stops and each stop ranges from 177 pesos to 400 pesos each.
We left Cancun early so we can arrive as soon as the gates open to avoid the crowd. It is a long distance so make sure to full your gas tank as soon as you set out. You’ll see signs claiming “Gas Station in 100km”. This is the equivalent to our signs of “Last Gas For 100km”. Keep that in mind if traveling by car.
Morning:
Chichen Itza
INFORMATION:
Chichen Itza
Location: Carretera Merida Puerto Juárez, KM. 120, Chichen Itza, Merida, Yucatán, México, C.P. 97170
Entrance Fee: $480 pesos per adult ($26 USD )
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. every day
TIP: Most tour buses start to arrive around 11:00 a.m. In order to miss the crowd and beat the heat, make sure to explore Chichen Itza in the early morning.
As close to a guarantee as I can give you, Chichen Itza will be the highlight of your trip to the Yucatan. Not only was Chichen Itza one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it is also in amazingly good shape for its age. From the intricate snake carvings to the ginormous ball court, what the Maya people accomplished is incredible. This is a must-see.
We spent around two hours exploring the grounds, and that was without an official tour (which are offered in nearly every language spoken given Chichen Itza’s global popularity).
TIP: Since it’s so humid and you’ll be walking around for hours, make sure you stay hydrated. Every couple of hundred feet or so, there are vendors selling drinks and snacks. Make sure to get some and take a short break before continuing to explore.
It was amazing to wandering through ancient cities like Chichen Itza and imagining what each building might have been used for and what it would have been like living in these cities.
Here are just a couple of facts (or once again educated guesses) about Chichen Itza:
The actual name “Chichen Itza” means “At the Mouth of the Well of the Itza.” The itza are believed to have been an ethnic-lineage group.
El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulcan, dominates the center of this ancient Maya city. It is typically the “pyramid” that comes to mind when one thinks of Chichen Itza.
Sculptures and carvings of serpents are found everywhere around this ancient city. During the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, the sun strikes off the northwest corner of the Temple of Kukulcan casting a series of triangular shadows against the northwest balustrade. This creates the illusion of a serpent winding down the pyramid. People travel from all over the world just to see this phenomenon.
The Ancient Maya were great athletes. Archaeologists have discovered thirteen ball courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame in Chichen Itza.
Midday:
IK Kil Cenote
INFORMATION:
Location: Ik Kil, Yucatan, Mexico
Entrance Fee: 70 MXN ($5) for adults
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. every day
Ik Kil Cenote is only a 6 minute drive from Chichen Itza. It is known as the most famous cenotes in Mexico (click HERE for directions).
Ik Kil will be the perfect activity to cool down after those few hours spent walking in the heat. Out of all the cenotes we visited, Ik Kil had the best facilities: a hotel on the property, cabanas, a restaurant, bathrooms, lockers, lifejacket and snorkel rentals, and outdoor showers. We arrived just before the tour buses, so there was no line getting our ticket. In order to reach the water you have to climb down 26 meters. The water is about 40 meters deep while its diameter is 60 meters. Don’t worry, there is a stairway that leads you down to the water.
This amazing sinkhole has beautiful vines hanging down to the surface of the water and small, albeit man-made, waterfalls cascading down into the blue waters. Swimming around beneath the surface are gray catfish that are certainly not shy. They’ll swim right up to you and touch your feet!
Down in the cenote, there are multi-leveled ledges on the side where you can plunge into the cool waters. There wasn’t much of a line so we were able to jump in a couple of times from the different platforms. Check out the video below of Layton and I jumping in!
After only being there for half an hour, groups of people started to arrive and the cenote was quickly filling up. That was our cue to head out.
TIP: If you have to choose between seeing Chichen Itza or Ik Kil when it opens, go to Chichen Itza. The crowds will be worse at Chichen Itza. Plus, it’s nice to go swimming in a refreshing pool after walking in the heat.
After cooling down at Ik Kil Cenote, we then drove to Tulum. I think we left around noon. Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending god. It was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya, and served as a major port for the city of Coba. The drive to visit Tulum from Ik Kill was approximately an hour and 45 mins. Once we reached the beautiful city we stopped by Burrito Amor (a must eat) to try some of their burritos and have a cold beer before we head to our next stop Gran Cenote.
Afternoon:
Gran Cenote
INFORMATION
Location: Quintana Roo 109, 77796 Tulum, Q.R., Mexico
Entrance Fee: $25 USD
Rental Fees: $30 pesos per locker, $50 pesos per lifejacket, and $80 pesos for snorkeling equipment
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. every day
Gran Cenote is one of the most popular spots to snorkel. Its water is so crystal clear that a lot of the underwater life can be seen without deep diving. There are turtles and other sorts of marine life there as well. It is a freshwater pool varying in depth from 4 ft to 20 ft, with caves going back 40ft underground, and there a swim-through cave to a man-made beach (make sure to go on the other side to get those pictures by the stairs!) To me, what makes this cenote special is the caverns that are easily accessible from inside the cenote. Unlike many cenote caverns, where you must scuba drive to even see them, here you can just swim and snorkel around to explore these wondrous caves. In most places within the cenote it is easy to touch the bottom, so it’s very easy for those not entirely comfortable with treading water to get around. Similar to Ik Kil Cenote, there are bathrooms, chairs, tables, and lifejackets. In addition, they also have outdoor showers, lockers, and hammocks where you can bask in the warm sun in-between dips into the cenote. Unfortunately, there is no food or drinks so make sure to bring your own or eat before like we did.
TIP: There is a second area of the cenote that is much more photogenic, but the clarity of the water throughout the entire cenote also allows for some fun underwater shots so don’t forget to bring a waterproof camera and good goggles!
After a nice swim, we decided to visit the most talked about beach in Tulum which was 15 minutes away, Paradise Beach (Click HERE for Directions). Sadly, we did not know that there has been a seaweed problem on the beaches on this coast so we were unable to swim. The beach had seaweed piling up on the sand and the once turquoise waters were brown. At this point, all of the tourist attractions like the Tulum ruins were closing so we decided to drive back to Cancun to get some rest for our day at sea the next day.
TIP: As it is everywhere in the Yucatan, it gets hot during the day. I highly suggest you visit early morning or late afternoon. The crowds will be smaller as well!
DAY 2
If you love being on the water then you should book a Catamaran tour in Cancun. It is a nice way to get a lot of things checked off your list such as snorkeling, a trip to Isla Mujeres, and just an copious amount of alcohol drinking and dancing with friends. We were going to schedule a tour online with Albatros Catamarans, but when we were walking around Hotel Zone on our first night we met someone from the company who gave us a group deal (discount). In that area there are a lot of people who will be asking you to sign up for their tours— don’t agree to the first person that greets you; explore all your options because the only difference would be price.
This will be an all day adventure so by the end of the tour you can plan to have dinner or relax on a beach if you feel up to it.
Once you book a tour they will give you a meet up point where you will have to arrive by 10AM.
During the tour you will be sailing to the reef where you will have the opportunity of snorkeling and admire hundreds of colorful fishes. ALERT: we did not get to snorkel and see MUSA (Underwater Museum of Art) because it was a marine holiday. They only told us when we passed by and not prior so I would recommend they guarantee that MUSA will be open the time you book your tour for. Since we could not snorkel the reef we made our way to the Private Beach Club. At the beach club you have time to enjoy a buffet lunch and relax. There are also water sports you can do if you like. After lunch, we sailed to Isla Mujeres. To get around the island the tour guides will give you the option of renting a golf cart— DO IT (30 USD). You will be able to drive all along the island and visit Ruins of Ixchel Temple. It is a beautiful ride and you will have many photo ops.
After driving around the island for around 2 hours, you will head back to the catamaran. Seeing that we did not get to snorkel, our captain loved us so much that the anchored in the middle of the ocean and allowed us to jump in the water. The water was absolutely beautiful.
Tip: The Catamaran tour also has free-unlimited alcohol so if you know how to hold your liquor then go for it, but if you plan on swimming and they recognize your too intoxicated they won’t allow you in the water. SAFETY FIRST
After a bit of swimming, we finally set sail back to Cancun. By this time, everyone is well acquainted with each other, having fun singing and dancing.
Coming back to Cancun, we were hungry so we stopped by Taqueria Coapenitos. The tacos were AMAZING. We could not stop eating their tacos and yuca fries. It was also very affordable so double plus!
DAY 3
After such a fun Day 2, we wanted our final day to be light. We wanted to check out the main areas in Cancun itself such as El Rey and Playa Delfines.
Morning:
El Rey Archaeological Zone
INFORMATION
Location: Zona Hotelera, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico
Entrance Fee: $2.5 USD (around 50 pesos)
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. every day
Most Cancun vacationers never hear about this ancient Mayan city, even though it’s right under their nose. Located within the Cancun Hotel Zone, El Rey has structures of all sizes to climb and explore, just a quick city bus ride away from any Cancun hotel. It’s right across the street from the city’s best public beach, plus there are no pesky vendors.
There are around 47 structures including a temple and a burial site. While the entombed figure is unknown (though the name of the site, meaning The King comes from its presumed royal importance), the murals will let you delve back into the ancient community and give you a better idea of their society.
It was fairly quiet when we went so it was nice to walk around and see everything without worrying about being in the way of anyone. It took us around an hour or so to walk through all the ruins and get acquainted with the iguanas (You will see a lot of them— don’t try to feed them).
Midday:
After viewing the ruins we went to a popular taco spot called Tacun Mexican. I was more than pleased by the array of tacos and sauces they had. It was also a cute spot with vibrant colors and decorations.
TIP: This may have been the best tacos I tasted while in Cancun so I would recommend you eat here if you visit.
For the rest of the afternoon and before our flight, we relaxed on the beach and then again at our Airbnb pool. Sometimes the beaches can get crowded so just find a little area for you and your group and you’ll be fine.
Overall, despite the minor bumps throughout the trip, this was an amazing trip where we were able to explore a lot in a short space of time.
Planning Your Yucatan Road Trip
No matter how long you have – or what you want to experience, the Yucatan peninsula is a perfect short road trip destination. You can mix and match the destinations listed above, or leave spare time to explore on your own and make new discoveries.
