Cancun on a budget?

June 1, 2014 8:02 PM

I'm going to be spending a couple of weeks in the yucatan peninsula with my girlfriend, mostly staying in inexpensive hotels and hostels. We're flying home out of cancun, and her parents are going to meet us there for a few days. We don't have a huge budget, but would like to spend a couple of nights at a decent hotel with a nice pool. Being all inclusive isn't important to us, if there are decent restaurants nearby. In fact, being on the beach isn't that important, if we can get to it without too much hassle. Any suggestions for places to stay? I'd like it to be less than $100 a night per person.
posted by empath to Travel & Transportation around Cancún, Mexico (6 answers total)

Response by poster: In fact, staying in cancun itself isn't very important, as long as it's fairly easy to get to the airport.
posted by empath at 8:23 PM on June 1, 2014

We rented a condo on the beach one year and it worked great for us. Took the local bus to Walmart one day for supplies and cooked breakfast and lunch in the condo, lazed at the beach throughout the day and took the city bus again to go to the heart of the action in Cancun for dinner and drinks. It worked out great and we stuck to our budget.

Browse Airbnb or Vrbo to compare prices to rent condo vs. a hotel. I found Cancun safe and tourist friendly and there's no need to limit yourself to an all-inclusive.
posted by Karotz at 8:52 PM on June 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also you can get to the airport from anywhere along the coast using the ADO bus. Or you can book a private shuttle to your destination with no hassle. We used Canada Transfers as transportation from airport to where we were staying. We preordered cervezas for the ride and they were there waiting for us with a cooler and cold towels to freshen up. Private transfer may be shorter in duration and less hassle vs a bus that has a certain schedule and frequent stops. But if you're on a set budget the ADO bus works.
posted by Karotz at 8:59 PM on June 1, 2014

Maybe look at renting a condo/apartment on Isla Mujeres. You'll probably be happier staying on the north end than the south, which is cheaper but a little bit more remote from the restaurants and grocery stores.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:02 PM on June 1, 2014

yea, I was just going to say take the ferry to isla mujeres - you can find great cheap places in the town at the north end of the island that are about a 3 minute walk to everything, and it's a great little island - nice beaches, great food, snorkelling, turtle sanctuary. It's small enough that a lot of people get around by golf cart, we rented one for a week for about $300 and had a total blast.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:21 PM on June 1, 2014

The village of Puerto Morelos is nice, just south of Cancun. There are also some lovely resorts in and around Tulum, which is a bit farther south but shuttle buses are easy.
posted by mkuhnell at 6:56 AM on June 2, 2014