Things to Do in Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo: See Tripadvisor's 1,793,832 traveler reviews and photos of Riviera Maya tourist attractions. However, I felt like paying 110+ dollars wasn’t worth it and our hotel Gran Palladium was better than the park. We stayed in Hyatt Ziva that is an amazing family-friendly hotel, which also has an adults-only tower, spa and swimming pool, which makes it amazing and quite unique in combining these two totally different amenities. I recommend hiring a car in Cancun Airport – it’s actually pretty straightforward to drive around Riviera Maya and it’s often much cheaper than just taking a taxi both ways & to a couple of shops. I had to buy insurance because they said they don’t except us auto insurance. The Cultural Background of Cancun The pre-Columbian historical roots of this region run deep. Most of the hotels in Riviera Maya are huge family-oriented resorts and some of them even consist of 3-5 lobbies (or 2-4 different hotels). In case you want to go out, all the bars, clubs and markets are located there. we rented a van for 1 week, 6 of us.. car rental price was 900. Ask away and we are happy to give you the lay of the land. Make sure to avoid companies like Hertz and National in Mexico as they are known to scam people. Explore Cancún or Riviera Maya with Air Canada Vacations! Also, Playa del Carmen is quite a big city located in the heart of Riviera Maya, which has plenty of shops, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and clubs. I wouldn’t say Cancun is better than Riviera Maya or Riviera Maya is better than Cancun. — Starting next week, the entire northern Cancun, Riviera Maya region will regress backward to an orange epidemiological light due to a continued increase in Coronavirus infections. If you’re wondering what to do in Cancun, let me tell you about the best activities and things to do in Cancun. This applies if you’re going to an all-inclusive resort of course. It was the very first tourism specific destination built in the early 70’s. Luxury resorts in Cancun: The Grand at Moon Palace, Le Blanc Spa Resort (Adults Only), 3-4* hotels & resorts in Cancun: Smart Cancun by Oasis, Occidental Costa Cancun, Super affordable hotels in Cancun: Hotel Blue Star Cancun, Hotel Boutique Casa Mallorca. Search, Compare and Book Limo Services. The best price and customer experience for all attractions, tours, hotels and transfers in Cancun. Chichen Itza is really far, but it’s also the most well known. It includes Mayan ruins like Tulum, many cenotes, and spectacular dive sites; long Most of the hotels are built in the mangrove and thus you’ll be surrounded by local fauna during your all-inclusive stay: iguanas, agoutis, tejons, racoons and even more animals. However, in places like Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, you can find cheap accommodation and affordable hotels and hostels. Many people are asking what is better, Playa del Carmen vs Riviera Maya, but the question is incorrect since Playa del Carmen IS in Riviera Maya. It starts South of Cancun and includes famous resort towns such as Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Cancun is a large metropolitan city with a residential population reaching almost one million. Did you go to either Chichen Itza, Coba, Ek Balam or Tulum? In some ways we are comparing apples and oranges – city verses region – but Cancun and the Riviera Maya are compared all the time, if not thought to be the same. It was good. We have heard time and again that people feel stuck in Cancun. In case you’re going to a hostel in Playa del Carmen, it’s cheaper to book everything yourself. And if you choose to come to the area, be sure to let us know so we can meet up for a cocktail and share travel stories! Save on Hotels, Beach Clubs & More, The best gadgets to take on your trip to Las Vegas, Is Tulum worth the hype? Cancun is viewed as the tourist capital of Mexico, but Riviera Maya is an alternative for the more adventurous when it comes to the natural world. We live in the Riviera Maya so we can enjoy the ease of exploring, smaller communities, and direct access to the beach. Unfortunately if your travel agent or online booking website is not familiar with the area (which in most cases they are not, many have not even visited the area) you may find yourself in a hotel or resort that doesn’t match your dream. For example, Grand Bahía Principe where we stayed for 5 days, has 3 different hotels – Akumal, Coba, and Tulum. Pros and cons of a vacation in Tulum, check the availability and the prices of the flights to Cancun now. Besides the mere location differences between these two popular vacation spots, Cancun and the cities located in the Riviera Maya are different. Then I came across names like Playa Del Carmen, Tulum, Akumal and got even more confused! Each city in the Riviera Maya has its own unique feel, tourism base and extraordinary attractions. It starts South of Cancun and includes famous resort towns such as Playa del Carmen and Tulum. The Riviera Maya starts 10.5 miles south of Cancun's International Airport. If you’re coming from a hotel in Cancun, Xcaret could impress you. Well, since we were booking everything last moment for our honeymoon in Cancun and Riviera Maya, we had to book our hotels. Press Esc to cancel. Thanks for your blog! I returned to Mexico again in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020 (and even 2021) visiting a few different locations and I decided to write this short guide to the differences between the best beach towns in Quintana Roo (a state where Cancun, Riviera Maya etc are located) because maybe they are as confusing to someone as they were for me! Excellence Riviera Cancun is honored to be the recipient of many of the travel industry’s most prestigious honors and awards. By Caribbean Journal Staff American travelers are eyeing Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean for spring getaways, according to a new report from travel giant Expedia. However, in Hyatt you can buy all the tours and even go to Chichen Itza from there. What we love is the diversity of the two areas. These geographical differences, and the fact that people compare a city to a region, make both of these areas very, very different. All the beaches in Cancun are public, that’s actually great. Incredible Honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Varadero vs Cancun: Where To Go On Holiday? Read about the 10 best resorts in Riviera Maya here! The Riviera Maya region includes the following popular cities – Puerto Morelos,Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Xpu-Ha, Akumal, Soliman’s Bay, Tank Ha Bay, Tulum, and the Sian Ka’an located on over 133 kms/88miles of beach coastline. Best island to stay in Seychelles | Tripsget, Where to honeymoon in Mexico? The most famous club is probably Mamitas Beach – they usually organize huge parties for New Year and invite famous DJs. Best Beaches, Surfing & More, Pingback:Visiting Vegas For The First Time: Things You Need To Know, Pingback:Is it safe to go to Mexico now? It is easy for a visitor and locals to walk to restaurants, local attractions, and to the beach. It's all here at Riviera Maya Cantina & Restaurant. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Awesome! The region was previously in the far-less restrictive yellow alert, which allowed businesses to operate at 60% capacity. The beach there was tiny and overcrowded and the food wasn’t good either. Prices in Cancun. I cover everything there is to do, eat, drink and stay at, from Tulum to Cancun! Incredible Honeymoon in Riviera Maya. The boats captain is well seasoned in the waters of Cancun, the Riviera Maya, and the Caribbean. Brand name shopping is useful (think Costco or the Apple Store) and in the old days Cancun was the place you had to shop.Back then Riviera Maya cities had maybe one grocery store and food choices were limited. Here’s what you can expect to find in this post: I spent a fair amount of time researching where to go on holiday in Mexico for the first time back in 2015. The Riviera Maya is a region to the south of Cancun that starts at Puerto Morelos and ends at the Sian Ka’an Biosphere. Selected by travel experts, media, and our guests, we take great pride in these testaments to our PS stayed in playa air b+b and also at occidental Xcaret. What we do appreciate is the recent addition of arts and cultural activities that Playa did not have just a few years ago. Though not impossible, it makes exploring a challenge or a tad bit intimidating to the first time visitor. Cancun is extremely popular with American tourists while in Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen and Tulum) you can find a lot of European travellers as well. Add some adventure and thrill to your next trip to Cancun or Riviera Maya by taking a tour to one of the mystical places Yucatan peninsula has to offer: pyramids, cenotes, jungle waterparks, you name it. What is Riviera Maya? It is not uncommon to hear various European languages, Spanish, and English spoken everywhere by both staff and visitors. • When visitors choose to leave their resort or large hotel, they are shuffled to more tourism hot spots in the hotel zone. • International brands like Wet and Wild water parks, Hard Rock Cafe, Outback Steak House, MontBlanc, Nike, etc can be found in Cancun to appeal to American and international tourists visiting the hotel zone in Cancun. The ‘bubble’ is what Cancun staff support when getting people out and about. Riviera Maya, Q.R. Finally, since most of the adventure/water experiences seem to be farther down the coast, I was considering staying in Playa del Carmen for 2 days and then head up to Cancun for the rest of the week to relax. We understand all too well the differences between Cancun and the Rivera Maya. Very few visitors dive into downtown Cancun to experience the local authenticity of Cancun residential neighborhoods and markets. Tulum to Cancun is the best place to learn about your next vacation in the Riviera Maya. Where to stay in Cancun? Cancun is a famous and very popular Mexican resort located on the East Coast of Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula, to be precise). However, we returned to Mexico in 2016 in order to get married and decided to split our honeymoon between two locations: Riviera Maya and Cancun, which was a great idea!