5 Must See Spots In Cancun
Now, we want to start by stating these spots are not in Cancun, but they are all destinations that you can easily visit in a day from Cancun proper. These 5 Must See Spots in Cancun were all the spots that we visited and we highly recommend them. Some we loved so much we want to visit again and add more stops to really get a feel for the locations and history.
Chichen Itza
Chichén Itzá is stunning. When visiting be sure to do a tour so that you can learn all of the history and stories behind the ball field, the pyramid, and the sacrificial cenote. We learned so much about the Mayan culture and how closely connected it is to present day.
Just a few facts we held onto, the pyramid has 4 sides with 91 steps. 91 for each season and a total of 364 with the last level of the pyramid being 365. This would have resembled their calendar. All of the ruins face true north just like so many other ruins around the world. We found this so fascinating and immediately went home to watch Ancient Apocalypse. You can view the trailer on YouTube HERE.
Cenotes
We visited two cenotes. Cenote Ik Kil and Hubiku. I love that these two were our stops on our tour. They were two different experiences.
Cenote Ik Kil was crowded, and the water was warmer with lots of light streaming and the hanging vines from the sides of the ground opening reached all the way down to the water. You were allowed to jump in from a ledge and swim. It was amazing. The girls didn’t want to leave.
Hubiku was cooler water with a smaller opening to the earth surface and a small water fall entering from the opening. This cenotes was far less crowded and we were able to have space to swim as several of the guests on our tour did not swim here. We visited close to the end of the day so some of the stuff was closed, but they had tequila tasting, local honey tasting and just really pretty grounds to explore.
Xelha
Spot number 3 on our must see spots in Cancun is Xelha . There are several options from the Xcaret group that you can choose to visit. However, we took the recommendation from a friend who travels to Cancun often and went with Xelha (pronounced Shellha). Although, we have not experienced the other parks, we were very happy with our decision. Your day includes all you can eat meals and drinks (including alcohol) and tons of activities. We did pay extra to feed and swim with manatees, ride zipline bikes and we purchased the full photo package. I loved the idea of the photo package. There are photographers every where and you will walk away with so many photos. We will have a full post coming soon to share all of the tips specifically for Xelha, so check back soon.
Isla Mujeres
This was one of our favorite stops while in Cancun. This island is small and so much fun to visit. We rented a golf cart, which was a bit of mess because we did it through the commuter boat we are on. They sold more golf carts than they had and a few of us were a bit annoyed with how things were handled. Basically, if you are going to go to Isla Mujeres do some research. We did a trip through Viator with lunch, drinks and snorkeling. Several people we talked to were sold different ideas on what this boat was going to be like. So, really research what you want from the trip.
This is one spot we want to go back to. Possibly even stay there for a weekend. It’s a very small island and cruising on a golf cart is super easy. It has a ton of small cute restaurants and just a very laidback fun vibe.
PLAYA NORTE ISLA MUJERES
To round out our 5 must see spots in Cancun is a beach on Isla Mujeres. We did not get the best photos but this beach blew us away. Very shallow water that is crystal clear blue with a couple cute restaurants right on the sand. We didn’t stop to eat there because we just had lunch but Boho’s Bear Bar and North Garden are two great spots close to Playa Norte.
Looking for more Mexico travel guides? Check out our guide to Cabo HERE.
