Yucatan Vacation - Exploring the best of the Yucatan Peninsula. Incredible Beaches, Culture and History

To start a Yucatan vacation, Cancun is a great destination if you are trying to find a quick weekend trip from the US.  However, there are some really, really great places to see just a short bus ride away so I highly recommend moving on as soon as you can. 

The bus station in Cancun is located right in the city center and there are frequent buses down the coast.  Since I live in the Yucatan, my friends and I caught the car ferry directly to Isla Mujeres rather than staying the night.

My friends and I arrived to Isla Mujeres in the late afternoon and took a quick walk through town to get some groceries before heading to our Airbnb.   That night, we ate at a local restaurant and had a quiet night.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to explore Isla Mujeres.  Since we had a car, we tried to beat the heat (and the sun) and headed to Punta Sur.  Perched on the edge of a peninsula and offering stunning 360 degree views, Punta Sur is a must-visit!  We walked up and down the walkways located on the top and on the sides of the cliffs and then spent grabbed lunch and a much needed cold beer at the on site restaurant.   The prices were a bit more expensive than other parts of the island but so worth it thanks to the amazing view!

We next headed to town and wandered up and down the narrow streets before jumping back into the car to go to Playa Norte.  It is actually an easy walk from the centro area so if you don't have a car, don't worry!  The beach was still officially closed because of COVID restrictions but beachfront bars allowed you to swim as long as you bought food or drinks.   We spent a few lazy hours eating guacamole and frolicking in the ocean before making our way back home for another early night.

The next morning, we were up bright and early for a whale shark tour!  A chance to swim with whale sharks is one of the biggest attractions on the island and it is what originally brought me there in 2016.  Although it is expensive, I was incredibly excited to get a chance to swim with these gentle giants again. 

The boat ride to the whale shark meeting point was over 2 hours long and incredibly rough and by the time we reached there, I was feeling pretty awful. I still managed to get in the water but the trip overall was not as enjoyable as my previous one.  Luckily, the ride back was nowhere near as bad and we got have a short stop just off Playa Norte where the boat crew prepared delicious ceviche (vegetarian for me!) and gave us cold beer as we swam in the crystal clear water.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast in the city center before catching the ferry back to Cancun. 

South of Cancun in the Yucatan Penisula, is Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen has a bit of a seedy reputation and the streets surrounding the beach are full of bars, restaurants, clubs and shops.  Despite this,  I actually love Playa del Carmen and visit whenever I get a chance.  There is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant scene where you can get your fill of healthy and delicious food.   The beach is easily accessible and the water is gorgeous.  

On my own vacation to Playa, I have happily spent my days going for long runs in the morning, swimming at the beach, eating as much veggie food as possible and having some relaxing beers while people watching along the main tourist street. 

Playa is also the jumping off point to Cozumel and the ferry pier is located right next to the tourist bus terminal smack dab in the middle of the city.  Staying in Playa is incredibly easy and everything is designed to make traveling simple (and get you to spend as much money as possible!)

Crime is on the rise in Playa so make sure to also keep an eye on anything valuable and DO NOT try to buy drugs there.  Playa is one of the biggest party places in Mexico and the cartels are present there - trust me, you don't want to get involved in any of that.

Before revisiting Tulum, I was warned many times that it had changed a lot.  I didn't know what to prepare myself for but when I arrived,  I found a cute little town full of backpackers and hipsters with tons of great restaurant options.    I stayed two nights in total so that I could get a taste of both the resort-scene and the backpacker scene.  

I had a good time at the resort but as mentioned, it was a bit overpriced for what you got and I found the town to be a little bit TOO busy with hipster backpackers and wanna-be Instagram models. 

Also, keep in mind that unlike Playa del Carmen, Tulum is not actually located on the beach and you have to travel outside of the city if you want to spend a day on the sand.  Collectivos heading up and down the coast are easily to find and cheap.

Tulum is within walking distance of some spectacular ruins though so even if the hipster beach town isn't quite your scene, it is definitely worth an overnight stay to get a little dose of history. 

Bacalar is known for its famous multi-colored lagoon but as of mid-2020, the water was reported to be murky and dirty.  I decided to go and see for myself whole I was relatively close.  The lake actually looked like any "normal" lake that you see.   I arrived in the evening and had dinner at a restaurant on a dock overlooking the lake and spent the rest of the night sitting on the hostels lakefront chaise lounges listening to the water lap against the shore.

The next morning, I woke up early and attempted to go for a run along the waterfront and sadly, there didn't seem to be much in terms of lakefront pathways.   Rather than swimming in the lake, I decided to err on the side of caution and took one of the hostel's free kayaks out for a spin.  I paddled across the lake into a little inlet where the water got much clearer and shallower and then returned back to the hostel.   

I grabbed lunch in town at the wonderfully named Pues Se Italian restaurant before making my way back to the bus stop at the edge of town to move onwards to Chetumal.  While I certainly didn't get the full "lagoon" experience, it was still a pleasant place to spend a night and I am sure that once the lake is finally cleared up, it will be the same magical place that I have heard so much about!

Mahahual is a tiny little tourist town with a large array of hotels and beach clubs.  It is the perfect place to get away from it all.  Unfortunately, as a digital nomad, I am a bit chained to strong wifi signals so I was only able to visit on a day trip.   I was able to find a beach club (aka beach bar ) with decently priced food and beers and spent the afternoon alternating between jumping in the water, sipping beer and ordering more food. There were even showers where I could wash off before taking the bus onwards to Bacalar. 

If you have the time and flexibility, I would definitely stay at least one night.  Hotels are a bit on the pricey side (I couldn't find anything less than $40 per night) so if you are a solo traveler on a budget, it may not be the best choice for a long stay. 

Getting to Cozumel is easy-peasy and the ferry there is right in the center of Playa del Carmen.  To get there from Bacalar, you simply hop on an ADO bus for a few hours which will drop you off at the Playa del Carmen touristic station.  From there, it is about a 5 minute walk to the ferry pier.  Ferries left roughly every hour when I was there and you can get tickets on the pier itself.  The ferry takes around 40 minutes and on the other side, you are dropped off right in the center of Cozumel town.  I stayed in the city center and it was about a 15 minute walk from the ferry pier to my hotel through the charming city center. 

I met my friends in Cozumel who had a rental car so we headed to Money Beach Club which had been highly recommended on different travel blogs.  The location was beautiful and although it was possible to swim, the current was surprisingly strong.  

We went back to the hotel for a quick shower and then took a ride around the island .  The east coast is absolutely beautiful with some raw landscape and offers plenty of picture-perfect photo ops.  On the way home, we stopped at Coconuts. Perched on a cliff above the sea, Coconuts seems like it would be the location of a romantic restaurant.  Instead, there is a delightfully tacky bar there where they will even give you a free shot of tequila if you decide to show your "coconuts".

The next morning, we headed out for a relatively mediocre snorkeling trip.   Despite being a world renowned site for diving, the snorkeling was not the best.   They did take us to Playa El Cielo which is a stunning beach with water that was so picturesque that it looked fake. 

My friends and I spent the evening drinking margaritas near the waterfront and the next morning, I got the ferry back to Playa del Carmen. 

If you are heading north from Mahahual/Bacalar, I would take the ADO bus to Playa del Carmen.  From there, it is roughly a 20 minute walk to the collectivo stand where you can get a ride to Chiquila where the ferry terminal is to go to Holbox.  The ferries run really frequently and it only takes about 20 minutes to get there.  From the ferry terminal in Holbox, it is a short walk into the downtown area.  Downtown is a bit of an overstatement since the streets are dirt and there are no cars.  All of the taxis are actually golf carts.  

I arrived in the mid afternoon, checked into my hostel and then spent the evening walking up and down the beach.   On a whim, I decided to book another whale shark tour for the next day and went home for an early night sleep. 

The next day, I met the boat around 8 am and after about 2.5 hours, we reached the whale sharks.  This experience was completely different than the one I had from Isla Mujeres as the sea was much calmer and there were tons of manta rays swimming with the whale sharks!  It was an incredible experience and I felt so lucky!! On the way back, we stopped at a secluded beach for lunch and then stopped again to see the flamingos on the island's shore.  

I arrived back in Holbox in time to take an afternoon ferry back to Chiquila and then a bus onwards to Playa del Carmen.  I would have loved to stay longer but cell phone service crashed on the island and I had to go back to the mainland.  

If you are flying out of Cancun, you can easily catch a bus there from Chiquila.  Make sure to double check the collectivo times and plan your ferry accordingly.  This was the end of my Yucatan vacation!