Adiós Cancun: Leaving Mexico and Heading to Florida

Adiós Cancun

Adiós Cancun! You have been an incredible adventure that I would happily repeat over and over again.

Before leaving, we made sure to sign the guest book at our “Cozy Studio Condo” to let the owners know how much we enjoyed staying there. It was the perfect little home base for our month in Mexico.

Goodbye tiny room that we somehow managed to keep messy the entire time.

Goodbye awesome little rental car.
You were tiny too, but that actually came in handy more than once when squeezing through traffic.

And of course, goodbye to the beautiful beaches. Those bright blue waters and soft sand will definitely be missed.

We boarded our plane and left Cancun on Friday with a layover in Miami. I have to say, I am not a huge fan of going through customs there when you still have another flight to catch.

By the time we made it through customs, picked up our luggage, waited in line just to walk out of the baggage area, checked our bags back in, stood in another line for security, boarded a shuttle, and then walked halfway across the airport, we finally arrived at our gate… and everyone was already on the plane.

They really don’t leave you much wiggle room.

Thankfully the final flight was only about 45 minutes to Tampa, where my brother picked us up at the airport.

Since arriving in Florida things have been nonstop. I am so happy to be spending time with friends and family again.

More pictures from our time here will be coming soon!

Final Days in Cancun: Relaxing, Xplor Adventures, and Saying Goodbye

11/25 – 11/27

Unfortunately my phone, which I used for about 95% of my photos, has officially died. At some point during the trip it must have gotten wet, and now it’s completely useless.

Since these days were more relaxed anyway, I didn’t miss too many photo opportunities. The only picture I managed to get was one poolside shot with my underwater camera.

Most of these days were spent just enjoying the slower side of the trip. We relaxed in the sun, wandered around the city for meals, and took things easy for a few days.

One highlight was Bingo by the pool. Shane ended up winning a bag, a headband, and a cup. Woot woot! Not exactly life-changing prizes, but still pretty exciting.

Other than that, it was just a few peaceful days soaking up the last bits of sunshine.

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11/28

Just south of Playa del Carmen there is an incredible natural adventure park called Xplor.

The park is built around a huge cave system, and all of the activities are designed to let people experience the caves while still preserving the natural environment. The whole place is really impressive.

There were several different activities to try throughout the park, including zip lines, amphibious jeep trails through the jungle and caves, underground river floating, and rafting through cave systems.

It was easily one of the most fun and adventurous days of the entire trip.

The zip lines were amazing. Some of them were incredibly high, and a few even sent you flying straight over the jungle canopy before dipping down toward caves and water.

We also drove through the jungle and cave system in these little amphibious vehicles. As usual, I let Shane do the driving while I focused on enjoying the scenery.

One of my favorite parts was floating through the underground rivers. Before getting in they guide you through a waterfall, which was absolutely freezing, but once you get used to the water it’s a really cool experience drifting through the caves.

The park photographers take pictures of you throughout the day at different activities. They turned out great, but they charge an arm and a leg. Since I’d prefer to keep all of my limbs attached, I might have to pass on buying them.

Thankfully we still managed to capture plenty of our own photos and videos during the day.

Little cavemen explaining our adventure

Walking up up up to our next zip line!

Long way down!!!!

Here we go! (I have so many great videos from this day, but will have to wait until I get home to do anything with them! The video camera on this works great)

On our way through a cave in a Jeep

I always let Shane drive. I prefer to enjoy the scenery.. 

Helmets on at all times!

Getting ready for some river floating. First they prep you with a waterfall.. colddd waterfall!!

11/29

Today is our last full day in Cancun.

It’s hard to believe how fast this month has flown by.

Today will mostly be spent packing up our things and enjoying one last night in this beautiful place.

I’m definitely going to miss it here, but I’m also really excited for the next part of our trip. Tomorrow we head to Florida to visit my family.

More adventures ahead. 

Secret Beach - Xcacel

In Cancún, most beaches are calm and peaceful, which is lovely, but sometimes I crave a little more action like body surfing. While doing research, I discovered Xcacel Beach. Unlike many other beaches in the area, it is undeveloped, making it perfect for a relaxing day trip. Even better, there is a cenote on site and access is free of charge.

I found out about the beach on SAC-BE, which had plenty of other great travel finds. I’m sure I’ll be referring back to it again for future planning.

Underground River Tour - Rio Secreto

Rio Secreto is a spectacular underground river in the Yucatán Peninsula, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The tour takes you deep inside the cave to experience the natural beauty of this protected reserve. Visitors will walk, swim, and float through the river, making it a truly immersive adventure.

The price is on the higher side, but from what I’ve seen, it might just be worth it for the unique experience.

Exploring Coba - Mayan Ruins and Adventure

Coba is home to the largest pyramid in the Yucatán, surrounded by five beautiful lakes. It was a thriving Mayan city around 600 AD, though it was mysteriously abandoned a few hundred years later. Today, visitors can take tours to explore the ruins and enjoy a variety of activities, including zip lining, rappelling, swimming in cenotes, canoeing, and jungle walks.

The price for tours is a bit higher than I am personally interested in, but I plan to talk with locals about discounts or deals when we are in Cancun.

On a side note, I am dropping off my boyfriend’s passport information at the post office today. He currently has a Passport Card, but these cannot be used for air travel. Even within Mexico. They are only valid for ground travel between Mexico, the United States, and Canada and for sea port entry in Bermuda and the Caribbean. Luckily, we have enough time to get him a passport book with standard shipping, since expedited shipping is much more expensive than we want to pay.

View from Our Soon-to-Be Vacation Home!

I can’t wait to walk out our front door and onto the beach! Last night I finally spoke with the owners of the studio condo we will be staying at and got some more details.

The costs break down like this:

• $500 for the month

• $35 one-time cleaning fee

• $35 in taxes
  Total: $570

We will have the option to do our own laundry or have Bonnie, the property manager, handle it for $20. Bonnie is also available for any questions or issues that come up during our stay.

We are planning to rent a car, but public transportation is plentiful. There is a bus right outside the complex that goes downtown or toward the hotel zone.

For groceries, we will probably shop at Walmart and local markets and cook in as much as possible, though there are also plenty of good restaurants nearby. The condo comes with a 5-gallon water dispenser, which is very convenient.

Safety is not a concern. The property is gated and has security guards on duty, which is especially reassuring for my mom.

We are officially sold. I emailed the owners to request the rental agreement so we can sign and make our $200 down payment. Excitement is through the roof.

Cozy Studio Condo Booked in Cancun!

You heard me right… we just booked a cozy studio condo for an entire month! 

I’m seriously so excited that this trip is finally starting to come together. The owner I had previously called ended up returning my message yesterday. She mentioned they’re currently on vacation in Canada and that international calls from her cell are pretty expensive, but she still wanted to reach out before we booked somewhere else- which I really appreciated.

We exchanged emails, and she plans to call again tomorrow so we can go over the final details.

The condo is $500 for the month and located right in the Cancún Hotel Zone in Cancún. The beach is literally seconds from the door, which is exactly what we were hoping to find. It sounds like the perfect spot for our stay.

I did send a quick email with a few follow-up questions. Mainly whether electricity and water are included in the monthly price, but overall everything sounds great. It feels amazing to finally have the ball rolling on this trip.

While doing some planning this morning, I also came across a really helpful travel site called TravelYucatan. It’s packed with tourist information, activity ideas, and trip-planning tools for the region. I have a feeling I’ll be using it quite a bit as we keep planning things to do while we’re there.

Things are starting to get real now!

Chichén Itzá - A Must-See Day Trip from Cancun

One destination that’s definitely on our list is Chichén Itzá. It’s about a 2–3 hour drive from Cancún, which makes it perfect for a full day trip while visiting the area.

This famous archaeological site is home to the iconic pyramid El Castillo and is recognized as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World campaign winners. With so much history and incredible architecture, it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most visited landmarks in Mexico. 

More info on Chichen Itza

I’m especially excited to bring my camera along for this trip. The site is full of fascinating carvings and ancient Mayan symbols, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them up close. I’m sure guides at the site will provide information and translations, but I’m planning to print out a reference sheet beforehand so I can better understand the meanings behind some of the symbols while exploring.

If I find a good guide with more Mayan symbols and translations, I’ll definitely share it here.

As for the cost, this is actually a pretty affordable excursion if you’re driving yourself. At the time we were planning, it looked like it would mainly be gas for the drive, about $1 for parking, and roughly $10 per person for entrance.

New Idea: Fly from Hermosillo to Cancun + Rent a Car

Originally our plan was to drive to Cancun and back.

While crunching numbers I decided to try out a few alternatives with our planning. I mapped out the financials of flying from Hermosillo to Cancun, renting a car there, and renting for a month. Excluding gas and food it came out to $2000, which is a lot less than it would have cost to drive there and back.

The downside to this plan would be missing out on all the places we wanted to stop in between. But we could always do our own trip down the west coast afterwards and avoid that long drive across the country twice.

I like the idea of renting a car so we do not have to worry about ours breaking down or having any problems along the way. So now we just have to weigh the pros and cons and make a few decisions.

Tampa to Mexico Ferry Rumor: Dream Transport for My Cancun Trip?

There are all sorts of posts on the web referring to a  Tampa Progreso Ferry or a Tampa to Cancun Ferry!! This would be one of the greatest things imaginable to happen to my trip if it were true.

Unfortunately everything I am finding out about it is making it seem less likely that it will be up and running early next year. So far my plans to get to Cancun are working their way toward being planned out, but the plans home are still blurry.

It would be so great if we could just hop a boat to Tampa and drive home through the United States. If anyone knows more about this rumor and if it is really going to happen I would love more information!