Cancún Off The Beaten Path Tips by Kaspian Top 5 Page for this destination

Ik Kil Cenote Cenotes Review

We visited Ik Kil after a tour of Chichen Itza. If you have the option to do this (sometimes your tour will offer the stop), go for it! It was one of the highlights of our entire trip.
I think entry was only $7 or $10.
A pleasant cool freshwater swim after sweating like crazy and climbing around the dusty ruins was perfect.
You decend to the cenote by a rock staircase. There are a few fish in the water and a small shower of water decends to the pool from the roof of the cave.
I heard later that two Japanese tourists has been killed here the year before we visited when a piece of the cave ceiling fell down after a storm.
Ik-Kil Eco-archaeological Park is located 5 kilometers from Chichen Itza along Highway 180. Check their web site for more specific directions.
See my Chichen Itza Travelogues for more photos of Ik Kil.

Phone: (985) 851-0039

Cancun Carnaval

If you get to Cancun at the right time of year (mid February to mid March, you'll have to check for the exact dates because they change yearly), you can get to see the Cancun Carnaval. This is the largest annual festival in Cancun. There are giant parties downtown where locals listen to 3 days of different music and dance most of the night away. Events happen over more than 10 days. Most vacationers aren't aware it's even going on because it's away from the Hotel Zone. I didn't get to hang out through this one, but we drove past the floats as they were setting up. The cab driver told us it's the most fun event of the year. These girls ran over to pose for the camera and I was lucky to get a shot 'cause we were moving so fast.

Website: http://www.carnavalcancun.com

Puerto Juárez

Want to see how the locals live in Cancun?
Many of the hotel workers live in the Puerto Juarez neighbourhood, 5 minutes north of downtown Cancun. There's a few small local restaurants, churches, a local beach called "Playa Del Nino", and a ferry terminal to Isla Mujeres. Not much shopping here, and it gets more residential the further you go across from the terminal. Some of the tiny metal shack apartments can show you the reality of poverty in Cancun.
Most of the neighbourhood was in ruins because of an El Nino storm a few years ago, but they've slowly started rebuilding. Most impressive is a new tall white spire with a restaurant on top (shaped kind of like a lighthouse).
Directions: North of downtown Cancun on Avenida Bonampak.

Playa Del Niño

Playa Del Nino is a local public beach about 10 minutes north of downtown Cancun in the Puerto Juarez neighbourhood. It is a little further up the road past the ferry terminal.
On a very hot Saturday or Sunday it can be swarming with locals swimming, sunbathing, playing guitars, fishing, and having picnics. A local's idea of beach weather and a tourist's are two different things, so even when it's hot for us it may still be cool for them and the beach may be empty. It's busier in summer.
There are a few rustic beach restaurants (specializing in seafood) where you can order food or sit and have a drink. I'd be very careful eating anything in these restaurants, they're definitely not meant for a tourist's stomach. These places are also bars in the evening.
I think it's named after an "El Nino" storm which ravaged this area and destroyed lots of buildings several years ago. Translated literally it means "Beach of the Boy."