Touring Mexico with Zenler 2023 - Part 8 Cancun and the Isle of Mujeres

David Zenler Author

Jul 14, 2025 |

Another episode see lead product educator David visit Cancun and the Isles of Mujeres, highlights includ Chichen Itza and the Cenotes...

Date Stamp: 6th February - Cancun and the Isla Mujeres (Island of Women)

Leaving San Cristobal at 5:30am to get a flight to Cancun with a 1 hour 10 minute taxi ride to get to the local airport Tuxtla Gutierez that will take us directly to Cancun main airport, arrived with plenty of time to spare and caught the flight which is 1 and a half hours, on arriving to Cancun we needed to set our clocks one hour back so now the time difference is 5 hours behind the UK and incidentally is the same time as Alice.

We had a short trip through Cancun to the Ferry port, all went surprisingly well short wait and we were on the ferry to the Isla Mujeres a 15-minute boat trip to the hotel which is part of a dive shop, located less than 15 seconds from the North beach, the hotel is a bit noisy but the location makes up for this, being so close to the beach and a minute to the main pedestrian walkway.

So I am not going to bore you with day-to-day activities as there really is not anything to tell, we intended to just swim in the crystal blue sea and relax on the beach for the next few days and that is exactly what we did.

The town has a main central street for pedestrians only and the usual grid system one-way traffic road system the island is quite small so getting around is pretty easy, the town has a great feel to it.

Another interesting point is that everyone drives around in golf carts the only cars are the red taxis! The Isla Mujeres is very busy with a lot of American and Canadian tourists staying here, so lots of American-style food and music pumping out at night they also accept Dollars as well as Mexican Pesos and this is the same I guess all down the east coast due to the massive tourist influx from the U.S, ahh and another thing, English is spoken by Mexican's unlike other areas in Mexico we have already visited.

This place even though busy was a real time for relaxing for us and we did exactly that, The internet here was hysterically bad, apart from one café that closed early, typical...

Date Stamp: 9th February - Cancun Downtown and Casa Caribe

Milking the most of our check-out time from Isla Mujeres we left at 12:00 to catch the ferry back to Cancun, our hotel we new was a 2-minute walk! from the Ferry terminal so we thought we would give google maps another try (it did not always work on the 4G networks for some reason) and yet again we walked straight past the Hotel missed it by about 600 metres!, finally we got our heads on the right way round and walked back to find it (like I have mentioned idiots abroad even with two semi-functioning brains), good exercise though.

Describing Casa Caribe. Now like all the pictures you get on Booking.com, they are never how they appear! this looked like no work had been done on it for 30 years and it reminded us both of the film "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!", but on the flip side, it had character. Mercedes the receptionist showed us around and we were able to check in early, there was a nice small pier and a swimming pool but by far the funniest thing was a giant pig! sitting in the garden area I should have got a photo because after that we never saw it again they also had the grumpiest dog I have ever met when I entered the hotel I was stroking it not a problem next time I approached him he would snarl and growl.

The apartment was nice but a bit run down but what do you expect for £60 a night. The internet was pretty good here but we were only staying for two nights so it was not even worth unpacking our bags, to be honest. Later we went out for, probably the worst meal and cocktails we've had all holiday, at the local beach called Playa de Nino. No shrimp! And dry pasta and burger, maybe we should have stuck to Mexican food... So could well be our fault, but who knows and who cares. We had a big trip lined up for the next day to be picked up at 7:40am to visit Chichén Itzá and the Cenotes.

Date Stamp: 10th February - Chichén Itzá and the Cenotes (Giant Sinkhole)

Pickup at 7:40am from a hotel in uptown Cancun which we had to make our way to ourselves due to tours not picking up from the grubby end of town.

Probably one of the best tour buses we have been on and it was in English, what!! We're so used to Mexican-speaking Tour guides now and kind of missed it, "NOT"!

So it was 3 hours to Chichén Itzá from Cancun a lovely drive through this Yucatan region of Mexico and we even had a 1 hour time zone change mid-trip!

Chichén Itzá is one of the wonders of the world and again is a Mayan city of national importance. Here is some info from the wiki on Chichen Itza for those who are interested.

Wikipedia excerpt

"Chichen Itza[nb 1] was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archaeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico.[1]

Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic (c. AD 600–900) through the Terminal Classic (c. AD 800–900) and into the early portion of the Postclassic period (c. AD 900–1200). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature.[2] The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.[3]

The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site's stewardship is maintained by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History). The land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán.[nb 2]

Chichén Itzá is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico with over 2.6 million tourists in 2017.[4]"

If I was comparing it to Palenque I would say that there are a lot more tourists and it felt reconstructed in a way. Palenque was definitely rawer and felt more authentic in a way, however, the main temple was pretty awe-inspiring, and everything was so clean. There were a lot of tourists and we got there before the big rush, the tour guide also fast-tracked us in.

I probably took far too many photos but it had imagery everywhere. One interesting point is that Chichén Itzá is actually built on two other temples buried beneath each other!

There was also a main sports field where the warriors from different tribes would compete by hitting a rubber ball through a hoop using their bodies and sometimes stone clubs. The Mayans of Chichén Itzá used obsidian to bejewel their bodies and teeth believing it had healing properties, unlike Palenque which used mainly jade. Funny because Jade is also found in Mauri and many other cultures maybe a connection?

We also saw what could be called the guildhall or government buildings, which had columns all around the inner ones representing warriors and the outer ones the common people. We were told common people lived on average to 30 years old whilst the privileged class reached 80 to 90 years of age as they were treated for any illnesses etc.

For me, this was a very special place and you could imagine the grandeur of it in its prime, a privilege to see it.

From here we travel 30 minutes to the cenote sinkholes filled with water that were as deep as 150 metres and often had cave networks to other cenotes. Apparently, there are thousands of these in Mexico some of them in hotels and or buried by farmers.

It felt so good to swim in these to cool off from the blistering sun and as you can see it looks amazing.

After a good splash about we had an all-you-can-eat lunch. I love these buffet-style eateries as you can try lots of the cuisine. No crickets or bugs in this one, which is a shame as they are crunchy and add a nice taste to the food.

Last stop Valladolid wiki info

"Valladolid (Spanish: [baʝaðoˈlið] (listen); Saki in Maya) is a city located in the eastern region of the Mexican state of Yucatán. It is the seat of Valladolid Municipality.

As of the 2020 census the population of the city was 56,494 inhabitants (the third-largest community in the state after Kanasín), and that of the municipality was 85,460.

The municipality has an area extent of 945.22 km2 (364.95 sq mi) and includes many outlying communities, the largest of which are Popolá, Kanxoc, Yalcobá, and Xocén.

Valladolid is located approximately 170 km (105 mi) east of the state capital Mérida, 40 km (25 mi) east of Chichén Itzá, and 150 km (93 mi) west of Cancún.

On August 30, 2012, Valladolid became part of the Pueblo Mágico promotional initiative led by the Mexican tourism department."

This beautiful town is classed as a true Mexican-style town. The colours and architecture were quite different from lots of other places we have visited, the exception being San Christobal. The colours are also very Mayan. We were told by our guide that many of the hotels had cenotes in them. We were only here for a half hour and we also did some Tequila tasting. Where we ended up buying a bottle of local drink which was tequila-based and had a lovely liquorish taste to it. It was called YumBaba I say "was" as we drank it pretty quickly :)

We arrived back at 7:30pm at our hotel in preparation for our next trip down the coast to Playa de Carmen. A 1 hour coach drive with ADO coaches our preferred transport as they have big buses with air con and plenty of leg room.

Date Stamp: 11th February - Down the Coast to Playa Del Carmen

No trouble getting the coach or finding the Hotel Kinbe, thanks to the satnav. Situated a stone's throw from Zilch Beach and a minute from the busy hustling pedestrian walkway of Playa de Carmen, this place is busy but feels way better than the mega city of Cancun.

We are starting to get into the routine of packing and moving on and have it down pat. Sometimes if it's a quick stop we really do not even need to unpack. We stopped here to check the town and beaches out and are planning more tours from Tulum a two-hour drive yet further down the coast south.

Already well into the YUMBAB, this was a great place to have a drink and sit on the balcony resting and well basically holidaying, catching up on social media and WhatsApping friends and family. 

The Kinbe is also a great place to work as their internet is top-notch compared to most places we stayed!

Categories: : Zenler Digital Nomad/Stories