My view of Cancun – the bus terminal.
The name Cancun has many meanings. To the Maya, Kan-Kun means snake pit. To college students on spring break, it’s party central. To tourists it means going on vacation and having everything catered to your whim, or at least having everything you need ‘all included’.
For the rest of us, those of us who have no interest in walks of shame inducing parties, being catered to, or being packed into a van for a tour of something that is much more interesting being seen on its own in solitude, Cancun is CUN, the airport we fly in and out of to get to what we think of as the more interesting spots on the Yucatan peninsula (like the jungle, the archaeological sites, the colonial towns …). We want to get away from the highrise hotels and onto the lesser known beaches with the palapas and cabanas.
My memory of Cancun is of the hostel and the bus terminal and a walk around town in the early evening hours. It was the first town I experienced when I entered this part of Mexico, but the first time was also the last because on the way out I bypassed the town of Cancun and went from Tulum directly to CUN.
If you have a fair knowledge of the town known as Cancun, whether it’s because you’ve spent a lot of time there on vacation, or perhaps because you’re an expat who has made this town home, tell the rest of us why we should stay for more than few hours.
Inspire us to visit Cancun and stay awhile!
[ Edited: December 18.2009 ]
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Tags: Cancun, surveys
2 Comments
I’ve lived here for just over 6 years and feel as though there are still too many things to see. We rarely go to the hotel zone of Cancun, but we hit the Riviera Maya or an island almost every weekend. Cenotes, beaches, zip lines, snorkeling, ATV jungle trips, horse back riding, swimming with dolphins, swimming with whale sharks, finding hidden taco shacks, feeding iguanas at Ruinas del Rey, the plethora of Mayan ruins, the small towns of the Yucatan just a short drive away, Puerta Verde (pretty much unknown area north of Cancun), Isla Holbox, Isla Contoy, the list is endless!
If you come here and don’t leave the hotel zone, you’re missing the point. :) Cancun is the great “jumping off” point for a whole world of natural wonders in the states of Quintana Roo and the Yucatan.
But all of those things are outside of Cancun, and if I’m going to do any of them, I’d stay near them. Why do a tour to Chichen-Itza when I can go stay at Dolores Alba or Mayaland and get the feel for living in the jungle?
So my question still stands – is there any reason why an independent traveler would want to stay more than a few hours in Cancun?