The trip got off to an annoying start when some of my jewelry was stolen out of my suitcase.  This was a first for me.  The silver jewelry was dumped in my bag while the gold jewelry was taken, most likely by baggage handlers in Cancun.  Fortunately nothing that was taken was expensive or unreplaceable (I know better than to take that with me), and the airline paid to replace them, but irritating none the less.  Some lady in Mexico probably has a $30 necklace with my kids’ initials on it now.  Lesson learned – do not pack jewelry in a side pocket.  Too easy for someone to quickly reach in and grab.  And even inexpensive jewelry may best be kept in your carry on, because thieves will be working quickly and not take time to care if something is valuable or not.

Once we got our swimsuits on and headed for the beach I quickly moved past the “jewelry incident”.  I love the white sand and warm blue water in Cancun.  Heavenly!

 

Cancun is a destination where you can do as much or as little as you like.  You can lay on the beach with a book or head off on a day trip to hike Mayan ruins.  For this trip with the teens we wanted a combination of pool/beach time and a couple outings.

Our first day trip was to Xcaret an”eco-archaelogical park” about an hour away from Cancun.  You can swim through the underground rivers, check out the animals, sit on the beach, and watch entertainment.

There are also many optional activities that you can pay extra to do – swim with dolphins, sharks, or stingrays, snorkel, snuba, etc. We did several and had a lot of fun, but our day was busy and we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked in the underground rivers.  The speed boat ride on the ocean (“Adrenalina”) was crazy!  Waves of water slammed over us during the ride.  Adventure seekers will love it.  (Me?  Not so much.)

 

Everybody in our group had a blast at Xcaret and would happily go there again.

Later in the week we spent a day on Isla Mujeres, an island 8 miles from Cancun.   It’s a great place to spend the day if you want to get out of Cancun and have a more small town feel.  Ferries from Cancun run every hour, and the ride takes about 20 minutes.

 

Golf carts are a fun and convenient way to get around the island, which is only 5 miles long.  There are several rental locations right when you get off the ferry.

 

We spent most of our day on Isla Mujeres at Garrafon, a beach park on the southern tip.  You pay an entrance fee that includes food, drink, and locker and also some of the activities such as kayaking and snorkeling.  We opted for the package that included the zip-line.

 

 

After several hours at Garrafon, we explored the island in our golf carts.  We checked out some of the shops in downtown Isla Mujeres before catching the ferry back to  Cancun.

I do recommend getting out of the Cancun hotel zone and heading into downtown Cancun for at least one dinner.  The hotel zone has a lot of American chains and you will find some fun Mexican restaurants downtown.  You can’t leave Mexico without hearing a mariachi band. 😉

There was one restaurant we ate at in the hotel zone that stood out to me. Thai is a Thai restaurant (go figure) in La Isla Shopping Mall.  The food was good and we loved the overwater bungalows for each table.  This was a fun adult night out (the kids opted to eat at Johnny Rockets).

I would still like to make it to the Mayan ruins some day.  But for this trip with the kids and some of our friends, Cancun was the perfect blend of adventure and relaxation.