What are Cancun Mexico's best sights, views places to do activities, shop, buy sovenirs and hang out?

Question

and which buses should I take to reach these destinations and how long are the rides usually?

Answer 1

The first and best piece of advice I can give you is to go out and get a Cancun travel guide for your trip. They are all pretty good and have something to offer, just look for one with lots of information and you'll be fine.

The best part about Cancun is probably the least talked about, the restaurants. There are literally hundreds of fantastic places to dine in the Hotel Zone and in Centro (Downtown). Cancun is also famous for its amazing nightlife culture. The area that you want to visit to find Cancun's clubs is known as the Party Center, located at Kilometer 9 in the Hotel Zone. You will aslo find many great cantinas and local type places in Centro on Yaxchilan Avenue and at the Plaza de Toros (bullring).

As far as tours, I highly recommend you visit the Mayan ruins of either Chichen Itza or Tulum. Chichen Itza is a spectacular site with a huge pyramid and the larges ball court in the Yucatan Peninsula. Tulum is the only Mayan ruin site located overlooking the Caribbean Sea. This tour is often coupled with a visit to one of the area eco parks. I highly recommend that you choose to visit Xel-Ha over Xcaret in this case. This is because Xcaret is much to big to see in a half day, and it is more expensive than Xel-Ha, which offers a very reasonable All-Inclusive meals plan. Depending on when you travel, you should consider one of the newest and most exciting tours, to swim with whale sharks. These are the largest filter feeder fish on the planet and visit Mexico during the summer months only. I don't know if the site is up and running, but you should investigate:

http://www.swimwithwhalesharks.com

This site has good, not flashy but the details and information on this incredible tour. What I especially love about them is they really take pride in their company, displaying their (permiso) license number on the website. Whale Sharks are very calm creatures, with no teeth, they feed on tiny shimp, so there's no danger to people. However, this company is all about keeping their guests happy and safe.

To recommend a place to shop is a bit difficult because I don't know what you like. Cancun, as the rest of Mexico, is very famous for having excellent handcrafts and silver. I recommend that you purchase silver at the many area shopping malls, for better quality and protection. If you take local buses, keep your ticket because it will often contain a coupon to the Plaza La Fiesta indoor flea market. This flea market is a low pressure sales place, very good for buying t-shirts and other stuff for friends and family.

As far as tours are concerned, you should check out a travel guide or several websites to get the prices and policies. I recommend you book before you travel. Trust me on this one, you will not get a better deal from the travel agents at the resorts on the tour excursions. Here's a good place to find all the popular tours: http://www.dtraveller.com/affiliates/ind...

Have fun planning your vacation in paradise,

212eric

Answer 2

the buses run 24 hours a day...cost was .65 when we were there in jan...stick with the ones that say hotel zone..try to take the boat to Isla Mejeres...that is fun..have also done snorkling...wave runners..para sailing...glass bottom sub...farmers market and market 28 are the best places to shop...but understand you have to barter or they will try to rip[ you off...hard rock..cocobongos,   senor frogs...carlos and charlies..look at cancun web page for ideas