Skip Cancun – Top Things To Do in Yucatán Peninsula

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Mexico is an amazing place to experience ancient civilizations, beaches, Mexican food, and drink tequila. This winter, I had some time off work and wanted to go somewhere warm. Mexico turned out to be a good destination because it has the beach, I can do daily excursions, and great food. The one important factor I also realized is that it has the same timezone back home so my body didn’t need any further time adjustment. All these good things really close to home The flight from Toronto was only about 6 hours without layover.

Skipping Cancun was a decision I made because when I think of Cancun, I think of university students, Spring Break, and clubbing. I know it is a popular destination for them to get drunk and club even for students and non-students but I want to skip that and do other things. Anyways, I skipped Cancun. There are so much things to do in this peninsula besides these things and I wanted to do those instead. I already had a fair share of those experiences already so I skipped them in my 8 days trip to Mexico. Here are the things you can do in Yucatán Peninsula and you don’t have to be in Cancun.

Relax at a Resort and the Beach

The islander in me cannot skip the beach. Great weather and fine sand beach are definitely an attraction for me to visit a place. Checking out the Yucatán peninsula, I found Playa del Carmen which is a resort town and with my luck, there’s a Hilton. Playa del Carmen is part of the Riviera Maya, a coastline that faces the Caribbean Sea. I spent my beach days at Playa del Carmen staying at Hilton Playa del Carmen All-Inclusive Adults Only Resort for 3 days and 2 nights. It was my first time staying at a super luxurious 5-star hotel, I mean resort. It’s maybe not even a 5-star, maybe even a 6-star if that exists. I have stayed at other Hilton resorts in Phuket, Thailand, and Penang, Malaysia but there is nothing compared to this one in Playa del Carmen. From the amazing suite room, all inclusive food, liquor, and spa amenities, I spent a lot of time relaxing and pampering myself without any extra additional cost. I really loved every minute of my stay here!

I have to spend some time at the beach when the opportunity strikes. Thankfully my resort is right on the beach so I was able to soak the sun while drinking tequila and eating guacamole. What an amazing way to escape the Canadian winter for a bit and get some Vitamin D so I was all happy and content while in Mexico.

Swim at a Cenote

Cenotes (pronounced at say-no-tes) are these magical natural phenomenon sinkholes and it is something I have never seen before. They are natural sinkholes that is a result of the collapse of the bedrock limestone on the ground surface. The collapse exposes the groundwater underneath accumulated from the rain and the underground river. There are so many in the Yucatán Peninsula and they’re all different. Cenotes are actually a sacred place for Mayan civilization and a place for ceremonial sacrifices. There are many in the surrounding area. The famous one is right at Chichen Itzá archeological site named Cenote Sagrado de Chichen Itza but you cannot swim there.

During my time in Mérida, I went on a day tour where part is to visit a cenote. Good thing my hotel has day tours organized by Mayan Heritage. I was able to go to Cenote Peba, also known as Cenote Sambula located right in the middle of the peninsula. It was super magical to be able to go down an underground swimming pool with the water so clear and swim. It doesn’t smell at all even it has all many natural minerals.

See Mayan Civilization

Mayan civilization is the term used for the Meso-American period where the Mayan people built cities in the peninsula. The period is right before the Spanish era and even the Columbian American era. The Mayan civilization is highly known for their intelligence as they studied mathematics, astronomy, calendar, and art. The buildings and writings heavily displays their brightness and findings.

I went to two big archeological sites: Uxmal (pronounced as Oosh-mal) and Chichén Itzá. They are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites and you should absolutely visit at least one of the Mayan city. You’ll learn so much about history and it’s amazing to see big pyramids and learn about how people lived back in the day.

Chichen Itzá is the most popular site out of all the Mayan cities and the easiest to get to. It became very popular when it made the UNESCO list in 1988. Part reason why I visited but note it can get very crowded from the Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and even Mérida day tours.

You can definitely explore other sites and one particular city I went to is Uxmal which I absolutely loved! The site it less crowded, much more open, and you can enter and climb the stairs on almost all buildings in the area except for the pyramid! I had the opportunity to visit Uxmal as part of the tour I did with Mayan Heritage when I was in Mérida. Visiting Uxmal, you can definitely also learn a lot about the Mayan Civilization.

Spend Time at Lake Bacalar Instead

After Playa del Carmen, I made my way to Bacalar to experience Lake Bacalar, in Spanish it’s Laguna de Bacalar. Why did I go here? I heard about this place from a friend who is currently in Mexico studying Spanish and traveling Mexico. She said this place is known for its colours which is why it’s also called Lake of 7 Colours. Translated in Spanish it’s Laguna de los 7 Colores.

Approximately about three and a half hours bus ride from Playa del Carmen, the lake has varying shades of blue throughout the day like turquoise, aqua, and even deep indigo. There are many activities you can do in this lake. The most popular one is paddle-boarding in the crack of dawn to see the sunset. Another popular one is to spend time at the Pirates Channel is and have a swim. The water is very clear, warm and the lagoon has super fine sand that you can use for a scrub.

Travel Back to Spanish Colonial Times

Mérida is a good base to stay at and do some day tours around the area. Mérida itself is a very good place to see Spanish colonial heritage in Mexico. The centro features many old Baroque-style churches and Spanish-style houses. You will definitely feel that you are in the old times!

One place I highly recommend to include in your excursion is to visit the city Valladolid. It’s only two hours away from Mérida, 40 minutes from Chichen Itzá, and 1 hour 40 minutes from either Cancun or Playa del Carmen. I went here from Merida after visiting Chichen Itzá. It’s very doable to do both in one day like when I spent 4 days in Mérida.

Valladolid is a city in Yucatán that has very rich Spanish colonial heritage. It is very much seen in the architecture and culture around. Very beautiful to be walking around the city seeing the much preserved Colonial buildings and old churches. Merida or Valladolid, if you can go to either one, you’ll definitely feel like you’re back in the Colonial times.