A Cancún all-inclusive escape was supposed to be easy: eight longtime friends, a week in the Hotel Zone, turquoise water, and no decisions more difficult than pool or beach. Instead, our trip began under a cloud of cartel fears, travel anxiety, and reports of a record-setting sargassum bloom darkening Caribbean beaches.
We went anyway, arriving with one eye on the headlines and the other on the seaweed at the water’s edge. What followed was not the fraught vacation I had feared, but a week of margaritas, crocodile warnings, tequila lessons, rescue horses, cenotes, and the unexpected pleasure of surrendering to resort life.
Date of Visit: February 27 – March 26, 2026
Are you still going to Cancún?
That was the question I got from nearly everyone — even our dog sitter.
Just days before Chris and I were to leave for Cancún on February 22, Mexican special forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The news unleashed a wave of violence that played out on Mexico’s streets and on television screens around the world. Images of burning cars, trucks, and shops made parts of Mexico look like a war zone.
A Vacation Under a Cloud
Against that unsettling backdrop, eight of us — four couples bound by decades of friendship, marriage, and shared history — were preparing to spend a week in Cancún’s Hotel Zone. We were flying in from Texas, Oregon, and both ends of California. The timing could hardly have been worse.
I half-heartedly packed sundresses, swimsuits, and sunscreen, certain that United Airlines would cancel our flights. If it did not, helmets and flak jackets seemed more appropriate.
How Far Away is Far Enough?
Most of the unrest occurred in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in Jalisco state, several thousand miles west of Cancún on the Yucatan Peninsula.
That was how I reassured myself and our worried friends and family. But the truth is, Cancún has had its share of violence, and there was always the threat of retaliation.
It helped to see residents and tourists posting on social media as if Cancún were as far from the trouble as we were in California.
Until the street violence erupted, Chris had been more worried about this year’s record-setting seaweed invasion. He had read that sargassum was darkening the beaches of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and Florida.
By the time we boarded our overnight flight, there were still no reports of unrest in Cancún. We decided to see how things looked when we arrived. If we were advised to stay on the hotel grounds, so be it. The resort promised restaurants, pools, a beach, and — judging from the website — enough diversions to outlast a short siege.
The Trip We Had Planned Before the Headlines
Our reunion had been planned months before the cartel troubles, when Chris’ longtime friend John invited us to join a weeklong group getaway at the all-inclusive, adults-only Iberostar Selection Coral Cancún.
Chris and I had visited the Yucatán Peninsula years earlier, but we had skipped Cancún’s Hotel Zone. From photos, it looked like Mexico’s answer to Waikiki: towering hotels, bright beach umbrellas, and a tourist economy in full swing.
Not exactly the sort of place where I expected to find a story for Travel The Four Corners.
But I have learned that the more I know about a place, the more interesting it becomes.
So I started reading.
A Resort Born on Paper
Cancún’s Hotel Zone was entirely conceived on drafting boards. In 1970, the Mexican government began transforming a narrow barrier island of sand, mangrove, and swamp into a world-class resort destination.
The location was highly desirable. The Caribbean Sea lies to the east and south of the roughly 14-mile strip. The Nichupté Lagoon and its mangroves stretch along the opposite side, separating the hotels from downtown Cancún.
My Kind of Adventure — In Theory
The adventurous and rather deluded part of me was sure that Cancún, in its original state, would have been more my kind of place. I pictured myself kayaking through pristine waterways, floating above manatees, waving to the occasional Maya fisherman, and giving crocodiles, boa constrictors, and cat-eyed snakes a wide berth.
And then there is reality.
Cancún likely derives from a Maya word meaning “nest of snakes” or “place of the golden snake.” Perhaps not paradise for someone like me with a snake phobia. Still, pre-tourism Cancún would have been an adventure so long as my SPF 50 sunscreen and DEET mosquito repellent held out.
The Business of Paradise
But the Mexican government had a different vision: a new Acapulco. Today, hotels line the beach as far as the eye can see. Some of the mangroves have been preserved on the lagoon side of hotel row, and the sea is as spectacular as ever.
Tourism is a major economic driver for Mexico, accounting for nearly 9 percent of the country’s total GDP. The government works hard to attract visitors, but Cancún’s future also depends on protecting its oceans and heritage from over-tourism and natural disasters.
Between 2005 and 2010, Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat spent millions of dollars dredging the seafloor to help the local, state, and private hotel sectors restore 5.2 million cubic meters of sand to Cancún’s 7.5 miles of beachfront, which had been severely eroded by Hurricane Wilma. Palm trees were planted, and tourists returned.
The Travel Writer’s Dilemma
Despite Iberostar’s beautiful setting, entertainment, and activity calendar, the travel writer in me was sure no story could possibly come of this trip. Certainly not if I spent the week at the resort. I would need to explore the terrain, culture, and history. Was there any left?
It is often said that our best travel stories, certainly our most memorable ones, involve some level of discomfort, whether from an embarrassing moment, an inconvenience, or perceived danger.
This idea took root many years ago, when my editor gave me a now-out-of-print book about the larger-than-life Richard Francis Burton and dogged John Hanning Speke, the rival Victorian explorers whose expeditions into East Africa helped bring the search for the source of the Nile into the British imagination.
Their travels offered no hotel bingo or darts (African spears, yes), no volleyball, or all-you-can-eat restaurants.
Instead, they saw places few outsiders had ever seen.
An Attitude Adjustment
If I tell you it took only 15 minutes on a cushioned poolside lounger for me to abandon my romantic notions of Victorian-era travel, will you think less of me?
I’m afraid it slipped away with each delightful sip of a frothy strawberry margarita.
Before I arrived, I was certain the beach would be crowded. Instead, in front of our hotel, there were only a handful of bathing beauties and mostly empty lounge chairs, and curious egg-shaped wicker cabanas. The water looked like a painting. Pale aqua and milky turquoise shallows met a rich cobalt band stretching across the horizon. A parasailer added a touch of yellow.
Sargassum Meets Paradise
A thin strip of the invading Sargassum, a pesky, floating brown seaweed from West Africa, was visible at the water’s edge and along the beach.
Chris had read that Sargassum seaweed blooms had worsened since 2011 driven by nutrient pollution from rivers such as the Amazon, along with changes in ocean currents and temperatures.
The blooms can damage coral reefs and seagrass beds, which in turn affects sea turtle nesting. Mexico, bless their hearts, has deployed the Mexican Navy to collect sargassum offshore. Hotels send crews out at the crack of dawn with beachcombing tractors. Apparently, the sargassum begins to stink if left to rot.
I smelled nothing but fresh ocean air. A gentle breeze rustled the palm trees overhead. The sound of ocean waves mingled with the laughter of people in the infinity pool and its water-level bar
The All-Inclusive Temptation
Smiling servers offered cocktails and snacks from the patio bar for those of us who did not wish to get wet. A colorful cart was periodically rolled out to serve fresh tacos or mango on sticks.
At the Iberostar Selection Cancún, food is plentiful. There is a breakfast and lunch buffet at the pool level, a bar on the first floor, and access to six additional restaurants at Iberostar’s neighboring family-friendly sister property, Iberostar Selection Cancún.
The Adults-Only Playground
In addition to tennis, pickleball, golf, and a fitness center, the hotel offered beach volleyball, yoga classes, pool spin classes, and water aerobics. The hotel app listed a daily entertainment calendar that included bingo, darts, and basketball target shooting.
In the evening, the live entertainment featured a singer-guitarist named Ivan Tacher, who sang songs from our youth. He was our favorite act. The hotel’s programming included fire dancing, casino nights, and even burlesque.
The Moonwalk Heard Around the Patio
Our group won the “90s Music Recognition” contest. As a reward (though it felt more like a punishment) Chris was prodded onto the dance floor. A middle-aged woman who seemed incapable of sitting still whenever the DJ started up commandeered my husband. That suited me just fine, since I had no intention of joining him. Chris brought the whole episode to a close with his signature Michael Jackson moonwalk.
Leaving the Lounger Behind
With no signs of unrest in Cancún, we boldly planned to venture beyond the hotel. You simply can’t do everything in seven days in Cancún, but there’s something for everyone, as our group of eight discovered. The hotel’s private concierge arranged our activities, but several of my affinity partners offer similar services.
Here is what we did and what I highly recommend.
A Private Charter to Isla Mujeres
One highlight of the trip was the Cabin Cruiser we chartered for a day trip to Isla Mujeres, a small island eight miles from Cancún whose name translates to “Island of Women.”
Long ago, this tropical 5-mile-long island was a sacred Maya site dedicated to Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and the moon. Today, visitors come to snorkel, relax on the beaches, or browse open-air storefronts, clothing boutiques, and souvenir shops along the main street in the small Centro district. Golf carts are a wildly popular way to get from one end of the island to the other, but be sure to book ahead. We needed four carts and were unable to book them at the last minute.
Boarding the Princesa Maya
We boarded our charter at Marina Puesta del Sol, a private marina at the northern end of Nichupté Lagoon, a mangrove-lined system of lakes behind the Hotel Zone that flows into the Caribbean.
Our yacht, Princesa Maya, came with a captain and two crew members — a suitably regal name for a Cancún charter, though not unique in these waters.
Farther south, near Cozumel, another Princesa Maya lies rusting into legend, a former tourism boat said to have met its fate after Hurricane Wilma.
Private Charter or Group Tour?
What is nice about a private yacht rental (if money is no object) is that you can go wherever you want while blasting Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline or Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk to your heart’s content.
What is nice about shared group tours is that they do not hit your wallet as hard and often include hotel pickup and drop-off, as well as a professional guide. They are also a fun way to meet people. Check them all out on Viator, one of my affiliate partners.
Museo Subacuático de Arte, or MUSA, is a “living” artificial reef created in 2009 to help preserve Cancún’s natural coral reefs. Its installations are made of marine concrete and include likenesses of community members, a life-sized Volkswagen Beetle, and “The Dream Collector,” a sculpture of a man standing before hundreds of sealed glass bottles on shelves, each containing messages of fear, hope, and loss. A dog sleeps at his feet.
Not All Charters Can Enter MUSA
If you want to snorkel at MUSA, you must take a boat licensed to enter the area. There, you can snorkel or dive among more than 500 life-sized sculptures submerged off the coasts of Cancún and Isla Mujeres. Our private charter couldn’t go there, but licensed tours are easy to find. Make sure the one you choose says MUSA.
Sea-Doos in Crocodile Country
A large yellow-and-black sign at Marina Puesta del Sol on Nichupté Lagoon read: Peligro. Cocodrilos. Prohibido Nadar.
You do not need to speak Spanish to learn that it’s unsafe to swim in this lagoon when you see the accompanying image of a toothy crocodile with its mouth wide open.
We had laughed at the sign when we boarded the yacht the day before. Now we were about to sit on a small craft with our feet less than 12 inches above the waterline. Perhaps you have seen Instagram videos of saltwater crocodiles leaping onto boats at the sight of meat. Think about it. A Sea-Doo would be child’s play for a 15-ft croc.
We would need to stay clear of the mangroves.
It was just our luck that the ocean was choppy that morning. We were advised to stay in the Lagoon.
Our Sea-Doo Had Other Plans
Chris and I were the only ones who had never ridden a Sea-Doo. We quickly got the hang of it as our friends circled us before speeding off at 75 miles an hour. We never did catch up. The rental agency must have known we were beginners and given us one with a governor, the equivalent of training wheels. Ah well. It was probably for the best.
Since we could not race, we entertained ourselves by skimming the shoreline looking for crocs, until we realized the turtle grass we were gliding over could maroon us. Neither of us relished the idea of getting into the water to push the craft free.
For the brave and reckless, jet skis are available for rent here.
Rescue Horses, Spider Monkeys, and the Chewing Gum Tree
Rancho Bonanza on the Riviera Maya rescues and rehabilitates horses and donkeys. The ranch offers slow-paced jungle trail rides, and our lovely guide, Alma, recounted each horse’s story during our ride. My horse, Rambo, had been a Mexican rodeo horse. He was surrendered to the ranch upon retirement. Others were rescued and underwent corrective surgeries. They all appeared well cared for.
Into The Jungle
As our private group made its way along the jungle path, Alma pointed out spider monkeys high in the trees and an agouti, which looks like an overfed guinea pig. The trail led to a clearing, where we dismounted and left the horses with the accompanying stable hands so we could take a short walk into the jungle.
A large iguana stood guard as we made our way along a trail to look down into a crystal-clear cenote wedged between steep limestone walls. Small grassy thatch palms sprouted along the edge. Something broke the surface with a splash and disappeared before we could see what it was. Hidden underground rivers feed these jungle sinkholes. Fish, turtles, diving iguanas, and other creatures thrive in cenotes near the sea.
The Sweet History of Chicle
Nearby stood a chicozapote or sapodilla tree, also known as the “Chewing Gum Tree.” It bore the telltale wide gashes in its bark from the extraction of chicle, its white, gummy resin. I was very surprised to learn that I had chewed it regularly as a child. For those of a certain age, the name chicle should sound vaguely familiar. Take a guess, then read on.
The ancient Maya used chicle as a toothpaste to clean their teeth and freshen their breath. It could also stave off hunger and thirst. In the late 19th century, American inventor Thomas Adams learned about it from the exiled Mexican president, Antonio López de Santa Anna. Adams first thought he could make synthetic rubber for toys and tires from the resin. When that failed, he turned to chewing gum.
It turns out chicle is the source of my childhood favorite, Chiclets, as well as Black Jack gum. The Chiclets brand was discontinued in the US in 2016, but it is still produced in Mexico. Alma gave each of us a piece of locally made brown gum sold under the Chicza Organic brand in Mexico.
The Cenote Plunge Was a Highlight
After our 90-minute ride, we returned to the ranch and took a refreshing plunge into its large, private cenote. It really doesn’t get better than this.
By the way, this was my first ride since the riding accident I had in Croatia several years ago. See, I Had A Fling in Croatia.
Learning Not to Shoot Tequila
I have a checkered past with tequila, so it was with some trepidation that I agreed to taste Mexico’s finest.
Many years ago, in Puerto Vallarta, Chris and I met a fun-loving couple from Long Island whose all-inclusive wristbands could summon lobster and tequila with the snap of a finger. One fateful night at the hotel’s beach party, they shared the spoils. When eager waiters refill glasses after every sip, it is easy to lose track of how much you’ve consumed. That is my defense, anyway.
The next morning, I learned I had danced like a whirling dervish. I remember spinning. The beach spinning. People laughing. Chris has never let me forget that I wore the proverbial lampshade that night.
So when Luis, the hotel sommelier, offered us a private tequila tasting, Chris threw me a sideways look. I pretended not to notice.
This was not the tequila we had abused in our youth.
Tequila, Properly Tasted
There were colorful caballitos, slices of pineapple and grapefruit, and salts — one of them red and spicy. Luis told us that fruits such as grapefruit, pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi can better soften and brighten tequila’s agave notes.
His instructions were simple: breathe it in, sip slowly, let it rest on the tongue, and salivate before swallowing. Tequila, properly tasted, is not a shot. It is a savoring of agave, barrel, climate, and mouth.
Can You Taste Humidity?
Then Luis asked if we could taste the humidity.
Not humidity itself, of course, but the suggestion of it — the way wine people speak of wet slate, forest floor, or minerality. Could we taste damp wood? Clay? Cooked fruit? Wet stone?
I am not sure I tasted humidity. But I did taste restraint, which may be the more important lesson.
Maya Archaeological Sites
The cliff-side Mayan ruins of Tulum on the Riviera Maya, and a day excursion to Chichén Itzá are both worth considering. My affiliate partner, Viator, offers a wide selection of tours.
Tulum: Ruins Above the Sea
Tulum is smaller but offers dramatic views from 40-foot cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Built during the Late Postclassic period, roughly 1200-1450 AD, it was one of the last Maya cities still inhabited when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. Its memory will linger forever in my mind.
Chichén Itzá and the Pyramid We Once Climbed
Chichén Itzá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is among the most famous and visited Maya sites in Mesoamerica. It is about a 2-hour-and-20-minute drive from Cancún toward Mérida. There you will see El Castillo, also known as the Pyramid of Kukulcán; the Temple of the Warriors, and the ball court, where either the losing or winning team (no one is quite certain) may have faced sacrifice to the gods.
Chris and I climbed all 365 steps of El Castillo in 2004. Coming down the steep, uneven stone steps was terrifying, but visitors no longer have to worry about that. Climbing was prohibited in 2008 to preserve the structure.
Viator offers combined tours to Tulum and the Coba Archaeological Park, in addition to numerous highly rated guided tours of the Chichen Itza Mayan ruins from Cancún and the Riviera Maya.
Ancient Ruins in the Hotel Zone
If you are short on time, you don’t have to leave Cancún’s Hotel Zone to see ancient Mayan ruins. The El Rey Archaeological Zone dates between AD 1200–1500. It is in the southern hotel zone near the Iberostar Cancún Golf Club and Playa Delfines, a public beach.
Golf's Crocodile Marshals
The Iberostar Cancún Golf Club is a par-72 championship golf course on Nichupté Lagoon. It borders the ancient Maya site of El Rey Archaeological Zone. When they say water hazards, they are not kidding.
The crocodiles that have made themselves at home on the course are very effective marshals. Without a word, they warn golfers not to try to retrieve their balls from the water.
Would I Go Back?
Yes.
Some trips are about the destination. Others are about the people who share it with you. Our week in Cancún was both.
I did not do my usual deep dive into history and culture for this post, but that’s all right. Our little group brought its own history. Together, they made the trip unforgettable.
I also feel lucky that the only injury I suffered was a superficial burn on my index finger, incurred at the buffet when I reached too enthusiastically for bacon and touched the heat lamp.
I’m not complaining. A crocodile bite would have been far worse.
I’m curious. Would sargassum or scary headlines keep you from Cancún, or are those simply the modern price of paradise? And when you travel, what matters most — the destination itself, or the company you keep?
The featured photo of Cancún’s Hotel Zone was taken by Jonathan Ross. It is available on iStock.
2 Comments
I thoroughly enjoyed this article on Cancun! I would have had the same dilemma about visiting modern day Cancun but sometimes a paradise destination with all the pampering is just what the soul needs! And you made the location sound very appealing!
Often it is the destination that most attracts me but the people you share it with are usually just as important!
Thank you so much, Lori!. Truth be told, there was no sacrifice. We could easily have ventured into the wilds outside our resort, and we did. It was as close as the 7,500 acre Nichupté Lagoon with mangrove forests and hidden coves just behind our hotel. Cancún has something for everyone, which makes it a great getaway for eight friends with different interests.