If you have decided to live and work in Cancun, when you first arrive you may not be sure how long you will stay or have your own vehicle to travel around in. Public transportation in Cancun will then be very important to you. Below are set out some of your options for getting around Cancun without a car.
Transportation in Cancun: Taxis
If you are out and about in Cancun, you are sure to see many taxis. Taxis within Cancun are not metered, and in the Hotel Zone taxis costs differ significantly with fares varying between $20USD for a couple of km, to $10 USD from mid-hotel zone to downtown. It is very important to establish the exact cost of your fare BEFORE you start your taxis ride. All fares within the center of downtown Cancun are $25 MXN. Ask the local residents for advice on how much the fare should be.
Transportation in Cancun: Buses and vans
The use of buses and vans particularly if you are in the Hotel Zone and the center are probably the best form of transport. They are very inexpensive (about $1 USD as you go along), very regular, very friendly and comfortable in Quintana Roo and Yucatan. Make sure you have small notes and coins available to pay your fare. Buses in Cancun can have air conditioned and Wi-Fi on board and run 24/7 and so are particularly useful and safe if you are staying at the hotel zone and going to the nightclubs at night.
If you do not know when to get off a bus, be sure to tell the driver where you want to go to and he will inform you when he gets to your destination. You can also use the stone marker post in the median which indicate the KM number. When trying to navigate Cancun it is easy to establish which side of the road you need to be on to catch your bus as on the ocean side of the street the buses travel north towards downtown, and on the lagoon side they go to the end of the hotel zone.
Transportation in Cancun: ADO BUS (for longer distances)
ADO bus services are first class travel that goes to Playa del Carmen then to Tulum and on to the Airport at Cancun. They have air conditioning and sometimes show a movie on board. With this service, tickets can be bought on the same day as travel. Another service that is available is the Mayab buses. This is a second class service the will make stops all along the route of travel. Tickets for this service can be purchased 24 hours before travel and your luggage will be stowed underneath the bus in its hold.
Transportation in Cancun: Playa Express
The PLAYA EXPRESS are sprinter buses which you can pick up outside the terminal and they can transport you to Playa del Carmen as well. They run every 20 minutes and are less expensive than the ADO service. If you don’t have a lot of luggage, this is the service for you.
Transportation in Cancun: COLECTIVO
Running along HWY 307 from Cancun to Tulum, white vans provide transportation up to Puerto Juarez to the ferry to Isla Mujeres. These drivers will provide transportation to day excursions like Xel Ha, Xcaret, Akumal, Rancho Baaxal, Tulum Mayan site, and Playa del Carmen and will drop off and pick up passengers at any point along the highway.
Safety
Traveling by bus and taxi is safe to use day or night. A few simple rules need to be considered.
- If in a group, make sure you all stay together.
- If it is late at night, don’t travel on your own.
- Make sure you are aware of your surroundings.