The 8 things no one tells you about the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Let’s start by saying that a trip to Mexico is definitely a must do! The almost untouched nature, the amazing weather, the tasty food and tequila and the smiles of those you will meet along the way are 100% worth it. However, there are a few things that no one really tells you about this country, and more specifically the Yucatan Peninsula…
After returning from an 11-day road trip across Yucatan. I travelled with a very good friend of mine, we rented a car, had an amazing time, and resolved some little (and typical) travel inconveniences along the way with no further issues. However, there were a few things we didn’t really appreciate which kind of had, in a way, an impact on your holiday, especially our budget.
1.The Yucatan Peninsula is expensive
If you are thinking about backpacking the Yucatan peninsula, then this is not really the perfect destination for it. Starting from the entrances to the Cenotes, prices have basically tripled in past years and nothing is as stated on the websites. Every single thing you do becomes an excuse to make you spend more money. In some Cenotes you even have to pay to use your own GoPro camera, and some have an entrance fee of up to 20£ (plus again the price for your camera if you have one)!
Photos on some tours are super expensive and they won’t allow you to take cameras with you so you are forced to purchase a picture from their photographers if you want a memory of your experience. We went on a Dolphin Discovery at Isla Mujeres (of course no GoPro). When finished, we asked about the cost per photo and were shocked to hear that we had to pay 39,00＄ (US Dollars not Pesos) for a single picture!
Being so close to a dolphin and interacting with them was a dream coming true, they also seemed happy and well-treated at the Garrafon Park, plus the Discovery experience was not as expensive as in other countries. On top of that, with the same ticket we also had a ferry from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, a buffet lunch and entry to the Garrafon Park included. Everything for about 65£. Therefore, when asked for over half of the money of the entire tour for just one photo we just could not believe it! Same issue at Rio Secreto, they tell you no GoPro for your safety because your hands have to be free. You reply saying that your hands will be free as you have the body strap for it, but then they will come up with some other nonsense excuse because of course a photographer is with you taking photos that you have to pay for when you exit! For me personally, not being able to take my own pictures really disappointed me, both experiences were amazing, and I would definitely do them again, but having pictures and videos to look back at would have helped us remembering our special moment with the dolphin at Isla Mujeres and the wonders of Rio Secreto when looking back at them in 10 plus years from now. It made us sad knowing that there might be some parts of the experience we will never be able to fully remember 🙁
As someone once said: 'A picture is a return ticket to a memory otherwise gone...'
2. Restaurants are not so cheap but...
Unless you go and eat in local restaurants or some food stands around the streets, I found food prices to be as high as in central London at times, which you really do not expect in Mexico. An ice-cream in a well-known shop can cost you up to 7£, when instead you could get a homemade Ice-cream (called 'Paletas' that come in lots of different flavors) in a local little shop for about 20-30 Pesos (1.30£)!
The same applies to Tacos. We had an amazing street food dinner in Tulum Pueblo and got 5 delicious tacos for 60 Pesos (about 2.60£)!
You can of course find restaurants with very resonable prices if you are travelling on a budget. However, this is more the case around the inner areas of the Peninsula like Valladolid for example. Also, service charge is never included in Mexico and you are expected to leave a tip (or propina in spanish) when paying your bill. We were always leaving around 10% of the total bill as a tip. Try and remember to leave some tips for the staff, salaries are not very high in Mexico and it is nice to contribute when we can. Although, in some places they might even mark it for you on the bill, so you don't forget 😅
3.Wherever you are, careful with the scam. You are seen as a walking bank!
This is something that applies to different countries around the world of course, especially in poorer ones. Thus, in Mexico it was seriously something else... I read a lot about the Yucatan peninsula and how much prices differ from other States around Mexico, but I was really not expecting such high prices. This is mostly from Cancun all the way to the Tulum area, starting from souvenirs stands, to buying a bottle of water. Most places do not have prices displayed on purpose, so keep in mind that they will be making up the price by looking at your face most of the time (the more gringo you look the higher will be the price 😬). We bought a Marquesita, a kind of rolled up crepe with all sorts of stuff inside in a little food stand around Tulum Pueblo. Exactly the same Marquesita cost me 65 Pesos one day, while the next day magically it became 95 Pesos (same stand, same toppings, different employee). I just let it go but this is one of the many examples on how much discrepancies there are regarding prices.
When it comes to food, I tend to accept whatever price they quote, and if I feel it's too high, I simply go somewhere else. However, when it comes to purchasing souvenirs, you'll need to negotiate to bring down the price if you believe it's too high. Just be straight and let them know the price you consider reasonable for the item you're purchasing! I bought a small Mayan mask to hang in my flat as a souvenir in Chichen Itza. The guy started with 600 Pesos (about 30£), I managed to get it for 150 Pesos instead (about 7£).
If they won’t accept your price, just start walking away, they’ll run after you! By the way, they made me giggle all the time when saying that for us (as Italians) the prices were better than for Gringos… lies 😒. It’s just a way of selling stuff to you of course so keep negotiating!
4. Hidden accommodation costs and deposits
In terms of accommodation, you can still find some great deals if you book in advance, of course, forget the beach area (that’s exclusively for those earning over 5k a month! If not more!). Read the reviews properly and make sure there are no hidden costs when you get to your accommodation such as deposits, extra taxes, and charges for other stuff which we might not usually have in Europe. In our hotel in Tulum, they asked us for a 100$ deposit on the credit card in case of damages to the room for example. I had read that they tend to charge you for scratches on the furniture or even make-up stains on towels in some places, so when we got to our room, I took videos of everything that was broken and sent a message on Booking.com to our contact as soon as we checked in. No one actually showed us the room so they could have perfectly come back to us accusing us of having broken some stuff. All I’m saying is, just collect proof and be on the safe side. We had the money back with no issues.
5. Rental Cars
When it comes to rental car prices, we paid about 700£ for 9 days of rental including full insurance with Europcar, which we divided by two so not too bad after all. Petrol price is not too high, about 24 Pesos (around 1,10£) for petrol and I believe 23 Pesos for Diesel. In 9 days, we drove for about 1000 km and spent something like 50-60£ in total on petrol.
One of the main issues with rental cars is the parking. Expect to pay almost everywhere! In the Tulum beach area, they asked us up to 300 Pesos to park the car which is almost 15£! A rip-off for Mexico... You can find some free parking on the road. However, it is not really advised, especially if you have things inside your car. Most of the time there will be someone looking after paid car parking spaces, so they are kind of more secure despite the high prices (better than having your stuff possibly stolen along the way I guess). Unfortunately, as we were moving around, some days we had to leave all our belongings in the car while exploring and we did park on the side of the road when we had no other option, but again it is not advised to do so, especially in non-touristy areas towards the inner part of the Peninsula. If you have to, just make sure you park in front of a shop or somewhere where lots of people are passing by.
6.ATM have fees everywhere
When I’m on holiday I only use my Revolut card. I would love collecting points on my AMEX but I’m unfortunately charged foreign transactions fees so not so worth it when I can pay 0 with my Revolut. I have been using it for the past 4 or 5 years now and it allows me to pay no foreign transaction fee anywhere I go in the world. But of course, In Mexico it was different because every single ATM has a minimum fee that cannot be avoided (by the way it is the ATM itself that charges you, not your bank if using a currency card like mine!). The cheapest ATM fee we found was Citibanamex with 31.80 Pesos fee (about 1.50£), second cheapest was Santander with 34.80 Pesos fee (about 1.50£). We also used HSBC once which had a fee of 80,40 Pesos (about 2,50£). The others were all much higher so make sure to use one of these three. Also a huge tip, whether you have a currency card like mine or your usual bank card, always click DECLINE when the ATM will ask you to accept the money exchange rate as it will always be higher than the one your bank will give you. So DECLINE DECLINE DECLINE! The first time I cashed some money out I completely forgot and ended up paying more than I was planning to, so be very careful. Oh, you will sometimes see some army guys with guns by ATMs but nothing to worry about it is pretty usual in Mexico.
7.Be ready if thinking about going to Beach Clubs in Tulum
We ended up not going but we asked questions and attempted to spend a few hours in one. Most beach clubs have a minimum consumption policy (we were asked for about 150£ per person in one). During our second attempt we asked in advance if there was a minimum consumption policy, we were told there was none, but of course once we sat down, they told us we had to spend about 40£ per person to stay there, we had about 2-3 hours to spare, and it was a bit too much in our opinion, so we left). There are some with no minimum spending requirements but be prepared because a bottle of water will cost you about 6£! We were walking along the beach one day, were super thirsty and had finished both our bottles of water so we decided to stop at a beach club and get one. Well… yes rip off again. It was a 500ml bottle, oh and service charge was not included so make it 7£ in total! A bottle we will never forget 😝
8. Going to the beach in Tulum is not so easy. Watch out for the Sargassum season too...
During our first day in Tulum, we walked along the beach for quite a while, and you can actually put your own towel down if there is no hotel or beach club close by. However, accessing the beach is a little difficult as there are not many walkways from the main road to the beach. You will just end up sneaking in one of the beach clubs to access the beach. At the Mia Selina Tulum they did let us through so you could give it a try (entrance picture below). If there is security at the entrance just tell them, you want to go to the Beach Club (not simply the beach) and they should let you through. There is a Playa Publica in between (a public beach) but it was full of sargassum, a super smelly algae that you will unfortunately find in Tulum if you are unlucky during your holiday. Apparently, the best months to visit are from October to December. February was meant to be an ok month but the sargassum arrived earlier this year, so we were not that lucky. Always check the internet and maybe Instagram to check out how the beach looks like in Tulum before you travel.
The only beach with no sargassum we saw was in Isla Mujeres, an island about 15 min ferry from Cancun. All the rest of the coast from the Cancun Hotel Zone, down to the Sian Ka'an Reserve was full with it unfortunately. But you will have plenty of Cenotes to choose from though, so not all is lost! Also the northern part of the Peninsula is free from sargassum all year around if you want to enjoy the beach, or maybe just head over to Bacalar!
That said, the Yucatan Peninsula is a place full of wonders, each Cenote is truly beautiful! In some areas you are surrounded by endless jungle, the colour of the water is of the prettiest blue, the marine life is thriving and so is the jungle. We loved the wilderness of it, being able to drive for hours in the middle of nowhere, seeing a crocodile in the Sian Ka’an Reserve, seeing wild iguanas greeting us everywhere, observing the festive spirit of Los Mexicanos in the little villages in the most remote areas of the Peninsula, are memories we will never forget.
My advice? Yes, you have to visit the Yucatan Peninsula, but plan your stay very well and if you are on a budget, make sure you save a little extra than usual or travel in a group to divide costs maybe. Also, if you are an adventurer like me and my friend, a car is essential, despite everything that didn’t work out very well with ours, more about this on my related blog post about driving in Mexico coming out soon, we have to thank our little Chevrolet Spark because without her we would have missed out on a lot of adventures…
Hope you find these tips useful! If you want to find out how I planned my road trip in the Yucatan Peninsula have a look at the full itinerary here. Happy Travel everyone!
