Buses, Cancún

If you are somewhere in the Yucatan, I recommend taking a bus to Cancun instead of driving or flying. 1st and 2nd class buses are an easy way to travel. The buses are always airconditioned. On 1st class buses they have a bathroom and they show movies. 2nd class buses do not have a bathroom, so if you are far from Cancun, you probably want to pay more for the 1st class bus.

In Portugal we use to say that "one image speaks more than 1000 words". Having that in mind, and more than 1000 pictures to post, I decided to change my behaviour, posting the pictures as soon as they are ready, and adding the comments later.
Don't get mad on me - I'm glad to share my pictures with you, and the comments will be added soon.

There is no Direct ADO Bus from Chetumal to Cancun Airport. You will need to get to the ADO Terminal in either Playa del Carmen or Cancun, and then catch the Bus to Terminal 2 in the airport.

If your flight leaves from one of the other Terminals (1 or 3) there's a FREE Shuttle that runs approx every 30 minutes between the terminals.

Check out www.ticketbus.com.mx and remember that the prices are in Mexican Pesos not USD.

Good Luck

To catch a bus to Puerto Juarez to go to Isla Mujeres. take the R-3 it says on the front Puerto Juarez. Usually a red bus.
Bus Station Central
Take the R-1 from the hotel zone 65 pesos/.65 cents, tell the driver bus station. Try to stay in the front so he can call to you. go across the street. Nice clean bus station with immaculate bathrooms ( according to my wife, which is high praise ). 3 pesos plus 1 peso tip, a dime. Go to the leader board and find your destination on the Adobus.

Puerto Morelos is 19 peseos/$3.04 round trip, get round trip ticket.

Playa del Carmen $7.00 RT

Valladolid $10.00

"Primera Clase"
These de luxe or pullman buses are equivalent to Greyhound with reserved seats and baggage check. They also have toilets and TV although the TV's sometimes are not used or the TV show is in Spanish. Bring your own TP.
he may blink his lights to ask if you want to be picked up. Raise your hand like your hailing a cab.

Cancun is just one long strip of hotels and restaurants. The main street is Kulkulcan. Taxis are expensive. Save your money and take the bus. (If you stay in the hotel zone, you'll need the extra money to pay the exhorbitant food and drink prices.) Buses run every minute or two and cost just 60 cents. Route 1 and Route 2 buses traverse from the end of the hotel zone to the center of town. You can get on or off the buses wherever there is a blue parada sign. It's easy, cheap and convenient.

You can get from the airport to your hotel in the Hotel Zone for $4.20. Inside the airport terminals look for the ADO (bus company) booths. AT an ADO booth, you can purchase a bus ticket to take you from the airport to the downtown bus terminal for $3.50. Upon arrival at the bus terminal have someone direct you to the nearest curb where you can jump on the R1 bus to the hotel zone. The bus fare is 6.5 pesos (approximately 70 cents).

IF YOU GIVE THE BUS DRIVER PAPER MONEY, MAKE SURE YOU COUNT YOUR CHANGE. IF THE BUS DRIVER SEES YOU WITH LUGGAGE HE MAY TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT YOU MIGHT NOT BE AWARE OF THE BUS FARE OR FAMILIAR WITH THEIR CURRENCY. It happened to me. I handed the bus driver a 50 peso bill and he gave me back two tickets (13 pesos) with a 20 peso bill underneath. He should have given me back 37 pesos.

Assuming you are unfamiliar with the Cancun Hotel Zone, tell the driver the name of the hotel you want to be dropped off at and he will drop you off at the closest bus stop. It's a good idea to know what KM (kilometer) on Blvd Kukulcan the hotel is located. You can follow the KM markers on the side of the road so you will know when you are approaching your destination.

Additional tip: If you haven't exchanged any currency for pesos at an ATM at the airport, I suggest you do so at an ATM at the bus terminal or at the currency exchange across the street from the bus terminal so you will have pesos for the R1 bus. The advantage of the currency exchange is that you can change travelers checks there without commission. The rate at both the ATM and the currency exchange was 10.65 pesos per dollar as of Jan 18, 2008 which wasn't bad (the highest exchange rate I saw all week was at Walmart: 10.90 pesos per dollar.)

The easiest (and cheapest!) way to go Downtown from the Zona Hotelera is to take a bus. They are quite frequent, clean and very cheap (45 pesos). You also get to see a bit of the local life: workers going to and from worker, house wives going to the market etc.

Small groups of musicians will often ride along, playinmg for a few coins. The usually consist of one or two guitars and a singer, and the songs are very Mexican.

Travelling by bus is the cheapest and most convenient option. The R-1 bus which zooms around the Hotel Zone will take you to the shopping areas, beaches and bars and clubs. You don't have to worry about trailing home alone after a night out on the town either because these buses operate well into the early hours of the morning.

Don't forget to keep 'change' handy for the bus driver and "yell" when you want to get off because he'll carry on driving until you say so!