The Real Cancun on the cheap

Ek Balaam - see the carved statues and climb the massive ruins and city fortifications.
Chichen-itza - climb the pyramid El Castillo, see the ball court and jaguar. Isla Mujeres and see the little turtles at the turtle farm and hold the sharks (buy a cheap conch shell you can blow) and eat fish at Playa Lancheros and listen to spanish music on the satellite jukebox (after half a day of snorkeling).

Shop on Isla and see the conch shell shaped home and lighthouse. Coba's pyramid is higher than Chichen-itzas (the pyramid climbs are easy, so don't let anyone scare you). Coba's great restaurant has cheap chicken wrapped in banana leaves or fish.

Old Cancun and go where the locals shop - see things the locals really buy, not what tourists want. Borrow Royal Mayan bikes for free and bike to the ruins on the seven and feed crackers to the iguanas. We drove the toll road to Chichen-itza and saw Mexican life driving the old road home. he Royal Mayan has free spanish lessons and free wheelchairs and we swam in the multi-level pool and borrowed snorkeling equipment and got the half price virgin daquiris during happy hour.

Quick Tips:

- Get map from cancunmap.com
- Rent your vehicle over the internet (mandatory insurance from a mexican company on car rentals, so in our case it doubled the price of the car - we rented over Travelocity for /week for a compact vehicle (it was a Nissan Tsuru). In Coba, we hired a three wheeled taxi-bicycle to bike my mom around the site.
- Go to Cancunmx.com
- Go to a local church on Sunday. We brought most of our food down and our Brita pitcher because not everything at Walmart or Costco is as cheap as the US.

The Royal Mayan has lots of free activities but they assign you a concierge to sell you tours - avoid him. We love the Royal Mayan with a full kitchen, two bedrooms, and two baths.

Avoid high food prices - go to Old Cancun and eat where lots of people are eating (that is a good sign that the food is edible).

Drive to the car ferry to Isla Mujeres using the instructions from the Map available from Cancunmap.com and you will save a lot of money.
Inspect car rental thoroughly -videotape any minor defects. Royal Mayan has dishwashers and hair dryers and irons.

Best Way To Get Around:

I would rent a vehicle - I speak no spanish, but I know what the signs mean and most people are very helpful and the buses are a cheap alternative if you want to walk a lot more, but why waste your time walking in paradise? And don't rent from the resort, it is too expensive.

Public transportation can take you to Walmart and around the seven and it is reliable. We have been to Cancun twice and the Cancun map from cancunmap.com was invaluable along with the advice on where to stay from cancunmx.com along with the resort review from Tug2.net.

It was less than $50 a night because we traded a cheap timeshare for one of the world's best, according to the Timeshare Users Group . This was our second time at the Royal Mayan. The timeshares are as well-appointed as any other we have been to. They have irons and ironing boards, full-sized dishwashers, ovens, microwaves, fridge, two bedrooms and two baths in a full unit (can be split in two). They have multi-level pools and offer tons of free activities. Free sailboat use for an hour a day, free hour-long kayak trips, bikes, snorkel gear, towels, wheelchairs, Spanish lessons, aerobics, and water aerobics... They have three Royal resorts--the Mayan, Islander, and Carribean--and you can use all three for free. I love the multi-level pools, swim-up bar with half-priced happy-hour drinks.

The best thing is the free safe and daily maid service. The worst thing is the concierge, who's only interested in selling you things. We loved our stay and with our rental car we went to Costco and Walmart and bought groceries and we only spent $30 at the resort. The beach is nice as well. What a stay--I have stayed at many resorts but this is the best--I must admit that checking in took longer than anywhere else but it was worth the wait. If you don't believe me email a www.TUG2.net member and they will tell you the Royal Mayan is regularly ranked in the Top 10--the nicest thing is that it does not have to be expensive. They tried to sell us a timeshare but it was overpriced. We used a white week for this trade--we were told we would not get into the Royal Mayan but we did. Don't go to places on the Mayan Riviera--be patient because the Mayan Riviera is about 30 miles south of the Seven and you have to commute to any of the activities or restaurants outside of your resort.

It was informal--I had heard about resorts on Isla Mujeres and learned that they're not on par with American resorts. Still, we found that the fish they served was amazing (even if the service is relaxed; aka slow). That said, the atmosphere is worth the wait.

We got there around 11am. No one else was there yet, so we got our orders in and sat under a palapa (thatched-roofed open-air seating). We ordered the fish and Angela ordered the quesadillas. The fish was placed between two handheld grills, rubbed with marinade, and placed on a coal fire. I videotaped the whole thing--it was awesome. I appreciated the fact that the grill was away from our seats so we didn't get too hot. While we waited, we drank the water we'd brought with us (we didn't want to pay for water that was a lot more expensive). We loved the fish--it was delicious and fresh.

The fresh salsa about burned my throat--it was hot even for my wife--I was crying it was so hot. Not so funny--watch the green sauce.

We have been several times, but I think it's typical of the restaurants on the Seven--the food is fine, but you're not going to get the authentic feel of real Mexican cuisine. However, I think it's comparatively priced to most restaurants there and has quite the ambience, since the seating is on the water. Sometimes you can see a shark in the water near the restaurant; the waiters will point them out, if you ask.

We thought their best food was the Sopa de Lima (Lime Soup). Angela tried the lime soup at several restaurants and gave the lime soup at Captain's Cove her highest rating

My mom thought the chicken fajitas were overpriced because there was very little chicken in the fajitas--just onions and peppers.

You will love Ek Balaam if you love Mayan ruins and want another place to go besides Chichen Itza. I would recommend getting on the internet before you go to any ruin to get accurate historical information--the information from local guides can be questionable as they're trained by learning from other guides.

These ruins are unlike Chichen Itza because the city had 3 walls or fortifications surrounding it. The city ruins are interesting as they contain three-dimensional statues of people and gods. The main building is massive--over a football field long and almost a football field thick.

It is near Vallaldolid and is not as well-developed as Chichen Itza, but that also means you are not fighting large crowds. There is not as much walking as Chichen Itza and the city is much older than Chichen Itza. We drove there with our rental car. It dates back to before the time of Christ.

The guide was very helpful and pointed out that Old Mayan Roads lead straight to other Mayan cities on the peninsula.

There are no restaurants in Ek Balaam so bring some food or go to Vallaldolid. You can get to Ek Balaam off of the Toll Road by going north off the Vallaldolid exit.

You can borrow or rent bikes from your resort--we borrowed bikes (for free) from the Royal Mayan and biked the 3km to the ruins. We also took Ritz crackers to feed the iguanas, who will come very close to you if you come with crackers--any kind of crackers will do.

The ruins are small and really not much compared to larger scale ruins like Chichen Itza, Coba, Ek Balaam, or Tulum.

This was fun--I had never seen so many turtles in my life. There isn't a ton to see on Isla Mujeres but this is a must see.

It only takes an hour or so depending on how many pictures you take. They have some great souvenirs and kids will love the various sizes of the turtles and the large tortoises.

The admission proceeds go towards saving sea tortoises, and the Mexican Government is doing a great service to this end. You can teach your children all about a good environmental project while enjoying cute little turtles by the dozens.