Cancun - The Legend and the Truth

Legend: Cancun is paradise.
Truth: Only true if you're a college student during spring break or Canadians/Europeans escaping winter.

Aside from going to clubs with open bars(all you can drink), sitting on the beach and the occasional ruins, there isn't a whole lot to do in Cancun. Its infamy comes primarily from MTV Spring Break and the huge numbers of college-age students looking for debauchery. If you don't want to get caught with high prices and rowdy college students, avoid going in mid to late March.

Quick Tips:

Prices are usually posted in dollars, and once in a while, in pesos. Bring 70% of your money in dollars and 30% in pesos. Taxi fares on the strip are fixed in pesos and posted in many areas. They tend to be quite pricey, so you can consider taking the bus. You can usually negotiate the cover charge if you're with a group of people. The exception is Coco Bongo, where the cover is a non-negotiable for an open bar and show.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is unrealistic in Cancun. Taking the bus is very cheap (2.50 pesos) and fairly quick. Ask which bus line to take before leaving your hotel, and when you get on, tell the driver where you're going.

The Aquamarina Beach Hotel is an all-inclusive (food, drinks, on-site activities) hotel located on the northern part of the hotel strip (east of downtown), on the Gulf of Mexico side of Cancun. It's fairly small and definitely a budget hotel. You don't pay much, but you don't get much either.

The rooms are small, but clean, with balconies (at least the ones we had). The bathroom only had a shower (no bathtub), and the in-room "safe" was a bit of a joke. The pool is small and only really suited to playing water volleyball or lounging. The two Jacuzzis on the deck tended to be lukewarm. The beach area adjoining the hotel is good.

Lunch is generally pretty low-quality, consisting of hot dogs, hamburgers, or pasta. Dinner is generally better but is still at the level of diner food.

The people who work there are polite, friendly, and helpful, and service was decent.

The evening "shows" are pretty cheesy, although the young group of people who work there try very hard.

If you need a place to sleep and don't care a whole lot about facilities and food, this place is a good deal. I'd be interested in trying out other hotels before returning to this one.

My friends and I wanted to go dancing, and we were approached on the street by some guy offering us a discount to the Bull Dog Cafe. We asked what kind of music they had and he answered, "all kinds". They were more or less correct... which meant that there wasn't much dancing.

We managed to negotiate a deal so that it was $10 cover for people who didn't want drinks and $13 for one drink. Normally, it's something like $20 cover, including two drinks, or $30 for open bar.

There wasn't much of a dance floor since there were lots of tables in the middle of it, and it seemed like people were more interested in getting drunk than dancing anyway. There are three different levels, including a Jacuzzi next to the stage. When we were there, a rock band came on and played songs that were more suited for people in their mid-30s.

My conclusion is that it wasn't such a great place to dance. If you want a place to sit down and watch a rock band, it's not bad, but definitely not a real "club".