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By Darren Johnson
Campus News
Classes are over, summer is here, and you may have some time to unwind. You may be thinking – this late in the game – you’re resigned to simple car travel, if you want to get away for some R&R. You see the commercials for Myrtle Beach, with people parasailing, mini-golfing or eating at some national chain restaurant aimed at tourists, or some other cliched middle-class trip to a town with a Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, a video arcade and a Margaritaville, where it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere. Sigh. Lake George, Atlantic City, Mystic, Niagara Falls … they are all variations on a theme.
But maybe you can swing something a little different. If you poke around travel sites, you may be able to get a foreign trip cheap. Let me break down one I recently did with my family.
It’s somewhat off-season in Cancun, Mexico, and, while, yes, Cancun can be as generic as any other touristy place, it doesn’t have to be. We went in early June. It was only about $1200 for three people’s airfare from New York City and that price included a room at a decent hotel there. We made the trip more authentic than the typical trip to Cancun by doing the following:
Staying Away From the Hotel Zone and Downtown
There are two areas where people predominantly stay in Cancun: The Hotel Zone, which is a huge strip of beachfront motels with lots of the usual tourist traps in between – Señor Frog’s, Bubba Gump’s, Margaritaville, Hooters – and some run-down shops that all sell the same Made-in-China tchotchkes, and the Downtown, which has some shops you can haggle in, but, really, it’s a pretty lousy downtown with broken sidewalks and downtrodden buildings.
We took the above into account, and picked an area outside the action called Cumbres and found a totally fine Hampton Inn by Hilton there that had clean rooms and a great staff. They put out a full breakfast everyday until 10 a.m., which helped us keep costs down. As well, there were a bunch of stores within walking distance, including a Walmart food store, to get sandwiches for the beach. Cab rides to the beaches or downtown were about $15 each way.
The Prices
You don’t need to have pesos right away. Getting from the airport to the hotel can be done with US dollars or a credit card. SuperShuttle seems to have a racket out of the airport. The rental car companies are also a bit of a bait-and-switch, requiring you to buy really expensive insurance. It starts off your trip with a bad taste (besides, the Cancun airport is a mess of gaudy US-corporate-style shops). Don’t let SuperShuttle talk you into a round trip. Our hotel took us back to the airport for free. SuperShuttle also charged my credit card more than they had said they were going to. Maybe call your hotel in advance and see if they have a free shuttle, or prepay for your travel from the airport via a site like Expedia.
Don’t get pesos in the airport. They will overcharge you. Just hit any ATM when in town. Don’t freak if it says you are taking out $7000 – they use the same symbol for their money. $7000 in pesos is only about $350 USD. The $70 ATM free is really only $3.50 USD. I unnecessarily freaked out the first time I saw that.
To figure out what you’re paying, just divide the number by half, and then take off a zero. For example, $100 in pesos is about $5 USD. (Half of 100 is 50, and then take off the zero for 5. See?)
Overall, away from the Hotel Zone, prices in Cancun are about a third to halfway cheaper than in the US, even if you go to a US-corporate-style store, like Sam’s Club. One rainy night, we went to a movie theater near our hotel and saw a first-run movie, “Rocketman,” for only about $3 USD each. (Be sure you choose a movie merely with Spanish subtitles, as they tend to overdub most US entertainment in Mexico with Spanish voices.) Most of our meals, with alcohol, were about $50 USD or less, for three people. These same meals would easily be $75-100 in the US.
The Language
I took three years of Spanish in high school and tend to remember what I’m taught. I’m not truly fluent, but was capable of maneuvering around Cancun. Most people outside the touristy areas do not speak English. It’s key to know some Spanish to negotiate prices, because everything’s a negotiation, even cab fares. You might also want to know what you’re eating.
You probably took a little Spanish at one point, or maybe you know bits of a similar language, like Italian or Portuguese. Before going to Mexico, I’d advise at least brushing up on your nouns and maybe a few key verbs. Also know the niceties, like good day, good afternoon, thank you, you’re welcome, etc. Practice numbers in the hundreds, because most things cost over a hundred pesos.
Work on your pronunciation, because many English words translate, if pronounced with a Spanish inflection. For example, television is merely tel-AY-vee-see-own. Our hotel was HAM-tone Een. Relax. Take your time. Translating is not as hard as you think.
Book Some Excursions
Through Expedia, we booked an all-day trip (over 12 hours on a nice bus, which picked us up at our hotel) that only cost $50 USD a person. They gave us lots of freebies – including lots of tequila – and took us through the Yucatan, including Mayan country, a cenote (an underground cave/pool, which we swam in), to the pyramid-style structures known as Chichen Itza, and a beautiful Spanish-style city called Valladolid, with beautiful architecture, a classic church and an active town square with music and churro and ice cream vendors.
The Beaches
We hit a couple of different beaches: Playa Delfines and Chac-Mol on the Caribbean Sea. They both had clean, warm waters and decent waves; free entry, umbrellas and chairs; light crowds; clean white sands, and minimal vendors (who can be annoying in other Caribbean countries). They were safe in all regards, and very relaxing. I’d advise filling a cooler bag with ice from the hotel and grabbing beverages and food at a store the locals shop at. If you can’t understand the pricing or the cashier, just use a credit card to pay. The funds will automatically exchange. I normally walked around with just my hotel key, my driver’s license, some pesos and one credit (not debit) card in a rubber band, and that was fine. Everything else was in my hotel safe.
Some Ripoffs
Most ripoffs had to do with the airports. LaGuardia charged us $300 to park in their standard lot for the week (they don’t have an economy lot)! In the Yucatan, we were each charged a $25 tax that’s levied on foreigners. Vendors will try to get the best price. Walk away if they offend you by asking too much for some trinket. On the bus ride to the Yucatan, there was a lot of upselling, though we didn’t fall for it. Just be smart. The level of such salesmanship was no different, though, than at over-the-top US tourist destinations such as Las Vegas.
Overall, if you’re looking for something different, and affordable, try Cancun, but don’t stay in the Hotel Zone if you want some authenticity.
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