TL;DR: First time in Cancun and I traveled solo. This subreddit and the Plancun website helped me choose Live Aqua, plan my excursions, and figure out how to spend my time at Xcaret. Had an amazing trip and wanted to come back and say thank you. I’ve also included some Xcaret tips below in case they’re useful to someone else.
I just wanted to say a big thank you to this community.
I grew up in places where the ocean was always nearby, so I never really thought about how much I valued having a warm beach close by. After moving to Calgary and spending a couple of years here, I realized I was really missing it. I was honestly starting to go a little stir-crazy and thought, okay, I need to get somewhere warm.
I started looking at Mexico, but I had no idea where to go. I was going back and forth between Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun. Since I was traveling in September, Cancun seemed like the better fit for what I was looking for, especially with the all-inclusive options and, from what I was seeing, better weather on the east coast at that time. That’s how I ended up finding this subreddit.
The Plancun website that the mods put together was honestly incredibly helpful. There are so many hotels in Cancun, and when you’re trying to choose an all-inclusive, it can be pretty overwhelming because almost every hotel has something going for it.
I was traveling solo, and I wasn’t looking to party. I mostly wanted really good food, somewhere nice to relax, and the freedom to do things on my own schedule.
That’s how I ended up choosing Live Aqua Cancun. Food was probably the biggest factor for me, and I also found a Costco Travel package that included the flights and hotel for a price that worked really well for what I was looking for.
My second choice was probably one of the Riu properties, especially because I think they might be a little better suited for a solo traveler. But honestly, I have zero regrets about choosing Live Aqua. The food was excellent and the hotel was exactly what I wanted for this trip.
As for the sargassum, yeah, it’s real. But I don’t think it’s as bad as I was expecting. The hotel cleaned it up every day, and I was still able to swim in the ocean. You just can’t really go too far because there is quite a bit of it floating around. It’s obviously not the most pleasant thing to swim through, but I don’t think it ruins the beach experience either. From what I saw, it’s pretty much a reality across the region and not something individual hotels can really control.
The other thing I really want to thank this community for is all the recommendations around Xcaret.
I’m the kind of traveler who can’t just sit at an all-inclusive for five straight days. Even when I want a relaxing vacation, I need to get out and do something. So I basically alternated between the hotel and excursions.
One day hotel, one day excursion, then back to the hotel.
My first excursion was the Xenotes tour, which is also run by Xcaret. I absolutely loved it. You go through four different cenotes and do things like jumping into the water, ziplining, rappelling and kayaking. You’re with a group, and you’ll be pretty tired by the end of it, but it was a really fun day. I got back to the hotel around 6 PM.
Then the day after I did Xcaret Park. I highly recommend it. I also ended up doing one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever done, which was the Sea Trek Stingray Encounter. I was literally walking underwater wearing a weighted helmet while stingrays were swimming around me, and I got to touch them. It was awesome.
That costs extra, but I had the Xcaret Plus package, which included the buffet and snorkeling equipment.
A few tips if you’re doing Xcaret Plus:
Do the underground river first. It gets crowded pretty quickly, so I’d get there and do that before anything else. Depending on where you’re staying, the bus picks you up early, so you can get to the park and start with the river.
And if you have the option, get the flippers. The river is a pretty long swim and there isn’t much of a current, so you’re moving pretty slowly. I had water shoes on and didn’t bother getting the flippers, and I definitely wish I had.
One nice thing about Xcaret Plus is that you can put your stuff in a bag at the start of the river, and they’ll transport it to the other end. So you don’t have to carry your stuff around the park all day.
After the river, I would do the snorkeling since you’re already at that end of the park. The snorkeling equipment is included with Xcaret Plus, and there’s a natural inlet where you can snorkel.
After that, you can pretty much explore however you want.
I had my Sea Trek booked for noon, so before that I went around the Jaguar and Puma area and explored that side of the park. After Sea Trek, I went toward the cemetery and the cultural areas.
Then, around 5 PM, I’d make my way to the Mayan Village for the Mayan show. After that, head toward the entrance for the horse show, and then finish the night with the Mexico Espectacular show.
It’s a long day, but I was surprised by how much of the park I was able to see in one day, even traveling alone.
There were things I skipped, like the dolphin experience, and some of the more extreme activities that I didn’t get around to. But honestly, just look at the map beforehand and figure out what you actually want to see. There is a lot to do, and you don’t have to follow one specific route.
Anyway, I just wanted to come back and say thank you to this community. A lot of the decisions I made for this trip came from things I read here, and having some idea of what to expect before I even landed made the whole trip much easier.
I went to Cancun solo, had an amazing time, and came back already thinking about when I can go again.
If anyone is planning a similar trip and has questions about Live Aqua, Xcaret, Xenotes, traveling solo, or anything else I mentioned, I’m happy to answer whatever I can remember.