Hi! If you don't care much for crowds or if it's not imperative for you to take a tour. I suggest that you rent a car and drive to Chichen-Itza. For about 40-60$ a day, you can bank in the Chichen-Itza and the Coba ruins in a day. My friend and I rented a car early in the morning at 7:30, were on en route to Chichen Itza and arrived there at about 10am. The drive was safe and we got to drive through little towns scoping out arts and crafts. When we got to Chichen Itza, the entrance fee was 101 Mx Pesos which is about 10$. There are guides that will give you the tour of the place for about $50. But we didn't really see the point of that. We were able to catch some of what the guides were saying to other groups while we were scoping the different ruins. In reality, the site is so spectacular that you don't really want to pay attention to anyone talking. If you know what I mean. Make sure to leave Chichen Itza by 1:30 if you want to make it to Coba with Ample time to see the Coba Pyramid (the highest in all of the peninsula)and go up on it. Yes, at Coba you can still go on the ruins during your visit. The entrance to Coba was 51 Mx Pesos about 5$. Make sure to rent a bike unless you want to hike in the heat like we did with my friend. Over all, during our whole day we spent $95 for a trip to Chichen Itza and Coba, including gas for two people... a real bargain.

In Cancun there are public buses up and down the hotel strip. They are safe, but you feel every pothole in the road. Great way to go to the restaurant zone or downtown.

The best known part of Cancun is the hotel strip which is a man made sand spit full of mostly 5 star hotels. There are precious few shops and restaurants and ATMs and the expectation is clearly to remain in your own resort for entertainment. There is a shuttle bus service into "town" - note that this isn't really Cancun town which is many more miles away and houses mostly the workforce in the tourist industry but another man-made town full of Hooters, KFCs etc Avoid anyone offering you legal or illegal drugs. The pimps are also rather blatant but I found more amusing with their catalogues than caused offence. In all Cancun is pretty convenient for popular excusrions into Chitchen Itza, Tulum, Merida etc. I hired a car and did my own sight-seeing which I highly recommend; plus it's cheaper, more flexible and completely easy and safe

not much here 'cept the ferry port to Isla Mujeres

Don´t even think of going there on your own. You are talking about easily a few hour ride through dense desolate jungles, with no towns visible and gas stations miles apart. Trust me. You do not want to get stuck there...

Playa del Carmen is an Americanized resort, packed with tourists, who are mostly new to Mexico and don't know much or any Spanish. It is expensive for Mexico and has a multitude of American chain restaurants and bars, such as |Senor Frogs for example. It has a busy nightlife, comparable to European cities. Not my favourite place in Mexico at all. I only went there to take a boat to Cozumel, an island on the Carribean Sea.
I visited a little, but didn't want to stay longer than a couple of hours.
If you want the real Mexican experience, stay away from Playa or Cancun, even Cozumel.
Go to Tulum, which is only about an hour south by bus from Playa, and is small and still charming.
You will find white sandy beaches and turquoise water with less people and at a cheaper price. Besides, there you can visit the ruins. An amazing sight. They were built on rocks, right at the sea shore.

When riding the bus on the strip, don't get off after the tourist spots. LOL.. I made that mistake, I was just going to walk back as it was only 1 stop..
But the bus driver would not let me get off the bus and turned it around to drop me off at the clubs and stuff. He said he didn't want me to encounter trouble. I assured him I could hold my own, but he was pretty adamant about my not getting off, he said hurt or dead tourists is bad for their economy. So I will advise you to get off on time.. LOL.... Tks to the bus driver...

ALWAYS Bargain down.Keep money close to you, and wear sunblock

Nous somme allé au grand Palladium Colonoalpour la 1er fois et on a adoré. La plage, les attractions et surtous la plonger en apner, ces super.

There's a ship that goes from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel.