Amie06

Thinking of travelling to Cancun for a weeks vacation, i have UK passport and Permanent Resident Card (10 year) and my wife is US citizen do either of us need anything elese such as a visa? Got conflicting answers on Google.

Guindalf

No visa required for Mexico, AFAIK. We've visited many times on cruises ad no visa has been needed. Of course, you'll need you GC and passport which you already have.

Amie06

Thanks, that's what i hoped.

GeoffM

No visa required. We did LAX-CUN on Green Cards last year. No problem.

Wouldn't go back though. Very expensive - even by US standards, let alone Mexican. Only really went for Chichen Itza, and that was self driving (sod getting up at 5am for a grand tour of Cancun hotels and gift shops with a brief photo op at CI). Sorry for the negativity: I prefer more authentic holidays than "little US in Mexico".

Amie06

Negativity is always helpful, it sure ain't all roses i know, looking at Cancun all inclusive from a price perspective, but the devil is always in the small print, flight times etc

GeoffM

Ah yes, we had a red-eye from LAX. Left at midnight, arrived at 6am, 4 hour flight (or something along those lines). By the time we'd picked the car up* and had lunch, the hotel were able to check us in early. Ours was all inclusive and yes it was nice to just order a beer at any time without worrying about bills/paying.

* Forgot to mention this. The car hire place was dreadful. The Europcar desk inside the terminal was unmanned. No shuttle bus came while we watched the other shuttle buses repeatedly come and go - in the end another company took us to their office (for a small donation). They then tried to claim our insurance was invalid (it was valid - Europcar HQ later confirmed it was) with the cost of their "proper" insurance being hundreds of dollars for 4 days. Argued with the manager to no avail and in the end walked into Thrifty next door and hired a car with insurance for less than Europcar's insurance alone. Even then, I somewhat belatedly learned of tricks Cancun rental places in particular try to pull, such as showing you the spare tyre upon pickup, but pulling it out upon return and showing you that it was slashed underneath - but you never saw it, but you signed the form saying it was good. We got relatively lucky. Oh, and if you do drive, watch for the speed bumps.

Amie06

Thanks for the heads up on Cancun, learnt a few of the pitfalls when taking "cheap" holidays from the UK, especially regards flight times and check in/out times from hotel. The wife is looking at holidays online now and i am trying to explain what to look out for, if a holiday is cheap there is a damn good reason behind it

ddsrph

scrubbedexpat097

We flew into Cancun and drove to Puerto Aventura in February. We stayed in a condo in a really nice area right on the beach. I didn't find it expensive at all, we ate out a lot in some great restaurants and also bought food to cook and it was very reasonably priced. We spent a day in Tulum at the ruins with a guide who was great.

I would go back again, it was a relaxing lazy vacation with perfect weather. Mind you flying from Houston made it easier!

GeoffM

That's great but Puerto Avenura is not Cancun!

I don't know if you used AirBnB (et al) but I'm using them more and more over hotels.

scrubbedexpat097

I know! My point being there is alternatives if you fly into Cancun and don't mind driving a bit.

The condo we stayed in is owned by my daughters friend and as we went in February we got a very good rate. Last year when we went to the UK we stayed in two different AirBnB 's both were really great. Hoping to use one again next year.

GeoffM

Ah, I get you now! We considered staying in Tulum but a friend got us a travel agent rate on a hotel in Cancun's Hotel Zone so we went there. Even with a heavy discount it was a little eye watering. But not just the hotel: of course, all the bars and restaurants in the Hotel Zone were pricey.

Still, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Chichen Itza was worth it, and we paid for a personal guide who was very knowledgeable. We went to a cenote and walked back out when we saw there were 8 coaches in the car park. Ended up going to some other ruins in the Hotel Zone that are bizarrely rarely visited.