Cancun attractions

Avenida Kukulkan, also known as Cancun’s Hotel Zone, is a pulsing thoroughfare lined with oceanfront resorts that separate the Caribbean Sea from the Nichupte Lagoon. This long, flat strip is home to some of Cancun’s best shopping, dining, and nightlife. From Avenida Kukulkan, various paths lead out to a limitless stretch of white sand.

Set in the middle of the Yucatan jungle, Xplor Park allows visitors to experience Mexico’s environmental treasures firsthand. Here you can raft down a stalactite-filled underground river, swim in cenotes, ride in an amphibious vehicle, or zipline above the canopy. There’s also a nighttime option to explore after dark.

Take a break from the beaches to explore artifacts from Mexico’s ancient past at the Mayan Museum of Cancun (Museo Maya de Cancún), one of the largest and most important of its kind in Mexico. Here, visitors can see incredible items recovered from sites such as Chichén Itzá, or visit the adjacent archaeological site San Miguelito to stroll among the ruins.

Try street food, pick up souvenirs, and do some people-watching at Palapas Park (Parque Las Palapas), which buzzes with locals, live music, food vendors, and shopping stalls. At this central plaza in downtown Cancun, you get an authentic look into Mexican culture that can’t be found at the nearby beaches and resorts.

Set in dense jungle south of Playa del Carmen, Xenses Park offers outdoor adventure with a multisensory twist. As well as a zipline, lazy river, and waterslide, the park also uses optical illusions, natural exhibits, and interactive features to get your adrenaline going, making it a top choice for thrillseekers of any age.

Filled with crystal clear water and lined with limestone stalactites, Cenotes Sac Actun is the world’s largest known underwater cave system. The freshwater cave is home to colorful fish, bats, and animal fossils. Sac Actun is simultaneously one of the most impressive and least crowded cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Cancún is full of places to party, but the decor at the Mandala nightclub—a multilevel venue in Cancún’s hotel zone—sets it apart. Guests enjoy the wide-open dance floor, glittery lights, and impressive entryway. The club is also known for weekly pool parties, when guests dance to live DJ sets beside the pool or soak in the Jacuzzi.

This beachfront amusement park near Cancún, is a popular, family-friendly destination. It’s divided into different sections, including Wet’n Wild, Underworld, Aah!Ventura, Grand Prix, Fun World, and Dolphinaris, each of which offers attractions such as waterslides, ziplines, dolphin encounters, go-karts, a high-tech arcade, and more.

Set sail and have a swashbuckling adventure aboard the Jolly Roger Pirate Ship, offering a family-friendly evening that includes dinner, an open bar, and a theatrical performance. Expect a mix of action and comedy, complete with dramatic sword fights, soaring acrobatics, live music, dancing, games, and fireworks.

Often considered the top outdoor activity in Cancun, Selvatica adventure park gives visitors the chance to shake up their beach routine with ziplines, off-road tours, a cenote dive, and more. Selvatica provides the perfect action-packed day trip just an hour north of Cancun and offers customizable options for the whole family.

The magnificent Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, also called the Great Maya Reef, which stretches from the Yucatan to Honduras, is the world’s second-largest coral reef system. Located off laid-back Puerto Morelos, this protected section has spectacular coral that’s unusually close to shore, making it easily accessible for snorkeling and scuba diving.

Located in Cancun’s Hotel Zone, El Rey Archaeological Zone (Zona Arqueológica El Rey) is an archaeological site containing 47 ancient Maya stone structures. Named for a mask and skull found on-site thought to honor the Maya sun god, these ruins are the remains of ceremonial buildings and market areas.

In one central location, Kin Ha Water Park (Balneario Kin Ha) brings together some of Isla Mujeres’ top activities, including snorkeling, paddleboarding, and beachside relaxation. Highlights include an adults-only pool with swim-up bar, several freshwater pools, and water slides, as well as sweeping views over the Mexican Caribbean.

Located just outside Cancun, Garrafon Natural Reef Park is a natural amusement park that offers recreational activities such as snorkeling, kayaking, ziplining, and biking. With colorful coral reefs, tropical hills, and rugged coastal cliffs, Garrafon Natural Reef Park allows you to experience some of the best of Mexico’s outdoor treasures.

Dive into the depths of the Yucatan’s longest subterranean cave system at Nohoch Nah Chich outside Cancun. Exploring this enormous cenote studded with stalactites and stalagmites offers the experience of a lifetime for diving enthusiasts, while nondivers can swim and snorkel in its freshwater rivers and pools.

Mesoamerican and Spanish cultures collide at the Aké Ruins and Hacienda, one of the Yucatán’s smaller but still significant archaeological and cultural sites. Explore the remains of an ancient Maya sacbe (raised road), central pyramidal palace, and two concentric border walls before stepping back to the 19th century at the henequen hacienda or climbing to the Aké chapel, which sits atop a Maya pyramid.

Soak up dramatic panoramic views over Xcaret Park and the Caribbean coastline from the highest viewpoint in the Riviera Maya, the Cancún Scenic Tower (Torre Escénica). After climbing over 250 feet (76 meters), enjoy the sights as you gently rotate 360 degrees while learning about your surroundings by way of bilingual audio commentary.

Overlooking Cancún and the Caribbean Sea, Nichupté Lagoon System is an enormous nature reserve that holds seven fresh and saltwater lagoons including Río Inglés, Rio del Amor, Caleta Nizuc y Bojórquez, and Nichupté itself. Surrounded by natural beauty, it’s an ideal spot for water-based adventures, wildlife-spotting, and sunset-viewing.

As one of the top family-friendly attractions in the resort town, the Cancun Interactive Aquarium offers visitors a peek into the Caribbean and the chance to touch, feed, and interact with a variety of marine life. Home to schools of colorful tropical fish, seahorses, jellyfish, stingrays, tiger and bull sharks, sea turtles, and more, the aquarium provides the chance to learn about the animals’ natural habitats and their role in the underwater ecosystem.

Conveniently situated in the Cancún Hotel Zone, the family-friendly Cancún Wax Museum (Museo de Cera Cancún) is the only one of its kind in the city. Marvel over more than 100 national and international figures from the worlds of music, cinema, and sport—including Amy Winehouse, Madonna, and David Beckham—as well as cartoon characters.

At Xpu-Ha’s Xotik-Ha EcoPark outside Cancun, test your courage on a treetop ropes course and swim and snorkel in Cenote Minotauro, a labyrinth of subterranean rivers and caves studded with stalactites and stalagmites. The park includes snorkel gear, catamaran rides, and kayaking near some of the Yucatan’s best beaches and lagoons for snorkeling.

Set on the white-sand beaches of the Caribbean, Mandala Beach Club is known for its beach parties, bikini contests, and crowds of revelers that flock to the club day and night. Party-goers can sip tropical beverages on lounge chairs and splash in the pool by day and dance the night away to electronic DJ sets.

Just off the coast of Cancun, Isla Mujeres is home to a dive site known as the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks. Discovered in 1969 by an island resident, the cave is home to sharks that appear to be “sleeping” instead of constantly moving like they typically do. It’s a mysterious natural wonder that has baffled some divers and marine biologists.

Escape from the crowds of Mexico’s second-busiest airport at Cancún Airport VIP Lounge. While you wait for boarding to begin, relax on comfortable seating, kick back with a magazine, and take advantage of an open bar replete with both soft and alcoholic drinks.

Christ the King Church (Iglesia de Cristo Rey), a historic Catholic church located in the center of Cancún, is surrounded by peaceful gardens that are sometimes used for open-air religious services. This church is a popular stop for travelers seeking a Sunday Mass or a quiet moment of reflective contemplation in the middle of the bustling city.

A tangled network of underground rivers runs through the Yucatán Peninsula’s limestone bedrock, accessible via cavelike openings called cenotes. With four of these scenic sinkholes on-site, this Riviera Maya adventure park invites visitors to swim, paddle, rappel, and zipline through caverns and crystal clear water.

Visit the Mexican Folk Art Museum, located in Xcaret Park, to see its colorful collection of art and handicrafts from throughout Mexico. Its exhibits provide a window into Mexican culture and history through traditional artwork. Don’t miss its famed collection of Los Dias De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) dolls.

Located within the Mayaland resort, the Viator Hospitality Suite at Chichén Itzá is an exclusive space for Viator travelers embarking on selected tours to the ancient site. Depending on the type of tour, freshen up in the air-conditioned suite before and after your visit to the famous Mayan ruins, enjoy complimentary concierge service, and benefit from free use of the resort facilities.