Arriving
in Cancun Airport ÷ survival tactics
Visa, Passport, Customs Forms
Before you leave the airplane make sure your paperwork is filled out.Ê You fill out the visa ö SIGN IT! ÷ and the customs form.Ê You will get a stub of the visa returned to you to keep. This must be returned to migration when you leave the airport.Ê DO NOT LOSE!Ê Keep it with your passport at all times.
When you disboard the plane you
enter into this big area that you see again ö this is the boarding area for
your return flight.Ê ÊWhen you disboard youare shuffled around the
perimter of this area and then down some stairs and into the visitor/migration
line to get your papers checked. ÊASK FOR 90 DAYS from the official. ÊBeg, plead, smile, speak Spanish, giggle,
flirt, show some skirt· ANY thing to get 90 days stamped on your visa.
Luggage and the Button
Once through you go to the baggage
holding area. There is a restroom there you can change from winter clothes to
summer if you wish ö do this before your luggage arrives.Ê Go to the bathroom as you may not have
another opportunity for a few hours.Ê Do
not buy any taxi service or exchange money here.Ê DO however pick up the free tourist brochures for cancun, xelha,
xcaret, etc. that are handed out by beautiful Mexican hosts.Ê This is research materials. Take all you can
get your hands on.
There will be a GOOD Map of Downtown
Cancun in the Cancun Tips book you pick up.
The carts are free, but you only use them
to pick up luggage and then to go through the customs. Get your luggage, get in
line and then hand your customs form and press the button.
Green push on through past the big glass
doors.
Red get searched ö the searchers are not
really too interested in this job so just smile always!
After the door you MUST take your luggage
off the cart and push it yourself.Ê
Curiously right there, there are about 5 zillion guys shouting politely
to help you with your luggage. Unless you have single dollar bills for each
bag, avoid any and all help.Ê These guys
can be quite aggressive as they simply put your luggage onto their carts
without asking. Stop them.
Walk past all this hoopla.Ê
Taxi, Shuttle, Bus from Cancun Airport
About 10-15 yards on your left after the
customs is a taxi shuttle service. Straight ahead between the double exit doors
is another taxi shuttle service.Ê These
are $9 US (or maybe more today). If you pay in pesos it saves $2-3.Ê Buy shuttle service at either one of these.Ê Tell them you want the Terminal de Camiones
de Cancun.Ê Bus Station. Taxi service is
around $30-40 ö the price varies according to your ethnic/national looks and
ability to speak Spanish.Ê Unless you
have a group of 4 persons and one is a native speaker who can negotiate, avoid
these.Ê
If you get a taxi, you immediately get
into the cab and drive away. Downton cancun is 20 minutes or less away.
If you get a shuttle, you get a ticket
and then you form part of this human wave of people, well tourists, then are
funneled into these vans. You might get pushed into a van but that van may not
take off for 10-15 minutes depending upon the flow.Ê Keep your eyes open and get yourself into a van that is about
ready to leave.Ê Do not be timid
here.Ê The van then drives all the way
through the Hotel Zone of Cancun. To get to the Cancun Downtown bus Station
will take 1-2 hours depending on time of day, traffic, etc.
Third option:Ê there is a public bus that goes from the departure terminal to
close to the downtown bus station.Ê This
costs no more than $3, but you need pesos.Ê
Not a good option if you have many bags. ÊTo get to the departure terminal go out past the mob of shuttle
service, cabs etc and veer to the right ö keep on walking its this building.
But the bus stop is at the complete opposite end of the departure terminal.Ê ASK someone who is not a taxi driver exactly
were you get it.ÊÊ
On the return to Cancun Airport the
options are limited to the public bus and taxi.Ê If you can remember, take your time to figure out how this, the
public bus, works for your return trip.
Changing Money in Cancun
The best place to cash US dollars is in
Cancun.Ê The best places are on the
strip between the Bus Station and Avenida Kukulcan.Ê After arriving at the bus stattion by shuttle, go inside and
check times of departures ÷ See below.Ê
Then go out and turn LEFT. Cross the Street and head towards SANBORNS
diner (it used to be Dennyâs ö it looks the same).Ê Walk along the side walk to the left and as it curves around to
meet the boulevard there are 1-2 casas de cambios.Ê Check the exchange rate. Keep on walking and keeping an eye out
for casas de cambios. There are about 4 in the immediate 2-3 block area. These
have the best rates in the tourist zone of cancun.Ê The election of Bush and his continued war in Iraq dropped the
value of the $$ to the peso. Today my online converters give rates of 11.24 and
11.33 US to Pesos.
Remember, Cash ATM withdrawals get the
official rate or often at least the better rate.
Cancun Bus Station & Schedules
When you first step into the bus station
you will notice the chaos.Ê Avoid second
class buses.Ê This is the ORIENTE bus
line. This is not a question of snobbery, but a question of the security of any
luggage you may carry.Ê Anyone can take
luggage from the bottom when getting dropped off or on.Ê In 10 years only one student has ever lost a
bag ö but this bag had her laptop.Ê
Second class is safe enough, but do not risk this issue.Ê Second class buses stop just about anywhere
and take 6 hours minimum from Cancun to Mérida.Ê These are not comfortable rides.
The First Class bus takes 4 hours and is
not much more money. This is the ADO-GL, ADO and UNO bus lines. There are three
categories of first class bus.Ê The
super luxury only has three rows of seats and has greater room to recline.Ê They are only about $5 more than the other
first class.Ê The crucial factors are
timing and availability.
From Cancun to Mérida there should be a
bus or two leaving every hour of every day.Ê
To Chichén Itz‡/PistéÊ there are
second classes buses every hour. There are only 2 (maybe one) first class bus
to Chichén a day.Ê One option is to go
first class to Valladolid and then second class Valladolid to Pisté/Chichén
Itz‡; or take a taxi from the bus station for $10-15 max.
Check out these websites for info on
Mexican buses.
www.differentworld.com/mexico/common/pages/bus_info.htm
-- good info!
www.adogl.com.mx/home.asp -- this is the super luxory line.
www.adogl.com.mx/Horarios2.asp superluxory schedule cancun to Mérida
www.ado.com.mx is the regular ADO first class bus
www.yucatantoday.com/transportation/eng-bus-lines.htmÊ info on Mérida bus
try this page to get
specific schedules on all bus lines.Ê
Mérida has many bus
stations.Ê On this page choose either
the luxury first class
bus station ö Mérida Fiesta Americana.
Or the old first class
station ö Mérida Came .
Note:Ê The far right hand column ãtiempo recorridoä
is travel time.
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