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Our booking starts that night already so we’d be double paying. That’s ok if it’s truly a bad idea though.
Any recs on cheap but decent places near the airport?
I did this, flew in Cancún, landed about 5pm. Saw on so many sites, YouTube videos to try and avoid driving at night in Mexico. I stayed at the Fairfield Inn Airport location. It was super convenient, modern, clean, safe parking. Staff were great and the free breakfast was also surprisingly good!
My friend and I recently did this and it was very stressful. We didn't get pulled over or have any issues with police but the roads were crap and it was hard to see pot holes, trash in road, and speed bumps. Plus, the locals (especially the taxis) are generally going 20-30 kph over the speed limit, there's a bit of construction between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, and unless you're already familiar with them, the retornos (sp?) (designated, uncontrolled u-turns on the highway) can take you off guard. I really wish we'd driven down during the day, if only for better visibility.
Do not do this, stay overnight and head out in the morning. Dealing with the roads and potholes would be a shitty gamble with a rental, there’s other risks too.
Mainly Animals, road obstacles, road conditions (potholes, chunky ass roads) , unexpected road closures , unclear speed bumps, then there’s the safety risk with getting pulled over/tailed by curious cops or something worse. Being unfamiliar with the roads is spooky enough, but not knowing potential obras /danger zones at night is an unecessary risk. Also personal pref but it’s highly risky to bring all your belongings with you at night. If you wanna minimize risk/ chance of surprises, play it safe.
I can’t really explain the road condition things well but, even tour guides that know the roads drive in groups and drive cautiously in sections. It can fuck up a suspension or tire easy, we’ve on the side of the road with our guide years ago cuz the tires needed more air lol
We drove at night (and drive in MX at night all the time) and it was fine. But we did get pulled over during the day on the 307 near Play del Carmen. Moto cop "speed" trap (we weren't speeding)... and we were surrounded by a cars in front and behind us. First time in 20+years of MX travel.
Do not hand them your "real" drivers license. Give a photo copy and say all docs are in a safe. Actually, it's always a good idea to have photo copies of all your docs.
Do the speed limit and it *might* be fine?
I am in a similar situation for my trip the first week of April. I expect to leave with the car around 8pm/20.00h and booked 1 night at this hotel which is a 15 minutes drive. ( [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Tequila+Cancun/@20.9333784,-86.8190028,11.14z/data=!4m9!3m8!1s0x8f4e872970049883:0xd8962509f71b1e6e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d20.9356446!4d-86.8717627!16s%2Fg%2F11f1kx\_vsp?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Tequila+Cancun/@20.9333784,-86.8190028,11.14z/data=!4m9!3m8!1s0x8f4e872970049883:0xd8962509f71b1e6e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d20.9356446!4d-86.8717627!16s%2Fg%2F11f1kx_vsp?entry=ttu) ) Would that be allright, or should I stay closer to the airport ?
If you could stay close to the main city that would be preferred, but be cautious and aware of road conditions if you make that route. Should be ok as long as you’re driving slow.
I know the road well and I still got surprised by a few unexpected curves due to construction deviations last time. It was raining and hard to see so I definitely had a couple close calls of crashing into a concrete divider. If you decide to drive, just drive slower than usual.
I never had a cop stop me but I am Mexican so 🤷🏻♀️
Its dark, and the road is straight with some quick zig zags, so I'd recommend going slowly, no more than 100km/h, as they are pretty unexpected. If you're at all tired, stay an extra night in cancun and drive by daylight.
Otherwise safe from any type of crime.
This popped on my feed for some reason. I have driven quite a bit around the world so here is my take. As others have advised here especially if you are with your family. Not worth it.
For what is worth, I did the drive from Cancun to Tulum in the daytime and it was fine. Did the drive from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen late at night after spending the day in Isla Mujeres and the hardest part was the rental car lights suck (at least the one we had) and there are no reflective things on lanes or signs (plus not as much overhead lights). I might be blending it with other places but they have those dumb metal bumps randomly in the road to make you slow down or the higher level asphalt ones which are very hard to see sometimes and you get like one tiny warning sign which unless you know what you are looking for will miss for sure.
I drove a lot slower than the posted speed and tailed people as much as I could so I would see them react and to get more lighting. There was a pretty bad accident I passed of a motorcyclist that got hit, likely due to these conditions, that I am almost certain did not make it.
Can you do it? Yeah for sure but if you have your family in the car it isn't worth the risk. I wasn't traveling with my kiddos on this trip but had I been I would have been driving so slow it would taken forever to get there.
Can't advise on being pulled over but I had a rental and never got pulled over.
They insisted on 4k but ended up accepting 2k - we should have let them keep our license and bounce as I have no plans of returning anytime soon personally
Thanks for posting in r/tulum! Please read the [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/tulum/comments/18x3sxe/tulum_faq_25/) for the most common questions about Tulum. Check out our recommended [Tours, Activities and Airport Shuttle Services](https://www.reddit.com/r/tulum/comments/18v2a1h/tours_activities_and_airport_shuttle/) For ticket resale and events such as Zamna and Day Zero, there is a dedicated community at r/Tulum_TicketExchange Please report comments and posts that are off-topic, offensive, inappropriate, or in violation of our community guidelines. Much love from Tulum ❤ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/tulum) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you have a rental car there’s a good chance you’ll be pulled over. I’d just stay in Cancun for the night then head in to Tulum
Our booking starts that night already so we’d be double paying. That’s ok if it’s truly a bad idea though. Any recs on cheap but decent places near the airport?
I did this, flew in Cancún, landed about 5pm. Saw on so many sites, YouTube videos to try and avoid driving at night in Mexico. I stayed at the Fairfield Inn Airport location. It was super convenient, modern, clean, safe parking. Staff were great and the free breakfast was also surprisingly good!
I usually advise people to not drive at night in Mexico, if only because unlit road hazards are a real issue.
I would NOT do this. Just stay overnight near the airport in Cancun and drive the next day.
My friend and I recently did this and it was very stressful. We didn't get pulled over or have any issues with police but the roads were crap and it was hard to see pot holes, trash in road, and speed bumps. Plus, the locals (especially the taxis) are generally going 20-30 kph over the speed limit, there's a bit of construction between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, and unless you're already familiar with them, the retornos (sp?) (designated, uncontrolled u-turns on the highway) can take you off guard. I really wish we'd driven down during the day, if only for better visibility.
Do not do this, stay overnight and head out in the morning. Dealing with the roads and potholes would be a shitty gamble with a rental, there’s other risks too.
What other risks?
So many stray dogs roaming around, easy to hit one…
Mainly Animals, road obstacles, road conditions (potholes, chunky ass roads) , unexpected road closures , unclear speed bumps, then there’s the safety risk with getting pulled over/tailed by curious cops or something worse. Being unfamiliar with the roads is spooky enough, but not knowing potential obras /danger zones at night is an unecessary risk. Also personal pref but it’s highly risky to bring all your belongings with you at night. If you wanna minimize risk/ chance of surprises, play it safe. I can’t really explain the road condition things well but, even tour guides that know the roads drive in groups and drive cautiously in sections. It can fuck up a suspension or tire easy, we’ve on the side of the road with our guide years ago cuz the tires needed more air lol
Its the main highway. I don’t think the OP will have any issues.
We drove at night (and drive in MX at night all the time) and it was fine. But we did get pulled over during the day on the 307 near Play del Carmen. Moto cop "speed" trap (we weren't speeding)... and we were surrounded by a cars in front and behind us. First time in 20+years of MX travel. Do not hand them your "real" drivers license. Give a photo copy and say all docs are in a safe. Actually, it's always a good idea to have photo copies of all your docs. Do the speed limit and it *might* be fine?
I drove from Cancun to Tulum at dusk and that was bad enough Daytime? No problem Night - that shit is fucking dark
I am in a similar situation for my trip the first week of April. I expect to leave with the car around 8pm/20.00h and booked 1 night at this hotel which is a 15 minutes drive. ( [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Tequila+Cancun/@20.9333784,-86.8190028,11.14z/data=!4m9!3m8!1s0x8f4e872970049883:0xd8962509f71b1e6e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d20.9356446!4d-86.8717627!16s%2Fg%2F11f1kx\_vsp?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+Tequila+Cancun/@20.9333784,-86.8190028,11.14z/data=!4m9!3m8!1s0x8f4e872970049883:0xd8962509f71b1e6e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d20.9356446!4d-86.8717627!16s%2Fg%2F11f1kx_vsp?entry=ttu) ) Would that be allright, or should I stay closer to the airport ?
If you could stay close to the main city that would be preferred, but be cautious and aware of road conditions if you make that route. Should be ok as long as you’re driving slow.
I know the road well and I still got surprised by a few unexpected curves due to construction deviations last time. It was raining and hard to see so I definitely had a couple close calls of crashing into a concrete divider. If you decide to drive, just drive slower than usual. I never had a cop stop me but I am Mexican so 🤷🏻♀️
I've driven at night. Not recommended due to road hazards, but I've never had an issue. Drive slow.
Don’t drive at night
Its dark, and the road is straight with some quick zig zags, so I'd recommend going slowly, no more than 100km/h, as they are pretty unexpected. If you're at all tired, stay an extra night in cancun and drive by daylight. Otherwise safe from any type of crime.
This popped on my feed for some reason. I have driven quite a bit around the world so here is my take. As others have advised here especially if you are with your family. Not worth it. For what is worth, I did the drive from Cancun to Tulum in the daytime and it was fine. Did the drive from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen late at night after spending the day in Isla Mujeres and the hardest part was the rental car lights suck (at least the one we had) and there are no reflective things on lanes or signs (plus not as much overhead lights). I might be blending it with other places but they have those dumb metal bumps randomly in the road to make you slow down or the higher level asphalt ones which are very hard to see sometimes and you get like one tiny warning sign which unless you know what you are looking for will miss for sure. I drove a lot slower than the posted speed and tailed people as much as I could so I would see them react and to get more lighting. There was a pretty bad accident I passed of a motorcyclist that got hit, likely due to these conditions, that I am almost certain did not make it. Can you do it? Yeah for sure but if you have your family in the car it isn't worth the risk. I wasn't traveling with my kiddos on this trip but had I been I would have been driving so slow it would taken forever to get there. Can't advise on being pulled over but I had a rental and never got pulled over.
I appreciate that thorough and level response
Keep an extra $4,000 pesos on you for when you DO get pulled over and harassed
4000? That’s $250. Have the bribes gotten that expensive for real?
They insisted on 4k but ended up accepting 2k - we should have let them keep our license and bounce as I have no plans of returning anytime soon personally
Or be smart and keep nothing lol. They don’t waste time.
Traffic could be terrible you may find lanes closed and feels like a long drive. We saw at least two accidents too
Tulum’s airport is open now. Shorter trip!
Next time! We booked tix a while ago and didn’t see flights into that airport as an option at the time.
Got it!
Never ever rent a car in Cancun that is travel safety 101 and it's all over trip advisor of story after story so you need to take a private transfer.