A Huge Mistake: The One Place Travelers Never Want To Go To Again
Blue water. White sand. Uninterrupted sunshine. For many people, a dream beach vacation includes all of the above. But often the most-hyped places on the planet can also be the ones that make visitors feel most disappointed, duped, or, worse yet, utterly frazzled. As more travelers write and post about their raw experiences on social media, it turns out there is one place that many of them say they don’t ever want to visit again, not because the destination itself isn’t beautiful, but because almost everything around it is a major bust. That place is Cancún, Mexico.
Popular For All the Wrong Reasons
The tourist destination in Cancún, Mexico took the No. 1 spot on the unfriendliest places list, with 14.2 percent bad reviews. Tourists were angry about overpriced goods and services, aggressive vendors, and the lack of authenticity. Readers complained that Cancún is completely overrated, that there's nothing to do but visit overcrowded beaches and party all night. It doesn't feel authentic to Mexico at all.
Even the beach is not enough to win them over because it's just like Florida; i.e., travelers feel they could have stayed in the U.S. and had an equivalent experience. Locals don't even visit Cancún much, and many long-term Mexico residents will avoid Cancún at all costs.
The complaints don’t end there. Cancún’s climate is another major letdown. July, which falls in the middle of the U.S. spring-break season, is usually around 90 degrees. But given the heat and the humidity, it can feel like 110 degrees in the shade. Then there’s the whole spring-break scene. This scene is “draining” for many travelers, who seek a beach vacation as a getaway from, not an extension of, their lives at home.
Reports of tainted alcohol sold in 2017, the Zika virus, and Mexico’s high homicide rate are other concerns. The fact that travelers can’t drink the tap water is another common disappointment, especially for tourists who spend their entire trip looking over their shoulders while brushing their teeth with bottled water.
For many, the trip is an ethical nightmare, especially seeing dolphins, parrots, and monkeys in captivity and put through party tricks. Finally, if you hate all-inclusive resorts, your time at the beach is going to be a living hell. You will hate the buffet line and the way guests hoard lounge chairs on the beach and by the pool. You will hate the fact that you’re expected to pay for so much (Wi-Fi? Water?) that was included when you booked. And you will hate how aggressively you’re sold timeshares and hassled by beach vendors.
All-Inclusive Nightmare
Worse still, the all-inclusive resorts tend to exaggerate Cancún's most disliked qualities. The concept of the all-inclusive, of having everything you want at your fingertips, turns Cancún into an even more Americanized, inauthentic experience than travelers may already have disliked. The dining experience at an all-inclusive alone can feel like a logistical nightmare. Resorts will tout twelve restaurants without advertising that half of them are only open on certain days, or that reservations are required weeks in advance. The Japanese Teppanyaki counter may only have room for six and be booked solid for a month, and your assigned room tier may disallow you from visiting any of the specialty restaurants.
Fortunately, Mexico has alternatives. It has dozens of alternatives. The great majority of these share certain characteristics with Cancún, but they also avoid its worst excesses. The standout is Tulum. Tulum is still a tourist destination, but it has a much better ratio of convenience to inauthenticity. Maya ruins, white sand beaches, and a bustling town square all give Tulum a stronger link to actual Mexican life than does Cancún's hotel zone. The Beach Zone does have luxury resorts and fine dining, but Downtown Tulum is much more cozy and alive, and offers cheaper accommodations and a more local vibe.
