What to Do in Cancun on a No-Dive Day

Manta Divers Team

8 sept

4 min de lectura

Even on a diving holiday, not every day is a dive day. Weather happens, bodies need rest, and the no-fly rule means your last day before flying home has to be a dry one. The good news is that Cancun on a surface day is one of the best day-trip bases in the world. Here is how we tell our own guests to spend it.

You will have no-dive days, so plan them

A couple of things guarantee at least one dry day on any dive trip. The port captain closes the bay a handful of days a year when the wind is up, and your body needs time to off-gas before altitude. Our standard at Manta is simple: leave 18 hours between your last tank and your flight. Instead of treating that as a lost day, book it in advance as your inland day. Everything below is either dry or shallow enough to be flight-safe.

Leave 18 hours between your last dive and your flight. That is the Manta house rule.
Save the inland trips, cenotes and ruins, for the no-fly day. They are better rested anyway.
Snorkeling stays on the menu. Surface swimming is fine before a flight.
Carry pesos in cash. Cenote entries, market stalls and street food are cash country.
Skip the sunscreen at cenotes. Shower before you swim instead; the rule protects the water.

Cenotes: Siete Bocas and the freshwater cathedrals

Swim Seven mouths cenote Manta Divers Cancun

If you do one thing on a dry day, make it a cenote, and the one we send people to is Siete Bocas on the Ruta de los Cenotes, the jungle road that runs inland from Puerto Morelos. The name means seven mouths: seven openings into one flooded cave system, so you climb down wooden stairs and swim from chamber to chamber under sunbeams that drop through the holes in the roof. There are platforms to jump from and crystal-clear water that stays cool all year. Entry runs around 400 Mexican pesos, about 22 US dollars, it is open roughly 9:00 to 5:30, and you reach it by taxi, rental car or tour, since no public vans run the cenote route. If you get certified with us and want to come back with tanks, our cenote diving guide covers how diving them works.

under water view to the top Cenote Manta Divers Cancun

Puerto Morelos: the fishing village time forgot

Twenty minutes south of the Hotel Zone sits Puerto Morelos, the little fishing village the highway forgot. While Cancun and Playa del Carmen grew into cities on either side of it, Puerto Morelos kept its sandy square, its leaning lighthouse tipped over by a hurricane half a century ago and left standing as the town symbol, and its fishing boats pulled up on the beach. It is only now starting to grow, which makes this the moment to see it. Walk the square, eat seafood with your feet in the sand, and know that the reef just offshore is a protected national marine park. The cenote route above starts at its highway junction, so the village and Siete Bocas make a natural single day.

The Mayan ruins

You are on the doorstep of one of the great ancient civilisations, and the choice comes down to how much day you want to spend. Tulum is the short option: closer, no brutally early start needed, and the postcard image of walled ruins on a cliff above turquoise sea. Go on the early side and it is not too crowded. Chichen Itza is the full-day pilgrimage: a long drive, but you stand in front of El Castillo, the most amazing pyramid in Mexico and one of the wonders of the world. Short day, Tulum. Big day, Chichen Itza. You will not regret either.

Isla Mujeres: the easy island hop

A no-dive day is the ideal time for Isla Mujeres, the island across the bay. Ferries run from Puerto Juarez, the cheapest dock, and from the Hotel Zone piers; buy the round-trip ticket when you board, it is cheaper than paying each way. On the island, rent a golf cart by the ferry terminal, about 45 US dollars for the day, and do the full loop the way locals show their visiting families: Punta Sur at the southern tip for the cliffs and the little Mayan temple of Ixchel, the murals and food streets of Centro, and finally Playa Norte, one of the calmest, clearest beaches in the Caribbean, for the last hours of sun. Check the last ferry time before you settle in.

Downtown, markets and the lagoon

For a taste of the real city, head downtown. Mercado 28 is the classic market sprawl, souvenirs up front and proper cocina in the middle: the little restaurants inside, Margely being the one travel writers keep naming, serve chile rellenos, ceviche and steak tacos, cash only. Then in the evening do what Cancun families do and take a plastic chair at Parque de las Palapas, the downtown square where the food stalls light up from about 7 pm: marquesitas, elotes, tamales and empanadas from family-run stands, and a full dinner costs less than 10 US dollars. If you still have energy, sunset kayaking on the lagoon side finishes the day; our guide to sunset spots locals actually go to has the timing.

The snorkelling middle ground

If you cannot bear a whole day out of the water, snorkelling is the perfect middle ground on a no-dive or pre-flight day: no depth, no tanks, no off-gassing, just the reef from the surface. Our snorkelling tours run daily from the marina, including the statues of the MUSA underwater museum at snorkel depth. And for everything else in town, from shopping to shows, our best things to do in Cancun guide goes beyond the beach.