Cancún airport to Playa del Carmen: transfers, Visitax, and the small things nobody tells you

The flight is the easy part. Here is the practical side of arriving in Cancún that first-timers usually learn the hard way.

Getting to your hotel

Cancún airport to Playacar is roughly an hour by road. Book your transfer in advance — the arrivals hall is full of sellers, and the pre-booked price is almost always calmer and cheaper than negotiating on the spot. Private transfers cost more than the shared shuttles but save you 30–60 minutes of hotel drop-offs with tired kids.

Visitax — don't skip it

Quintana Roo charges a visitor tax of 293 MXN per person (about C$22). Pay it only on the official site, visitax.gob.mx, before your departure flight home — you get a QR code per traveller by email. There is no age exemption for children, so a family of four pays for four. Download the QR codes to your phone before you get to the airport.

Money and phones

Pesos are useful for tips and small shops, but cards work almost everywhere in the resort zone. Download your airline app and your hotel confirmation before you leave home — airport Wi-Fi is slow when a whole plane is trying to connect at once.

The return flight

Pack warm clothes for the kids in your hand luggage if you are flying back to a Canadian winter. Landing in snow after two weeks of 30-degree heat is a shock — and the kids will feel it first.

What is the one arrival tip you wish someone had given you before your first Mexico trip?