5-Day Cancun & Riviera Maya Itinerary: A Day-by-Day Template
Use Cancun as a launchpad: ruins one day, cenotes the next, an island the day after. The beach fills whatever is left.
Make this Cancun & Riviera Maya plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
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Best time to goDecember to April is dry and perfect. Sargassum seaweed varies May through October; check trackers before beach days.
Getting aroundADO buses are comfortable and cheap along the coast; rent a car only for cenote-hopping days.
The day-by-day plan
Tap a day to expand it. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Arrive and Hotel Zone beach
12:00 PMCheck in and beach
Playa Delfines is the free public stretch with the CANCUN sign.
5:00 PMLagoon side sunset
The lagoon bars catch the sunset the beach side misses.
8:00 PMDowntown tacos
Parque de las Palapas stalls, where the city actually eats.
Day 2: Chichen Itza day
7:00 AMEarly drive to Chichen Itza
Beat the heat and the buses; the equinox serpent shadow is famous for a reason.
12:30 PMCenote Ik Kil swim
Vine-draped sinkhole minutes from the ruins; life jackets included.
3:00 PMValladolid stroll
Pastel colonial streets and marquesitas on the plaza before driving back.
Day 3: Isla Mujeres
9:00 AMFerry from Puerto Juarez
Twenty minutes across; rent a golf cart on arrival.
11:00 AMPlaya Norte
Waist-deep turquoise for hundreds of meters; the best swim beach in the region.
3:00 PMPunta Sur cliffs
Temple ruins and iguanas at the island’s wave-carved tip.
Day 4: Tulum and cenotes
8:00 AMTulum ruins
The only Maya city on a cliff over the Caribbean; go at opening.
11:30 AMGran Cenote or Dos Ojos
Snorkel between stalactites; turtles glide under you at Gran.
3:00 PMTulum pueblo lunch
Antojitos in town cost a third of the beach-road prices.
Day 5: Slow morning and market
9:00 AMLast beach swim
Morning water is calmest; get the swim in before checkout math.
11:30 AMMercado 28 souvenirs
Haggle kindly: start at half, land around two-thirds.
2:00 PMAirport with ceviche first
One last lime-soaked plate before the flight home.
Local tip: Cenotes ask for reef-safe (or no) sunscreen; rinse off before you swim. Bring water shoes and an underwater camera.
Make this Cancun & Riviera Maya plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Start your free tripFirst trip free. No account, no credit card.