Ireland
Cancun Travel Guide
BACKGROUND INFO
Full Name
Cancun
Population
1,664
Orientation
Cancún is situated in the state of Quintana Roo on the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, a seal-head-shaped land mass that stares longingly toward Cuba from Guatemala and Belize. Cancún is on the northeastern tip of the Peninsula and shaped by Bahía de Mujeres (Bay of Women), the Caribbean Sea and several lagoons. Cancún is actually two places in one. On the mainland lies Ciudad Cancún, a planned city founded as the service centre of the resort. The main north-south thoroughfare is Av Tulum, a long tree-shaded boulevard lined with banks, shopping centers and restaurants. The smaller, low- to medium-priced hotels and restaurants are within this city center, but it's far from the beach. The 23km (14mi) long sandy spit, Isla Cancún, known as the Zona Hotelera or Zona Turística, is where the action is. It is traversed by Blvd Kukulcán, a four-lane divided avenue, which leaves Ciudad Cancún and goes 9km (5mi) east to Punta Cancún, then heads south for 13km (8mi), flanked by palatial hotels, malls and dance clubs. The boulevard turns west at Punta Nizuc, rejoins the mainland and heads inland to the airport. Cancún International Airport is 8km (5mi) south of Ciudad Cancún. Puerto Juárez, the port for passenger ferries to Isla Mujeres, is about 3km (2mi) north of the center. The busy bus station is just west of Av Tulum. Few of the buildings in the Zona Hotelera have numbered addresses. Instead, because the vast majority of them are on Blvd Kukulcán, their location is described in relation to their distance from Km 0 - the boulevard's northern terminus in Ciudad Cancún, identified with a roadside 'Km 0' marker. Each kilometer is similarly marked.
Time Zone
GMT/UTC -6
Daylight Saving Start
first Sunday in April
Daylight Saving End
last Sunday in October
Weights Measures System
Metric
Languages
• Spanish (official)
Latin American Spanish
• Nahuatl (other)
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