Almost 16,000 places Num knows across Cancún, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, from taquerías downtown to cenotes and beach-road hotels.
Mexico is enormous, and Num's coverage so far is one corner of it: the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo. Cancún holds 13,114 places, taking in the Hotel Zone, the downtown grid and Isla Mujeres across the water. Tulum adds 2,810, reaching up the coast to Playa del Carmen. Cancún's list is heavy on hotels at 1,016 and spas at 927, with 761 restaurants and 322 bars behind them. Tulum's 570 hotels split between the beach road and the town.
The Riviera Maya splits into two kinds of question. One is the resort kind: a beach club with day passes today, a rooftop bar in Playa for sunset, a spa that takes walk-ins. The other is the local kind, where Num earns its keep: a taquería downtown where the al pastor is turning at midnight, a cenote quiet before ten, a pharmacy near your hotel, a laundry in La Veleta that returns clothes the same day. It gives one place and how to reach it.
Every destination Num covers here, with how many places it holds in each. Open one for the full picture.
| Currency | Mexican peso (MXN); US dollars accepted in resort areas at a poor rate |
|---|---|
| Languages | Spanish; English widely spoken in the Hotel Zone, Playa del Carmen and Tulum |
| Plugs | Types A, B · 127 V |
| Emergency | 911 for police, fire and ambulance |
| Tipping | 10 to 15 per cent in restaurants is expected, in pesos if you can; small tips for hotel and beach staff are standard |
Dollars are accepted in the Hotel Zone and Tulum but the exchange rate used is poor. Pay in pesos, and if a card machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline and choose pesos.
Many cenotes, small restaurants and taxis are cash only, and ATMs along the Tulum beach road are few and charge heavily. Draw cash in town from a bank-attached ATM.
Uber operates in Cancún with some friction at the airport; in Tulum and Playa del Carmen it is effectively taxi only, fares are fixed by zone and high, so agree the price before getting in. Colectivos, the shared vans along the highway, are cheap and frequent.
Between roughly April and September, brown seaweed can pile up on the mainland beaches, worst in Tulum and Playa. It varies week to week; Isla Mujeres and the north-facing Cancún beaches are usually clearer.
June to November, peaking in September and October. Most years pass without a direct hit, but storms can close the airport and beaches for days.
Message Num the way you would message a friend who lives here, in any language. It answers with one real place that fits, open now, and how to get there. It is free for travelers. Businesses list free and pay only when Num completes a booking for them, so nothing here is ranked by who paid.
The Hotel Zone, Isla Mujeres and the tourist parts of Tulum and Playa are heavily policed and generally safe by day and night, with pickpocketing and taxi overcharging the usual problems. Violence in the region is largely between criminal groups and away from tourist areas, but has spilled over occasionally; avoid buying drugs, which is where most trouble starts.
Yes. Message it in any language and it answers in yours, with one place that fits and how to get there.
No. Drink bottled or filtered water, which hotels and most restaurants provide. Ice in established restaurants and hotels is made from purified water.