Before You Go to Cancún & Cozumel: Visas, Vaccinations, and Essentials

What to Pack and When to Go

Bring to Cancún and Cozumel what you would to any beach or tropical destination: light cotton clothing, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, flip-flops, and so forth. Beach buffs should bring two or even three swimsuits, plus snorkel gear if you have it. Water shoes come in handy wherever the beach is rocky, while sneakers and bug repellent are musts for the Maya ruins. A light sweater and a rain jacket also come in handy during the winter and rainy seasons. Finally, it’s always smart to bring an extra pair of glasses or contacts, prescription medications, birth control, and a travel clock. If you do leave anything behind, no worries—there’s a Walmart in all the major cities.

Considering weather, prices, and crowds, the best times to visit the Yucatán Peninsula are from late November to mid-December and from mid-January to early May. You’ll avoid the intense heat from June to August, the rain (and possible hurricanes) in September and October, and the crowds and high prices around the winter holidays.

The big caveats with those periods are spring break (March/April) and Semana Santa (the week before Easter), when American and Canadian students, and then Mexican tourists, turn out in force and prices spike temporarily.

Be aware that certain attractions are only available (or recommendable) during specific months, whether snorkeling with whale sharks (June-September) or visiting Chichén Itzá on the spring equinox. Even many year-round activities like sportfishing, kiteboarding, and bird-watching are better or worse according to the season. Ocean diving, for instance, is optimal in the spring and early summer when tropical storms are rare and visibility is best.

Passports and Visas needed for Cancún and Cozumel

Gone are the days you could zip down to Mexico with just your driver’s license and birth certificate. All nationalities must have a valid passport to enter Mexico by air, land, or sea.

Citizens of most countries, including the United States, Canada, and members of the EU, do not need to obtain a visa to enter Mexico. All foreigners, however, are issued a white tourist card when they enter, with the number of days that they are permitted to stay in the country written at the bottom, typically 30-60 days. If you plan to stay for more than a month, politely ask the official to give you the amount of time you need; the maximum stay is 180 days.

Hold onto your tourist card! It must be returned to immigration officials when you leave Mexico. If you lose it, you’ll be fined and may not be permitted to leave the country (much less the immigration office) until you pay.

To extend your stay up to 180 days, head to the nearest immigration office a week before your tourist card expires. Be sure to bring it along with your passport. There, you’ll fill out several forms, go to a bank to pay the processing fee (US$25 approximately), make photocopies of all the paperwork (including your passport, entry stamp, tourist card, and credit card), and then return to the office to get the extension. For every extra 30 days requested, foreigners must prove that they have US$1,000 available, either in cash or by showing a current credit card. The process can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a week, depending on the office.

Vaccinations

No special vaccines are required for travel to the Yucatán Peninsula, but it’s a good idea to be up to date on the standard travel immunizations, including hepatitis A, MMR (measles-mumps-rubella), tetanus-diphtheria, and typhoid.

Be aware that some vaccines require several months to be effective, so plan ahead. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend all travelers be vaccinated against flu, typhoid, and hepatitis A, the last of those being spread through contaminated food and water. A hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for anyone at risk of exposure to bodily fluids, such as sexual contact, tattooing, or needle sharing. (Combination hepatitis A and B vaccines are widely available.) Likewise, a rabies vaccine is recommended for travelers whose plans put them at high risk of animal bites, such as hiking or caving in remote areas.

Malaria, dengue, and Zika, all spread by mosquitos, are also present but transmission is not common in most tourist areas. Some medications can help prevent malaria infection, but there is no vaccine for these diseases. The best prevention is to be vigilant against mosquito bites, including slathering on insect repellant (except children under 2 months) and using long sleeves and pants. Mosquitos bite day and night, but especially around sunrise and sunset. The CDC recommends pregnant women not travel to this region due to the risk of Zika.

Transportation

Cancún International Airport (CUN) is far and away the most common and convenient entry point to the region; airports at Mérida, Cozumel, Chetumal, Campeche, and Palenque are secondary options. An excellent network of buses, shuttles, and ferries covers the entire region, though a rental car makes a world of difference in more remote areas like the Costa Maya and the Río Bec region.

Liza Prado

About the Author

Liza Prado was working as a corporate attorney when she took her love of travel and photography (and a leap of faith) to try travel journalism instead. Twenty years later, she has become an Americas expert, authoring almost 60 guidebooks plus countless articles and photographs to destinations in Latin America, the Caribbean, USA, and Canada.

Covering the Yucatán Peninsula was one of Liza’s first assignments and it remains one of her favorite places in the world. For this book, she dived through coral reefs and swam in crystalline cenotes, listened to howler monkeys and watched flamingos in flight; she also explored colonial cities and Maya ruins, ate countless salbutes and even walked in a two-mile-long Day of the Dead procession. A graduate of Brown University and Stanford Law School, Liza lives in Denver, Colorado with her frequent coauthor Gary Chandler and their children, Eva and Leo.

Gary Chandler grew up in a small ski town south of Lake Tahoe, California. He earned his bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, including a year abroad in Mexico City and Oaxaca. After graduation, Gary backpacked through much of Mexico and Central America, and later Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. His first guidebook assignment was covering the highlands of Guatemala, followed by assignments in El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere.

Gary has contributed to almost 40 guidebooks, many coauthored with wife and fellow travel writer/photographer Liza Prado. Between assignments, Gary earned a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University, worked as a news reporter and criminal investigator, and published numerous articles and blogs about travel in Latin America. He and Liza have two children and live in Colorado. 

Learn more about this author

Gary Chandler

About the Author

Gary Chandler grew up in a small ski town south of Lake Tahoe, California. He earned his bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, and also studied abroad in Mexico City and Oaxaca. After graduation, Gary backpacked through much of Mexico and Central America, and later Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. His first guidebook assignment was covering the highlands of Guatemala, which was followed by assignments in El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere.

Gary has contributed to almost 30 guidebooks, many coauthored with wife and fellow travel writer/photographer Liza Prado. Between assignments, Gary earned a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University, worked as a news reporter and criminal investigator, and published numerous articles and blogs about travel in Latin America. He and Liza have two children and live in Colorado.

Liza Prado was working as a corporate attorney in San Francisco when she decided to take a leap of faith and try travel writing and photography. Ten years later, she has coauthored 20 guidebooks and written dozens of feature articles and travel blogs to destinations throughout the Americas. Her photographs have been published by Moon Travel Guides and websites like Gogobot and Away.com.

Since her first visit to the region in the early 2000s, the Riviera Maya has remained one of Liza’s favorite places to travel. For this assignment, she dived on coral reefs and snorkeled through cenotes, climbed Maya ruins and toured monkey reserves, explored beach towns and fishing villages, caught a few local bands and listened to rock-star DJs – all with two kids in tow (well, at least part of the time).

A graduate of Brown University and Stanford Law School, Liza lives in Denver, Colorado, with husband and coauthor Gary Chandler and their children, Eva and Leo.

Learn more about this author