Bachelorette Parties! My absolute favorite thing ever. There is nothing like celebrating your best friend with a girl squad with days filled of booze and wild adventures. This bachelorette is Nacho average Vegas rendez-vous (which I absolutely love). My best friend getting married wanted to do something different and more adventurous. We considered our options and it came down to Miami, Cancun/Tulum, or Cabo San Lucas. In the end Cancun & Tulum got the most votes so down the Riviera Maya we went. It was everyone’s first time visiting that region, except mine. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Riviera Maya three times prior to this trip (shoutout to my mom). I took it upon myself to help with the planning because there is nothing my Virgo soul loves more than planning a sick and overly-detailed itinerary. I will admit we crammed a lot of adventures in the days we were there. I asked the girls and the bride what they wanted to see and I tried to piece it together as best as I could. If you’re more of the relaxing type this itinerary might be a wee bit overwhelming, but if your soul craves adventure and can run on little sleep this itinerary might work for you. Either way I grouped the traveling in the most strategic way possible to ensure as much could be covered in little time. This itinerary could also be used with couples traveling to the Riviera Maya.
Flight: I had been monitoring flights for a month or two before we came out with a good deal. Volaris typically has the best rates for flights to Cancun. If you live in Southern California, choose to fly out of Tijuana. Flying out of Tijuana will give you domestic travel rates and prices are always lower. We flew out of Tijuana and used the Cross Border Tunnel (CBX) which conveniently crosses you into the Tijuana airport directly. Book your tickets online, they can also be purchased with Volaris while you book your flight.
Currency: Pesos. Cancun will accept dollars but many of the tourist locations will value your dollar a lot less than the national average. If you are going with a group, I recommend you have pesos and change. Going out to group dinners are a lot easier, if everyone can throw down the exact cost of their food + tip, don’t forget to tip!!! Throughout time, I have found that my favorite and most convenient way to get pesos is to withdraw from an ATM at the airport. You get the best conversion rate and you only pay a small fee to withdraw money.
Length of Trip: We did my friend’s bachelorette during Spring Break so we flew out early Wednesday morning and came back late Sunday night, so 5 days.
Air BnB: Since it was a group of 8 of us we booked AirBnB’s and it was the best decision ever. I searched to find the best possible options. Our Cancun airbNb was huge, elegant, and in a perfect location. Our Tulum airbNb was eccentric, looked like a treehouse, and was so unique. I will link the two locations. Both of them had really great hosts, especially Allistair in Tulum, he went above and beyond to make sure our stay was amazing. I would recommend these airbnbs to groups for any situation.
Travel: We booked shuttles through the same agency. This shuttle picked us up from the airport, took us to our Cancun airbNB. It also took us down to Tulum from Cancun. Finally it picked us up from Tulum and took us to the airport. The company was great, and extremely reliable. When we were in Cancun we rode the public bus to get around because our airbNb was conveniently located. When we were in Tulum we took taxis around because our airbNb was located in Tulum town not near the hotel zone. Taxis were affordable especially since they were split by 4 each way.
I will include my google doc itinerary, in case anyone wants to model their trip a similar way, Enjoy ❤
Day One: We booked an early, direct flight from Tijuana to Cancun. It was about 4 hrs and 35 mins. Safe to say most of the girls got sleep on the plane because once we landed in Cancun it was go time. Originally we had booked a private catamaran yacht for all 8 of us plus the captain. When we got there, there was a mix up between our scheduled yacht. Through some negotiations we managed to get on a boat with unlimited alcohol. We caught the sunset, had music blasting, and endless palomas. The ride was so serene, the water was clear. We jumped in the open ocean. Riding the boat was pure bliss and felt like the culmination of a bachelorette party in paradise.
Day 2: Chichen Itza Pyramids, Cenote Ik Kil & Coco Bongo
The next morning was an early wakeup call at 7am. Despite being hungover AF, we all pulled it together and made it to our pick up spot. Through previous experience, I booked through Cancun Adventure and have always found the best rates. The more tours you book at a time the greater the discount. They also pick you up and drop you off which is super convenient.
We started the day with Chichen Itza, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The architecture is breathtaking and the photo ops are plentiful. From there, the tour took us to one of my favorite cenotes, Cenote Ik Kil. We had time to swim and eat lunch, which was included with our tour. On the way home, the tour also stopped through a picturesque town.
Our night consisted of a group dinner at Mextreme, really great food and entertainment for parties. They even brought out a midget stripper and did a little show for the bride. From there we walked to Coco Bongo for a club night like no other. We purchased bottle service, which I highly recommend because the club gets awfully crowded. Coco Bongo is like no other club, it’s a spectacle. There is live performances to iconic songs and tributes to bands like Queen. We all agreed that this was one of the highlights of the trip.
Day 3: Tulum
Our previously arranged shuttles picked us up at our airbNb in Cancun and took us directly to our airbNb in Tulum. I wish I had pictures of the airbNb in Tulum because it was honestly a dream. It was big beautiful wooden house with 4 mini houses in one. It had a pool in the middle and at night lit up with twinkle lights. Although we were tired from the club night before, we rallied. First we went to El Camello Jr to get Mariscos, this restaurant is well known and was walking distance from our airbNb, warning the portions are HUGE. We decorated the air bNb for the bride and took a tequila shot and bounced to the “Hotel Zone of Tulum”.
We started out by visiting Azulik Hotel to explore Ik Lab and innovative and immersive art experience. From there we walked to the beach. Unfortunately, Tulum’s beaches have been covered with a lot of seaweed the past two times I have been there. You can’t visit Tulum and not ride bikes, its the thing to do and the best way to cover the most ground in the hotel zone. We stopped at my favorite pit stop, Matcha Mama and got acai bowls to cool down.
We went home and got ready for night time. The night life in Tulum, is different, its not like the clubs in the U.S. They hardly play hip hop, so if you are looking to twerk you’re in the wrong place. The music is super chill and the vibe of the nightlife is trendy. Drinks are super expensive so plan accordingly!
Day 4: Xel-Ha
If there is one attraction you must do when visiting the Riviera Maya, it’s Xel-Ha. It’s the ultimate paradise and it includes all you can eat buffets and drinks (alcohol included). The park is beautiful and you can spend the whole day there. From cliff jumping, snorkeling, floating on the river, the adventures are endless. We spent the whole day at the park and then headed home to get ready.
We decided to explore Tulum Town which was conveniently close to us as opposed to the Tulum Hotel Zone. We found a bar that played hip hop upbeat music so the girls were happy.
Day 5: Last Day
I could tell we were all tired, tired from the trip and some even tired of each other lol. But hey thats just the nature of traveling with seven other girls for five days. Our flight did not depart Cancun till 8:30 pm so we had a good amount of time to adventure one last time. It was also one of our friend’s twenty sixth birthday so we started out with a brunch to celebrate her and the bride. We did brunch at El Pez, unfortunately it was super windy so we could not sit outside. The view inside was still beautiful and the food was basic nothing special.
From brunch, we took a taxi to Grand Cenote. Make sure you have cash or pesos for admission. Even if you are not going into the cenote you have to pay. There are shaded hangout spots for those that opt out. If you are there though, please go in the water its refreshing and an experience like no other. You even get to swim under a cave with bats in it, total adrenaline haha. The water is teal and this cenote is a great location to get some gorgeous instagram shots. We got a taxi home and packed our belongings. Some of us walked into Tulum Town for a last lunch and it was by far the best seafood I had the whole trip. If you get a chance you must try the seafood at Los Aguachiles in Tulum Town. We boarded our shuttles to get to the airport and had a safe and smooth journey home.
Even though this was my 4th time in the Riviera Maya, there is still so much more to do and uncover. I will definitely be making a couple more blog posts on this region because it is my favorite region to travel to. The culture is rich, the food is exquisite, the adventures are endless, you can’t go wrong!!!!
If you would like a PDF version of the itinerary please email me at jessicamarquez951@gmail.com or simply leave a comment below with your email and I will send you the information. Feel free to ask any questions !
Till the next adventure!
xoxo, Jess
Useful Links
To Book Excursions and Tours : https://www.cancunadventure.net/
Air bNb’s we stayed at
Jessica Ochoa 