Cancun: Our honeymoon on a student budget

Lovely Cancun, Mexico is way more than the over the top spring-breaker party spot. It was the perfect place to celebrate our honeymoon many years ago on a broke student budget. It is also special as it was our introduction to our world travel adventures as a married couple.

Cancun offers the perfect mix of beauty, adventure and culture with its breathtaking turquoise waters and white sand beaches, exciting day trips to the ancient Mayan ruins in the Yucatan Peninsula, and great local restaurants and souvenir shopping.

Since Bertaut was a college student working part-time making minimum wage when we got married and I literally just graduated and was looking for a job, we needed something cheap but also romantic and relaxing to start off our marriage. Cancun offered just that- cheap flights and good value luxurious resorts. He was able to snag our airfares and hotel for a week at the beautiful Fiesta Americana Condesa for about $1500 through Orbitz.

We found the resort to be quite lovely and inviting. One of the hotel employee was so nice and went out of her way to make us comfortable and welcomed. As soon as she found out that we were on our honeymoon, she had a nice bottle of champagne, chocolate and cheese waiting for us in our room. We ensured she was tipped for her generosity even though she did not think it was necessary. For a thorough review of the property please refer to the Fiesta Americana Condesa Review.

Being our very first time in Cancun and Bertaut’s first time in Mexico, we did not waste too much time 😉 (after of course doing what honeymooners do) and went out to shop for local souvenirs and art, explore and discover Cancun. With Bertaut being from a tropical country where bargaining is pretty much expected, we felt right at home and scored some great deals. AYAYAYE CARAMBA! VIVA MEXICO!

The locals were very nice and welcoming, quick to engage and make jokes with us. Bertaut got accustomed to the proverbial “Hey bro, hey bro” after spending a few minutes in the market area.

We were able to get a free day trip to Chichen Itza by attending a brief timeshare presentation at our resort’s sister property that also included a delicious buffet. Now we’re talking! We have always been interested in the story of the Mayan, Aztec, and Inca ethnic groups and hope to make it to Machu Picchu in the near future.

On the way to the ruins, the tour took us to a shopping area where they sold various local art products as well as beautiful obsidian stone artifacts. We found the pricing to be higher compared to the stands located at the ruins, which is something worth keeping in mind. We were able to snag some great deals at both locations.

We have always been fascinated with the Mayan empire, their precise calendar and culture as a whole. Chichen Itza provided a clear picture how the ancient Mayans lived, thrived, and interacted with other tribes. It gave much room for imagination as to what might have caused their demise. Due to fatal accidents, the stairs were blocked off which was very disappointing to us but was not enough to take away from the experience.

A true testament of the vast knowledge of Astronomy demonstrated by the Ancient Mayans is the descent of a 120 foot long snake shadow that ends at the serpent’s head at the base of the Temple of Kukulcan. This happens only twice a year on the Spring and Fall Equinox.

The Mayan Ball Game is a ball game you DON’T want to lose. The game held significant ritual value with the very simple yet difficult goal and passing a ball through stone rings mounted high without using hands. The leading man of the losing team or even the entire team would be sacrificed to the gods. Yikes! Talk about pressure to perform!

Close to the ruins, there was a huge cenote, the Sacred Cenote. The cenotes were particularly important to the Mayan people for they believed it to be entryways. They were used by the ancient Mayans during sacrificial offerings.

For those interested in local artifacts, there are tons of beautiful items being sold around the ruins with obsidian stone being one of the most popular items. Be prepared for tons of bargaining, possibly even with items you are wearing. Bertaut traded his shirt when we ran out of shopping money (remember, we were broke college students at the time) but I was extremely pleased with all the wonderful deals we got.

Overall, we had an amazing time in Cancun for our honeymoon. We enjoyed exploring the town, window shopping, staying at the beautiful Fiesta Americana Condesa resort, getting a taste of the local cuisine and visiting the Chichen Itza ruins. Some takeaways from our vacation: August in the Yucatan Peninsula is a scorcher. At times, we had to retreat in the shade for periods of time to avoid heat strokes, so plan accordingly. Despite visiting during a peak summer month, we never felt as if we were competing with huge numbers of tourists and quite frankly enjoyed the mix of people we got to meet during our stay. Finally, come ready to bargain for your souvenirs, possibly even trading the clothes off your back to score a great deal! Enjoy Mexico! We plan to come back to check out Mexico City on another visit, but where else do you recommend in Mexico? If you liked this post, please sign up for our RSS feed for updates on new blog posts and our email newsletter for our travel tips.