Visitor Information
The Cancún Municipal Tourism Office is downtown at Avenida Nader at the corner of Avenida Cobá (tel. 998/887-3379). It's open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. The office lists hotels and their rates, as well as ferry schedules. For information prior to your arrival in Cancún, visit the Convention Bureau's website, www.cancun.travel. The state tourism website is in Spanish, at www.qroo.gob.mx.
Pick up copies of the free booklet Cancún Tips (www.cancuntips.com.mx), and a seasonal tabloid of the same name.
City Layout
There are really two Cancúns: Ciudad Cancún (Cancún City) and Isla Cancún (Cancún Island). Ciudad Cancún, on the mainland, is the original downtown area, where most of the local population lives. It's home to traditional restaurants, shops, and less expensive hotels, as well as pharmacies, dentists, automotive shops, banks, travel and airline agencies, and car-rental firms -- all within an area about 9 square blocks. The city's main thoroughfare is Avenida Tulum. Heading south, Avenida Tulum becomes the highway to the airport and to Tulum and Chetumal; heading north, it intersects the highway to Mérida and the road to Puerto Juárez and the Isla Mujeres ferries.
Isla Cancún is a sandy strip 22km (14 miles) long, shaped like a 7. It's home to the famed Zona Hotelera, or Hotel Zone (also called the Zona Turística, or Tourist Zone), connected to the mainland by the Playa Linda Bridge at the north end and the Punta Nizuc Bridge at the southern end. Between the two areas lies Laguna Nichupté. Avenida Cobá from Cancún City becomes Bulevar Kukulcán, the island's main traffic artery. Cancún's international airport is just inland from the south end of the island.
Finding an Address -- Cancún City's street-numbering system is a holdover from its early days. Addresses are still given by the number of the building lot and by the manzana (block) or supermanzana (group of blocks). The city is relatively compact, and the downtown commercial section is easy to cover on foot.
On the island, addresses are given by kilometer number on Bulevar Kukulcán or by reference to some well-known location. In Cancún, streets are named after famous Maya cities. Boulevards are named for nearby archaeological sites, Chichén Itzá, Tulum, and Uxmal.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
