Before the Navy, before Everett, Finn, and Vienna, and long before Puddles, it was just the two of us, Michael and Chantelle, on our honeymoon in Cancun in 2016.
It was our first big trip together, and looking back, it’s where the travel bug really bit. Here’s what we did, what we loved, and the one thing we’d do very differently.
Where we stayed: Beach Palace
We stayed at Beach Palace, a Palace Resorts all-inclusive right on the beach in Cancun’s Hotel Zone.
For a honeymoon, all-inclusive was exactly right. We didn’t plan a single meal, we never had to look at a bill, and when we didn’t feel like doing anything, the pool and the ocean were right there. After months of wedding planning, not making decisions was the whole point.
We honestly don’t remember what we paid. If you’re pricing one out now, compare booking the resort directly against package deals that bundle in flights, because the difference can be big.
Swimming with dolphins: fun and terrifying
This one was fun and terrifying at the same time. The big moment is the “foot push”: you float on your stomach with your legs straight out behind you, and the dolphins swim up and push you across the water with their noses on the bottoms of your feet.
It’s fast, it’s a little scary the first second you feel it, and then you’re flying across the water laughing. If you only book one excursion in Cancun, this is a great one.
Jumping into a cenote
One of our favorite days was a tour out to a local village, followed by a swim in a cenote. Cenotes are natural sinkholes filled with fresh water, and there are thousands of them across the Yucatán.
The cenote was awesome. You climb down into what feels like a giant cave with a circle of sky above you, and the water glows green-blue below. Of course we jumped in. The water wasn’t too cold, but it was eerie to tread water thinking about how deep it went beneath us. The locals told us the ancient Maya considered cenotes a doorway to the underworld, and floating there, you can see why.
If you go:
- Wear your swimsuit under your clothes, and bring water shoes if you have them.
- Skip the sunscreen or rinse it off before you get in. Most cenotes ask you to, to keep the water clean.
- Bring a waterproof camera or phone pouch. The light coming down through the opening is unreal.
Beach days (a lot of them)
The rest of the trip was exactly what a honeymoon should be: turquoise water, a chair in the sand, and nowhere to be. Cancun’s beaches really are that color in person.
The day that didn’t go to plan: Tulum in the heat
Tulum’s ruins sit on a cliff over the Caribbean, and they’re every bit as beautiful as the photos. What the photos don’t show is the heat. It was very, very hot, there was hardly any shade, and there was very little drinking water available once we were there.
If we did it again, we’d:
- Bring more water than seems reasonable, at least a liter each, plus some for the ride back.
- Go as early as possible, before the midday heat sets in.
- Wear a hat, sunglasses, and light clothes, and bring sunscreen for the ruins (then rinse it off before any cenote).
- Plan a swim right after, because the ocean or a nearby cenote feels amazing after a hot morning.
Would we go back?
Absolutely, but next time we’d bring the kids and stay at Moon Palace. It’s the Palace resort that’s much more set up for families, while Beach Palace was perfect for two newlyweds.
Cancun was the start of everything that came after: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Iceland, and eventually a new home every few years with the Navy. Not a bad first chapter.
