I haven’t posted since before I left my latest Mexico trip, so here’s a quick recap of changes I’ve noticed just from the trip I took Dec. 2023.
To start off, I took an Alaska Air flight from the west coast and it turns out Alaska Air’s home Cancun Airport space is now at Terminal 2 which is charter flight central. I landed at 4 p.m. from LAX and spend 2 hours from landing to leaving the airport. Complete chaos at Terminal 2 when you get down to Immigration and Customs, no signage whatsoever and lots of people wandering around wondering what to do. Because of the charter flight situation long lines of Brits and Canadians in particular, so just be prepared to deal with the chaos. Here’s a hint–when you get down to the bottom of the escalator angle to the left and then around the corner to the right and head directly to the furthest line. Most travelers tended to congregate at the bottom of the escalator which created a huge backlog of vacationers to the point staff had to turn off the escalators because people were jam packed into a small space at the bottom of the escalator. Also, Terminal 2 still has the Red and Green Light exit process to get out of Immigration to go out to your resort shuttle–for those of you groaning right now because you remember this then yes, it’s back! Or perhaps it never went away from this Terminal since I haven’t been back here in years. Anyway, for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the process is you get in one of 2 lines (yes, more lines), approach a stand with a button, push the button, and if you get a green light you can leave Immigration, if you get a red light you are pulled aside and have all your belongings examined. Ugghh. I thought the Cancun airport was so done with this hugely unpopular procedure. Not so.
It’s not a change, but no one at the Cancun airport is verifying Visitax prior to departure. Up to you whether you want to risk not paying and run into enforcement at a later date.
If you are planning on going to this area of Mexico for the rest of spring break, be prepared for lengthy periods of time at the Cancun airport. The Tulum airport is open on a very limited basis, so I would suggest trying to get a flight into that airport if you are staying at a resort south of Playa del Carmen.
Stay tuned for my resort reviews of Riu Palace Riviera Maya, Ocean Riviera Paradise, and Hard Rock Riviera Maya! I am still currently posting new pics and video of these resorts on my Instagram page, allinclusivegal.