I spent roughly 2.5 months in Mexico with my boyfriend last year. Around every 3 or so days we would travel to a new place. To save all of us some time I am going to give you my favorite places we visited and what we spent in total over our time here.
I recognize that most of these places are touristy, for me I felt the safest here. I was able to leave my accommodation by myself and not get cat called every step of the way. In a lot of less touristy places, I did not feel safe walking around by myself. I felt like I needed to be with my boyfriend.
San Blas
Tulum
Tulum was beautiful. What made Tulum a highlight for me was learning to dive here. Usually when you are getting your diving certification you maybe learn in a swimming pool or shallow in the ocean. In Tulum we were able to do all the basics in Cenotes. Alongside that, we were able to study in a house in the jungle.
Cenote Suytun
A cenote is essentially a sinkhole, it stays clean through an underground freshwater system. In ancient Mayan cultures they believed that cenotes were the gateway to the underworld. They would make offerings to the gods, including human sacrifices… The water is incredibly clear, you feel like you are floating through air while diving.
My favorite cenote was Dos Ojos. If you are a diver, add this to your list.
Mexico City
Mexico City was beautiful. One big tip I did pick up while here is to use uber instead of jumping into taxis. There is a lot of kidnapping and human trafficking through the taxis in the city.
Mexico City Centre
Surrounding the city there are beautiful hot springs. This was a highlight for me. We visited the hot springs called Grutas Tolantongo. There were rocks you were able to jump off into the water. To get here we rented a car. It took us roughly 4 hours to get to the hot springs.
Driving the car in the city was one of the most stressful things I have ever experienced. There did not seem to be any road rules, the road would go from 5 lanes to 2 in a matter of seconds. If there was not space on the road motorbikes would go on the sidewalk! It was a bloodbath; we did not have insurance. I still to this day think it was a miracle that no one rammed into our car. Maybe get insurance to stay sane when you drive, or get a shuttle, or send it and see what happens.
We did have a run in with someone who threatened to break our car mirror if we did not pay him. People will ask you to pay them money to “protect your car.” Essentially it is a deal to stop them from robbing your car. This only happened to us once, if someone asks just pay them a dollar. It is very irritating but better safe than sorry. We gave him a dollar in 5 cent coins so that made it less painful.
Anyways the hot springs, very worth seeing. I have attached pictures below.
Grutas Tolantongo
Another highlight was Teotihuacan. These are ancient ruins outside of the city. These were the largest ruins I have ever seen. They took my breath away, that sounds super cheesy but it is true. I have read up on the ruins and the people who lived here were one of the largest civilizations before the 1400s. National geographic said it was comparable to the Egyptian pyramids.
National Geographic Article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/teotihuacan?loggedin=true&rnd=1691619689427
My last highlight from Mexico city was visiting the Popocatepetl Volcano. This was insane! This was not as long of a drive, maybe 2 hours from the Centre of the city. There is lots of beautiful hiking here and very few people. You may want to check if this is still a safe place to be because I hear that this volcano has started having mini eruptions… Hike at your own risk.
Popocatepetl Volcano
Sayulita
Sayulita was so much fun. I will say that the surf was good, although the locals are very territorial. It makes sense, as this place has an insane number of tourists in the water. I can imagine that would be very frustrating. I only caught a couple of waves. My boyfriend got yelled at twice by someone dropping in on his wave. Not the most peaceful surf spot. It is very fun to watch from the beach though.
Sayulita Streets
If you did want to surf, we rented a car and checked out the surrounding surf breaks. These were much quieter. My favorite was playa La Lancha. It was very fun, there were not many people surfing at all. It was a reef break and I did end up hitting a turtle. The turtle was fine, I needed stitches. I have attached a link below for a surf guide which I enjoyed:
Surf Guide: https://wildmex.com/en/surf-break-map-sayulita-punta-mita-spots-surf-spot/
What I loved about Sayulita was the art and cafes. I also loved the bars. One of my favourite bars had swinging chairs (Atico Hookah Bar). There was a mixology bar on the beach that I loved (Ancla Beach Bar). We had some delicious cocktails here while watching the sunset on the beach.
There was another town nearby called San Pancho. This was a quieter town, still touristy. It also had a similar feel, with lots of art. This is a fun spot to visit as well.
Cabo San Lucas
We stayed here for 2 weeks. Half of the time we stayed in the cheapest places we could find. Half of the time we stayed in a resort for my birthday. Cabo was fun, we went snorkeling on a boat. The parasailing looked fun however the conditions were not right when we were there. My favorite spot was lovers beach. This beach had the most intense shore break I have ever seen. Jamie Obrien made a video here, it is really fun to watch.
Jamie O’Brien Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=889JWpQqItA
I also really loved San Jose. It is roughly a 30 minute drive from Cabo. It is a cheaper place to stay and has a much more local feel. There was also a really nice art market here that happens once a week. It runs every Thursday from 5-9pm. Definitely worth checking out.
Mexico Overall
There are lots of awesome places to visit. Some that we did not visit but heard the most about were Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido and Holbox.
In total I would say I spent somewhere between $4000-$6000. This included my diving and other random activities. Mexico was more expensive than I expected. I heard this was because during covid Mexico was the only place Americans could travel to, causing the prices to rise like crazy. So it is not as cheap as it was, but it is still reasonable in most places.
Waterfall outside of San Blas
As a 21-year-old blonde female, I was repeatedly told that I would have to be very careful. There were some scary moments, but none of them happened in the touristy places. For the most part I felt reasonably safe. This may have been because I was with my boyfriend. In Mexico, men are seen with more respect and authority. I found this confronting, especially after growing up in a very equal society. I felt it a lot while travelling, people would not address me. They would talk to my boyfriend as if I was not there.
If you are going to backpack, I would go with people. Or at least try and make friends at hostels you are staying in. While sometimes I felt unsafe, it would not stop me from going back. Mexico has a lot to offer. They have some of the most beautiful art I have ever seen. Also some delicious food, some incredible nature that I did not expect. They have so much culture, I learned a lot from spending time here.
Bacardi by the pool playlist (born in Tulum): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4t4xcJvVlonRJOetzsfWXQ?si=f31847d3bde8461d
