My sister and I rented a car at Cancun Airport for our week in Tulum, Mexico and it was totally worth it to be on our own schedule and hop around as we wished. But we definitely learned some lessons along the way.

PROS

Price

Even without booking in advance we got a very good deal on a rental car for a whole week; it came to $230 USD total, which is how much I’ve paid for a couple of days in the states.

Being on your own schedule

This is one of the biggest pros. We didn’t have to wait for a tour bus or a cab driver, but could come and go to places whenever we wished and stay as long or as little as we wanted.

Spontaneity and flexibility

This is the other biggest pro. Most days we ended up at an unplanned destination and that’s only because we had the car. On the way back from the Cobá Ruins we pulled over to look at dreamcatchers, then we pulled over for lunch a little farther down the road when we spotted a cute restaurant.

Coming back from another morning out, instead of parking at our Airbnb and walking, we took advantage of the car and drove to a restaurant on the other side of town. We then drove back and forth between two ice cream shops when one ended up being closed. We may not have gotten our ice cream fix without the flexibility of the car (tragedy!).

Even when we were staying in a hotel at the beach, we decided to drive back to town for lunch and to buy beer and water, where it was cheaper.

Returning to the airport

Heading out just when we needed to, and not paying for a car service or lugging our suitcases to meet a shuttle or to the bus stop, was really convenient.

Built-in phone charger

Charging on the go meant we were never stuck with a dead phone!

CONS

Process at airport

This took way longer than we expected.

Immediately after going through baggage claim and customs we came across a wall of car rental booths. We did a little bit of haggling, went back and forth with the agents and each other on our options, and ended up with a rate of $22 USD / day with Hertz. If we had booked in advance online we could have gotten a rate as low as $6 USD / day and skipped this whole part of the process, which took a bit of time.

Once we were done at the booth, we were escorted outside and waited for a van to take us to the main office to pick up our car.

We arrived to the main office, papers in hand, thinking we’d be in our car in no time, but took our place at the end of a long line. Once we got up to an agent, they talked us into a one-time fee and we didn’t feel empowered to say no so ended up agreeing to it. We went outside to pick up our car, did an inspection with the agent, and we were on our way, but we didn’t end up arriving to our Airbnb as early as we thought we would.

Lesson learned: we will book in advance online!

Parking at the beach

There are 2 main strips along the beach; turn right from town and you'll be on the road lined with bars, restaurants, and shops jutting right up to the narrow road, where the only parking options are paid lots, and turn left from town and you'll be on the quieter strip, which offers free first come, first served street parking along one side of the street.

Finding parking along the beach is challenging and, if you have to park in a lot, the cost could add up. We stayed at an Airbnb in town for most nights and took advantage of the free street parking there. When we moved to a hotel at the beach we paid $100 MXN / night for a lot.

This was our main concern when deciding whether to keep the car for the whole week or only while we were in accommodations in town. The parking fee we paid for only two nights at the beach was worth it to us.

Gas stations

Be careful at gas stations by paying close attention to how your payment method is handled and asking for a receipt for everything. My card got charged even though they told me it was declined (and we then paid with cash) and they handed me back someone else’s card, which I didn’t realize until I was almost boarding my flight home. Not saying this will happen to everyone, but I have read of similar situations, such as the wrong amount of change being handed back.

BOTTOM LINE

I would rent a car in Tulum again because it worked for us, but to each their own!