Days 1-2 (February 12-13, 2026): Back to where we began!

For years, we have done a Valentine’s / Heritage Day weekend trip to the southern USA. But those days are over - at least until the regime is overthrown and America can find its true self again. Knowing we’d still want a mid-February getaway, even if the USA was out, we decided to do a few days in Cancun, since flights are plentiful between Halifax and there.

Cancun holds a special place in our hearts as, in July 1992, we came here on our honeymoon for two weeks. We were young, poor and naive, but still, we have great memories of that first Caribbean experience of our married lives together. Apart from this visit, we have only been back one other time since 1992.

After a stormy week, we had a perfect break in the weather for our trip. Despite a three-hour delay in leaving, it all worked fairly smoothly. We left for Halifax Airport at 6:30PM and were airborne by 9:45PM, arriving at our Toronto Airport hotel at 11:15PM.  With three hours of sleep under our belts, we headed back to the airport at 4AM for a 6:15AM departure to Cancun, landing there a bit early, just before 10:30AM.  After a frustrating hour of trying to get our e-SIMs to work on our phones and figure out where the Uber pick-up location was, we finally got a lift to the hotel, which is 30 minutes north of the airport.

Our room wasn’t ready until 3PM, but the resort was kind enough to give us access to our all-inclusive benefits right away. We enjoyed a buffet lunch and then spent the afternoon on the beach, until 5:30PM.  Sunset isn’t until 6:45PM here in February, so the days offer lots of daylight. And with a sunny sky and 26C, the weather was just perfect.

Tonight was Mexican night here at the resort, with a very impressive spread of Mexican dishes, from fajitas to tamales to mole chicken. Our bellies filled, we then took in an incredibly professional mariachi concert, followed by a show of Mexican folk dancing.  It has been a wonderful day!

Settling into our Porter Airlines flight to Toronto, which left almost three hours late, due to the late inbound aircraft. 

We walked from Pearson Terminal 3 to the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in -10C temperatures.  After a short three-hour sleep, we walked back to the terminal at 4AM.

The Air Transat Airbus A330-200 aircraft was packed to the rafters. Normally, the A330 has eight seats abreast, but Air Transat has squeezed nine seats across, creating the narrowest aisles and seats we have ever experienced on a plane. It was a smooth flight and even arrived a bit early, so we have no complaint.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get seats together, but Pam was directly in front of me. In the back of the Airbus A330, where we were seated, the fuselage narrows, leaving just seven seats abreast and creating a small zone with a wider aisle. The rest of the aircraft is a gong show of squish!

The flight path from Toronto to Cancun went directly south from Toronto, over the USA.

I never realized before just how close Cancun is to the west coast of Cuba.

The Air Transat Airbus A330,parked in Cancun.

The bus stops along the Cancun Hotel Zone all have cute inflatable “LOVE” letters, in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Exploring the beach upon arrival.

The Occidental Costa Cancun is in the Spanish Barcelo hotel family. The hotel is located at an opening of the crocodile-filled Nichupte Lagoon, where the lagoon flows into the sea. Crocs are known to swim out and find themselves in the waters adjacent to the hotel beach. So one has to be very careful!

The hourly ferry from Cancun to Isla Mujeres departs from a terminal next door to the hotel. We may take it for a visit to Isla Mujeres this weekend.

Having gotten just three hours of sleep, our beach time was marked by snoozes.  Poor Pam just got through two pages of her new book!

A beautiful sunset to mark the end of our first full day here.

The mariachi band was superb!

The evening performance at the resort also included dances from various parts of Mexico.

The Hotel Zone

As important as the canals are to Venice, so is the Hotel Zone an iconic part of Cancun.  Let me share some information about it.

The Hotel Zone, often called The Strip, is a designated tourist district and strip of land on the coast of Cancún. It consists of resorts, beaches, shops, nightclubs, and restaurants, all geared to tourists. The strip itself is an island shaped like the number "7," running parallel to the mainland. It is bound by the crocodile-filled Nichupté Lagoon to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

This stretch of land is the predominant reason for Cancún's fame as a resort hub and tourist destination, and a majority of Cancún's income comes from tourism. Ground was broken for The Strip on January 23, 1970, and it is 22.5km in length. There are over 190 hotels in the Hotel Zone and over 35,000 hotel rooms-

The Hotel Zone has a lower crime rate than the rest of the city, as a result of increased police presence. Although Cancún was the 13th deadliest city in the world in 2019, most crimes occur at night in the downtown district. Most public areas, such as beaches, are patrolled by National Guard soldiers during the height of the spring break season. The major reason for the high crime and murder rate is cartel violence, particularly by the Gulf Cartel.  In 2009, Operation Quintana Roo began as an effort by the Mexican Army and Navy to root out cartels in the state of Quintana Roo, but especially in Cancún.

Google Maps view of Cancun, showing the downtown district top left. The Hotel Zone comprises a geographical “7”, with the Nichupte Lagoon to its left and the open Atlantic to its right. Our hotel is marked by the blue dot, top center.

This is what The Strip comprises: stunning white beaches filled with resorts. This is an Internet aerial píc, showing the view looking north.

Another pic from the Internet, just to to give a view of the strip looking at it from the open ocean.