For my bachelorette, I wanted sun, surf and sangria! Naturally, that took us south of the border to Cancún, Quintano Roo, Mexico for a fun-filled five days with some of my favorite people. This post will go over everything we did as a whole, but I’ll have a few breakout posts that go into specific activities in more detail! Be sure to check out my post with the ultimate packing tips for Cancún. If you’ve ever been to Mexico and have recommendations please leave it in the comments to spread the love of this amazing part of the world.

I flew direct to Cancún from Seattle on Delta and at 5 1/2 hours, the flight was a breeze! I arrived before the rest of my group and went through passport control before chilling outside baggage claim with my book for a couple hours until they arrived. Once they got in, we grabbed a taxi; full disclosure, the taxi system is bit chaotic (especially if you don’t speak Spanish). There were several drivers fighting over our fare, my card ended up getting charged twice “accidentally”, but eventually we were off towards our Airbnb.

We stayed in a gated group of condos, centrally located about a 5 minute walk from the beach right next the Cancún hotel zone. 5 bedrooms, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, air conditioning in all the rooms, access to a pool, beach accessories, and more! It’s right next to a small group of shops where we could buy small things like cereal, soda, liquor, sunscreen etc. My friends instructed me to hole myself away in one of the rooms while my bridesmaid, bridesman, and maid of honor set up a bunch of decorations. WARNING – you may find some of the images graphically phallic and hilarious.

After that we decided to get ready for our first night on the town and on the recommendation of our Airbnb host we went to Porfirio’s for one of the best meals of our entire trip! We seriously loved it so much. The food was divine, the drinks were delicious, our waiter Juan Carlos was amazing, and the view was spectacular! They also put on a show every night and we saw a beautiful traditional Mexican dance pair do an amazing routine…on roller skates!

10/10 would recommend

I'm so happy my people love me enough to get up at 5am and help me cross a bucket list item off. We booked a Viator tour to see a wonder of the world, do a locally made tequila tasting, and swim in a cenote! I was really specific with making sure that whatever tour we booked gave back to the indigenous people of the area in some way. We had an AMAZING tour guide, Daniel, who is a cultural anthropologist and spoke with such pride about his Mayan culture. We did small stops along the way, including a Mayan shaman blessing before a buffet lunch, followed by the opportunity to purchased hand-made goods from locals and the proceeds went to purchasing new school books written in their native language in an effort to keep their culture from going extinct. Then we arrived at Chichen Itza...

It's been several days and I'm still processing the sheer wonder, no pun intended, of seeing this in person. Our tour guide explained the history and importance of why the temple was built the way it was, how the true beauty of their culture is that they see their gods in everything, and even that Chichen Itza isn't just the temple, but the entire city that the temple resides in along with a large forest, several ruins, and a cenote down the hill!

The name "Chichen Itza" is Mayan for “the mouth of the well of the Itza.” The Itza were a group of Mayans who inhabited the area and the "well" it refers to is a series of underground rivers that run beneath it and served as the source of water for the city.

Please be respectful and courteous, learn the history and importance of this beautiful cultural site, and understand that this is an active archaeological site.

Next, we headed to a tasting of El Jefe tequila where they explained the process of how it's made, how they infuse it with flavors, and why cheaper tequilas here in the states (the ones we take shots of) burn going down - it has to do with the high sugar content so they can be mass produced. After we finished the tasting, I went for a refreshing dip in the nearby cenote. The water was the perfect temperature and the beauty of it was unmatched. The tour ended shortly after and the bus dropped us back off. We were starving, exhausted, sweaty, and sunburned. So after we got showered we went to dinner at a phenomenal Greek restaurant called Ilios! They had a fire acrobatic show and belly dancers throughout the evening. The food was great, but after a day in the unbeatable sun/heat/humidity we didn't stay for more than food and a quick drink before heading home and crashing.

Today was a day for rest and recovery, but we still wanted to take advantage of being near the beach. We walked across the road to the public beach in between hotels...and it was about 15 feet wide haha. We decided to take a long walk up the beach and we found a pay-to-play style beach club, Coco Beach Club at the Paradisus Hotel. It was a bit of a struggle tracking someone down to get us set up with a cabana, but we eventually got a hold of someone and for a minimum food/drink spend of $70 USD we got set up on the beach and full access to the pool all day!

After we got back to our Airbnb we all got showered and changed for our one themed night...dress as your favorite Will Ferrel character! My friends know me so dang well and this was the absolute highlight of the week because after we revealed our characters, we had a few drinks and played the game 'Cards Against Muggles' (made by an indie game creator with no association to JKR). To close out the night, we all gave inappropriate powerpoint presentations hahaha. So please enjoy my Power 'Pint' Presentation on 'What Each Harry Potter Character Would Be Like...In Bed'. We got a last minute meal at Hacienda Sisal before calling it a night. Two members of the bachelorette squad were heading back to the states early in the morning, and this was the most perfect night to close out our week together as a group.

Today it was just me and my maid of honor so we saw it as a day to slow things down, treat ourselves and just have one final relaxing day. We started off grabbing breakfast/brunch at the JW Marriot's Sedona Grill. Bottomless mimosas, delicious pancakes, and a killer view for our last morning. This is also a great place to get a pic in front of the 'Cancun' sign (there's another public sign further down the beach but it always had a crowd of people around it).

We spent most of the rest of the day tidying up the Airbnb (aka cleaning up all the confetti penises my friends sprinkled around the entire property haha), lounging by the pool, and packing. We ended the night with a fancy dinner back at the JW Marriot's Gustino Italian Grill. The food was amaaaaaazing and the drinks were plentiful. Sadly, that night a tropical cyclone blew in. We watched it roll in off the beach and start pouring while we were eating dinner. By the time we got back to the Airbnb, it was rattling the windows. The storm kept me up all night and actually ended up cancelling my flight the next day.

Not the best way to end the trip at all. I managed to get out of Cancún to a layover in Atlanta, but while I was in the air my connecting flight to Seattle got cancelled. This was a pattern over the course of the next 5 hours; I was bumped off and rescheduled on 4 separate flights, hanging around the airport on the off-chance I could get off standby. Finally, I was able to get a seat and said a silent prayer of thanks to see the end of an insanely long and stressful day.

Obviously that wasn't the most ideal way to end the trip, but one bad day doesn't discount the amazing 4 days prior! I had such a great time with some of my favorite people. I'm so excited to get married and have them standing next to me when I say "I do!" Cancún was a dream, but I know there was so much I didn't get a chance to see. If you've been to Cancún and have suggestions of things to do the next time we're down there, leave them in the comments!

¡ Viva La Mexico!