Hi everyone! I’m here to talk about one of my latest international travel venture in Playa del Carmen, Mexico! In this post I’m going to share my travel story and all of our trip details – where we stayed, what we did, what I wish we had done differently and see how we made the cheapest travel in Cancun, Mexico!
So here it goes.
Two of my best friends, Lauren and Caroline, and I decided fairly last minute that we needed a Cancun girls trip. With everything going on with Covid-19 we knew it would be a little harder than normal, but thankfully Lauren is a “planner” and Caroline and I are always up for an adventure!
Initially, we weren’t sure where we wanted to go. So we researched a lot of places in the US and a lot of Caribbean islands. And frankly, Mexico was one of the only places that wasn’t partially or fully shut down due to Covid.
So we used TravelZoo to book our trip, and we landed on November 13-17, 2020 which was a Friday-Tuesday trip. Oh, by the way, I won’t pretend like I wasn’t a little nervous about traveling on Friday the 13th.
Cheap Travel in Mexico – Cancun All Inclusive Trip
For this Cancun trip, we all had airline miles, so we got flights for free through an airline credit card. We researched different options and we landed on The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We decided to go with the Cancun all inclusive package for a five day/four night stay. It ended up costing about $375 per person excluding the flights.
Trip to Mexico Cancun – Air Transportation
So, the resort is about a 30 minute drive from the Cancun airport. The resort offers airport transportation, but we weren’t sure how reliable it was so we decided to book transportation through a company we found online that had GREAT reviews. We chose USA Transfers and we absolutely loved them.
The driver was super friendly and talkative – he taught us a lot of interesting facts on the way to the resort. He was very candid about what we should and shouldn’t do which we really appreciated (we asked him if it would be safe for us to leave the resort with us being three girls alone in a foreign country – he advised us to stay on the resort property). He also spoke with us about the effects of COVID-19. He told us that tourism was still down by about 60% and ultimately that’s why we were able to find such an amazing price on the trip.
Because we were splitting it between three people, it ended up being about $20 per person per trip ($40 total). We used them again to get back to the airport when we left!
Trip to Cancun, Mexico – Our Hotel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
So we arrived at The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences in Playa Del Carmen. Our room had a king size bed and a queen size pullout couch which was surprisingly comfortable. It also had a full size kitchen, huge bathroom, and balcony. All of the condos at this particular resort are for sale – basically, you could live full time in these rooms. The resort had a family, kid-friendly side, as well as an adult only section so I really do think this resort has something to offer for every type of trip!
Cheapest Travel in Cancun, Mexico – Itinerary
Who am I kidding…. we had no itinerary! The first day was a little weird because it was a travel day. We all landed in Cancun by 3:00pm. It took about 45 minutes to get through passport control, 30 minutes to get to the resort, and about 30 minutes to get checked in and settled in our room. That night we ate dinner and went to bed fairly early.
For the next three days, we woke up and ate breakfast and pretty much immediately went to the beach. We spent a little bit of time at the pools, but we really were happiest on the beaches.
Also, there was a family of massage therapists who were set up on the beach and trying to sell massages to resort guests. They offered a 70 minute massage which included a facial for $20 (yes, you read that right!). Needless to say, we got massages every single day! We would go in for lunch and then head right back out to the beach.
We took a break from the beach to take a Zumba class by the pool every day which we thoroughly enjoyed. The Zumba staff was amazing! We went in by about 5:00pm every evening to get ready for dinner. We would eat dinner, and then have some fun at the bars around the resort at night!
On the last day, we left the resort around noon, and we were back home in Birmingham by 10:00pm.
Trip to Cancun Mexico – Food and Drink
The Food at the Fives is INCREDIBLE. I seriously cannot overstate how good the food was. I’ve been to all inclusives before where the food was so-so, but this Cancun all inclusive trip blew them all out of the water. There were restaurants from around the world – French, Thai, Italian, Mexican, Greek, and a sushi restaurant. We tried them all! There were a ton of options. Some were sit down and nice, some were casual dining which only required a swimsuit cover-up, and there were even some that you could just walk up to, order, and take your food back to the pool. There were countless pool bars, as well as different drink menus at every restaurant.
There was also a gin bar and a tequila bar, which were really fun to go to at night after dinner. As we got the all inclusive package, we really didn’t hold back. Everything was included and we definitely got our money’s worth for this cheapest travel in Cancun – Cancun girl trip all inclusive!
What We Loved About Our Cancun Girls Trip…. and What We Didn’t
Would Do It Again:
- Resort: We all agree that we would ABSOLUTELY stay at the Fives again if we ever went back to Cancun. They earned 5/5 stars in my book and I literally was pleased with the whole experience – not one bad thing to say about the resort.
- Package: We LOVED the all inclusive package. We ate and drank a LOT on our trip. We really felt like we got our money’s worth and then some. If you don’t drink, I don’t know if I would do the all inclusive because I’m not sure if it would be worth the cost vs. what you would pay for food without the all inclusive (we didn’t look into that option because we knew we would be drinking – it would definitely be worth the research to be sure though).
Might Do Differently:
- Transportation: Knowing what we now know about the resort, I think we would have been perfectly fine taking resort transportation, which would have been included at no extra cost. We loved our experience with USA Transfers, but it would have been nice to save that money!
- Resort Excursions: We were extremely skeptical about leaving the resort since it was just us three girls and we weren’t sure it was safe. This was the first resort I’ve ever stayed at where I didn’t do an excursion, and I must say, I wish we had been able to do something off the resort (cave diving, snorkeling, etc.). If you’re traveling with people you feel comfortable leaving the resort with, I always encourage the excursions!!
Cancun Girls Trip Mexico Rating
Overall, Mexico was a BLAST!! I would rate this is the cheapest travel in Cancun, a girls trip for a 9.5/10 – everything was PERFECT but I do wish we had been able to participate in an excursion. I typically try to only travel to places like this one time (I feel like there’s too much planet to see to go to the same place twice) but I would strongly consider making an exception for this resort. Also, check out my blog post about our trip to Mexico on a budget. How is it possible for less than $500?
As always, please comment or reach out to me with questions, and of course let me know if you go on this trip!
Xoxo,
Rebecca
