What to do in the Yucatan region with kids? Yucatan in Mexico is one of the main tourist areas in Latin America. With Cancun airport as a starting point, a tour is an ideal way to explore the diverse peninsula. Yucatan is also one of the safest regions of Mexico. Its bounty beaches, cenotes, maya ruins, eco theme parks, colonial cities and climate mean there is so much beauty to experience for adults and kids alike. Yucatan is full of history and adventure and everywhere they keep kids in mind. In this blog, we list the best destinations to visit with kids in the Yucatan region.
Best travel time Yucatan with kids
The best travel time to visit Yucatan with kids is from December through May. However, keep in mind that during the months of December through March there can be a cool wind from the north, the “el Norte,” which creates relatively cool weather with fairly high winds and clouds.
During these days it is less pleasant by the pool or on the beach. But just ideal for being out and about and visiting temples. If you go purely for the sun and beaches then the best time to explore Yucatan with the family is between March and May.
Transportation to and in Yucatan
Unless you book a package tour to Mexico, direct flights are scarce and expensive from the Netherlands. We flew from Amsterdam with airline United through the United States to Mexico. On the way there we did a 1-night stopover in Chicago and back we flew back to Amsterdam with a short stopover in Houston. For us, this way of traveling was ideal with the kids.
We arrived in Chicago at 10:00 p.m. Dutch time. However, it was only 16:00 there. By 18:00 the kids were tired in bed and by 05:00 they were refreshed for the 07:30 flight to Cancun. As a result, they hardly suffered from jet lag and we were so used to the time difference.
Yucatan is perfect for exploring with kids because the travel distances are relatively short and there are fun stops everywhere to break up a travel day. An ideal way to travel around Yucatan is by rental car. For 4 weeks we paid €600 in December/January for a spacious car with 5 seats. We rented the car from Cancun airport.
To rent a car at Cancun airport, check out the rental company Sunny Cars.
Time zones Mexico
When you land by plane in Cancun, the time difference with the Netherlands is 6 hours in our winter time and 7 hours in summer time. During your tour, keep in mind that Mexico has 4 time zones. Cancun where you land is on the Yucatan Peninsula, but in the state of Quintana Roo they have a different time zone. The time difference in Quintana Roo is 7 hours with the Netherlands in winter time and 8 hours with daylight saving time.
So it happened to us that we only found out after 10 days of traveling that we were an hour early everywhere. For example, we were at a zoo at 9 a.m. that ended up not opening until 10. We thought “that must be typical Mexican” until we found out that we were still in the wrong time zone. So pay extra attention to what time zone the city you are visiting is in!
Children’s activities Yucatan
#1 Isla Holbox
After an overnight in Chicago, we flew on to Cancun early in the morning. Here we picked up our rental car and drove 1.5 hours to the port of Chiquila. A beautiful route through the jungle (it felt that way). From Chiquila the ferry takes you to the island of Isla Holbox in 20 minutes.
We already found the ferry crossing very special, because it was full of backpackers. We find it very special that we don’t backpack ourselves now, but we still experience these adventures with our kids.
Isla Holbox is a car-free island with streets of sand. Really ideal with kids! The island covers an area of 2km by 2km and transportation is by bicycle, golf cart or on foot. We took a yellow golf cart cab to our accommodation, a really fun way to tear around the island with kids. We slept at hotel Casa Barbera Holbox.
A small hotel, close to the center with nice rooms and veranda in a tropical garden. Our regular visitors were raccoons to the delight of the kids. There is also a swimming pool at the hotel.
Isla Holbox is full of beautiful mural paintings and full of cozy restaurants, stores and bars. Just walking through the town and having a bite to eat and a drink is worth visiting Isla Holbox. The atmosphere on the island is super relaxed and therefore definitely a destination you should visit during your tour of Yucatan with kids!
The island’s most famous attraction is Punto Coco. The place to spot flamingos. Near our hotel we rented bicycles and went out early in the morning on our bikes to Punto Coco. We were the first to arrive at Punto Coco which gave a magical feeling. Sandy white beaches, pink flamingos, hammocks in the water and drinking from coconuts, it could hardly be more tropical.
For more information about this island, read the blog Isla Holbox with kids.
#2 Valladolid, Cenotes and the Vallazoo
After waving goodbye to Isla Holbox from the boat, our adventure continued to Valladolid. This the 3rd largest city in Yucatan and is a nice base for trips in the area. Here we had found a super cool accommodation at Vallazoo Wildlife Reserve.
At Vallazoo Wildlife reserve you can walk the reserve, visit the zoo, do activities, play in the natural playground and stay overnight. There are a total of 12 spacious rooms, including 4 family rooms with a nice pool.
The zoo was fairly simple but you have all the animals that live in Mexico here including crocodiles, jaguars, parrots and monkeys. It was incredibly quiet when we were there, but don’t be surprised if it is a little busier with school classes.
This region of Mexico is known for its beaches, Mayan ruins and Cenotes (underground pools). We visited the 2 Cenotes that are near Valladolid and enjoyed swimming in the underground lakes. The Cenotes are beautiful and impressive. And the fish that gave us a free Fish-spa was a great adventure for the kids.
After the Cenotes, we went to the center of Valladolid which is also really worth visiting. Valladolid has a beautiful colonial center full of history, little squares, a playground and the most delicious restaurants. We ended the day with a delicious pasta at a local Italian restaurant. Even they have those here much to the kids’ delight!
For more information about this city, read the blog Valladolid with kids.
#3 Izamal
Then during our tour of Yucatan with our family we visited La Cuidad Amerillo, or the yellow town as Izamal is also called. This town was on the route from Valladolid to Mérida and was a perfect stop for lunch. All the buildings in this town are painted yellow, which makes it very fun to wander the streets. The town was very important during the Mayan era and a pyramid from this time is also preserved.
This we climbed and gave us a nice view of the city. We ended the visit with lunch at a restaurant serving traditional Yucatean cuisine. One of the dishes we tried was Cochinita pibil. This is the Mexican version of pulled pork. The meat is cooked underground in a banana leaf. Highly recommended to eat in Yucatan with kids!
#4 Mérida
Mérida was our next destination in this adventure and this is where we celebrated Christmas. Through Airbnb we had rented a lovely house with pool just outside the center of Merida. Mérida is one of the oldest cities in Central America and was founded by the Mayans. The city is fairly large but full of pleasant squares and parks where there is plenty to do.
Christmas is quite a happening here but it is still strange to celebrate Christmas in a warm country. Everywhere there are Christmas trees and other decorations that you walk by in your shorts. Like everyone else in Mexico, we bought a Piñata for Christmas, filled it with candy and smashed it. The kids loved it, even more fun than presents!
Besides seeing the city, the beach is also fairly close by. The beach (town of Progreso) is not the prettiest beach but it is a wonderful getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. We tried the town of Sisal on Boxing Day (which was a normal Thursday here) and this was a real local coastal town. It had a beautiful beach where we could relax and swim among albatrosses.
Several times during our trip in Mexico we ended up in strange situations where we felt there was something weird with the time. After 10 days we found out that there are 2 time zones in Mexico. Minus 6 hours in Quintana Roo (where Cancun is located and where we landed) and Yucatán minus 7 hours. Since we have kept the Cancun time since we got here, we were thus an hour early everywhere. Oops!
For more information about this city, read the blog Merida with kids.
#5 Kabah & the Ruta Puuc
The drive from Mérida to our next destination of Campeche was about 3.5 hours and there are many nice stops along the way. After driving 45 minutes we arrived at Hacienda Yaxopoil. Until 1950/1960, agave was widely grown in this area which was processed into Henequén, a fiber used for clothing and also Sisal rope (named after the coastal town of Sisal), for example. This Hacienda has been beautifully refurbished and it was nice to get an idea of how the process worked in those days.
The next stop during our tour of Yucatan with our kids was “Choco-Story. This is a museum about chocolate, which was once invented by the Mayans. Chocolate milk was drunk at various ceremonies and celebrations. The museum was a tour through the jungle containing different huts with exhibits and shows with traditional Mayan rituals.
In addition, the museum also serves as an animal sanctuary and there were monkeys, jaguars and crocodiles that had once been kept as pets and cannot be returned to the wild. There was even a playground and a coffee bar with chocolate chip cookies! Kids happy, mom and dad happy!
After this stop, it was hop into the car for our first Mayan ruin. The route we drove is called the Puuc route (Puuc means hill in Maya language) and contains many ruins to visit. We stopped at Kabah and this was very impressive. Walking through the settlement you get a good idea of how the Maya lived 2000 years ago.
#6 Campeche
Upon entering this coastal city, it immediately felt very convivial. There is a long promenade, the Malecón, with a skate park, seafood restaurants and lots of fun. After a good night’s sleep, armed with a loaded camera, map and a freshly brewed cup of coffee, we set out for the old center.
But not before the kids visited the mega playground near our Airbnb! That’s the great thing about Mexico: every village or town has a super playground! Very family-friendly.
The city is on the Unesco World Heritage List and the center has been beautifully refurbished. Really a typical colonial town with houses in all colors and of course a cathedral with a large square in front of it. We enjoyed being a tourist and took a streetcar tour around the city.
Campeche is home to a large shopping mall with a playground that provides a welcome cool down during siesta time. In the evening we had dinner at a seafood restaurant along the promenade by the setting sun.
#7 Xpujill & the Mayan ruins
Our next destination was Xpujill where we stayed 1 night as a stopover to Bacalar on the East Coast. This was the longest drive for us this trip: about 4.5 hours. The village of Xpujill (pronounced “shie-giel”) is in the middle of a nature reserve and is very small. After driving for an hour, we arrived at the Mayan temples of Edzna.
This is a large complex with super beautiful sun temples. For our kids Sam and Pip, this is also a great adventure because the temples are hidden in the jungle. The path to it is marked with arrows so they can be our tour guide. After climbing up and down the temple we continued on our way for the next 3.5 hours behind the wheel.
The road to the south was very local and very poorly maintained in some parts. We had to drive at walking pace for kilometers because it was full of deep potholes. Needless to say, we were very happy when we got back on the paved main road after 100 kilometers. Along the way we saw the real countryside of Mexico with cattle on vast meadows and villages where everyone looks very strange when suddenly a car with 4 Dutchmen drives by.
Arriving at our stay at Cabanas Zoh Laguna Calakmul, the kids were able to enjoy the pool and we laid back with a cold beer. We deserved that after such a long drive! In the evening we played soccer with Sam, Pip and some local kids. Very nice to see how easy contact is through a game like soccer.
After a good night’s sleep and a nice breakfast, we set out for Bacalar via Maya ruin Becan. The Becan ruin was again impressive. Really very special to realize that a completely different civilization existed until 1000 years ago.
#8 Bacalar
During a tour of Yucatan with kids, sometimes you have that you travel to a place full of expectations only to feel completely out of place. Bacalar was such a place for us. Lake Bacalar is known for the beautiful shades of blue in various places in the lake. This was also noticed by the “influencer tourists” from Tulum, so the village was flooded with trendy vegan tents and influencers, men with yoga leggings and buns and overly hip young people were walking around everywhere.
The hotel was very nice when we arrived, but unfortunately there was a salsa bar next to the hotel that ended at 04:00. The volume produced there was booth disco and not very conducive to sleep. After a short restless night, we decided to head earlier to our next stop; Mahuhual. But not before we had seen the famous lake of course!
Lake Bacalar is truly beautiful. The different shades of blue are stunning and definitely worth seeing during your trip through Yucatan with kids.
#9 Mahahual
After our brief visit to Bacalar, Mahahual was a breath of fresh air! This village is a former fishing village which has gained some life due to the construction of a cruise terminal. There is a Caribbean atmosphere and a boulevard with restaurants and stalls that are only open when cruise ships are docked. The beauty of our visit is that we are not staying in the village itself.
We slept at Hotel Maya Luna in a small bungalow literally on the beach. Really quite paradisiacal! The hotel is located 5 kilometers past the village on a bumpy dirt road in the “middle of nowhere.” In the morning we were woken up by the breaking waves in the surf and then we were served breakfast on the beach! Truly top notch!
We celebrated New Year’s Eve here with a bottle of champagne on the beach. It couldn’t have been better as far as we were concerned! The first two days we had beautiful weather, but then also 2 days of rain with lots of wind. The beauty of planning your own trip is that you can pack your bags at such times and travel on to another place.
Since the weather didn’t seem to be getting better either we did and decided to go to Cobá. Here we will visit a Mayan site on a bicycle.
#10 Cobá
On the way to Cobá, a 3-hour drive by car, we made a stop in Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Here we went to the local market and the playground. In the little square near the playground, we ate a marquesita. The marquesita is a typical Mexican snack and the stalls are everywhere. It is a thin rolled pancake filled with aged cheese and chocolate.
With a full belly, we drove on to a jungle hotel near Cobá. We stayed at Aldea Tucanes. It took some searching because it was deeper in the jungle than we thought but it was a true gem. It had a lovely pool, beautiful room with floating bed and its own observation tower. Nearby was a lovely restaurant where we had pizza from a wood-fired oven.
The next morning we headed for Cobá on time. But not before our guard/landlord/cook had prepared a delicious breakfast for us! After all, you can’t visit temples on an empty stomach! Cobá is yet another Maya complex, but at this one you can rent bikes and cycle between the temples.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have child seats but they did have children’s bikes, so our son Sam was able to tear through the jungle like Indiana Jones. El Castillo, the largest of the complex, the four of us climbed. At over 45 meters high, it was a nice climb but the view was fantastic.
#11 Akumal & the Riviera Maya
Our last stop during this trip through Yucatan with the family was Akumal, one of the smaller towns along the “Riviera Maya” as this area is also called. Along this coast are the major beach resorts of Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, among others. Akumal was one of the first villages where some tourism developed and it is known for the sea turtles that come here every year to lay their eggs.
It was hard to find something in this area that wasn’t a mega (American) resort or in the middle of one of the big resorts, but we found something unique.
We slept in
So almost the entire coastline is full of resorts, but fortunately our hotel had some beaches nearby that you would never find otherwise. The beaches here are truly stunning. White bounty beaches with an azure blue sea. Here we enjoyed some time with the kids.
Tulum is the Ibiza of Mexico full of hip beach bars, hotels and restaurants. It is extremely expensive and parking a drama. In our opinion, really not worth visiting.
About the author: Jill, Johan, Sam, Pip and Moos love adventure, culture, authentic places and seeing the world through their kids’ eyes. Happy to share their experiences and tips for the best destinations and activities with kids but also to show that (touring) travel can be affordable in school vacations. For several years they have been doing this during the summer vacations together with the family of twin sister Lizzy. You can follow them on the Instagram page OpreismetJill.
