We (wife, daughter (11), and myself) just got back from Lagunamar and I thought I'd add my two cents about Cancun and the resort in general.
We were in a 1BD premium in room 567 (Building 5, 6th floor). Frankly, I think all the upper level rooms have fantastic views. The buildings were well thought out and situated for views. The beach is awesome...the waves fine even in red zones (of which you mostly have). You can walk for hours up and down the beach it is so long. We had maybe 4 days of clouds and 2 of rain within that and the rest of the time it was sunny.
The internet access is horrible and meager at best. Midnight to early AM is is fine. When you check-in, ask for an Access Point. You will probably be put on a wait list. They will take a 300 pesos (or maybe that was dollars?) deposit...fully-refundable upon return. It is basically a pocket router. Once we got ours, life surfing was back to normal. My Android phone and kid's iPad worked well once this baby was plugged in.
You get free valet parking so use it...very convenient. On that note about car rental, it was the motivation for my post. I am wondering if using taxi and bus would be easier but we usually rent a car. I went through American Express for car rental and got 2 weeks for $160 for a midsize (Chevy Aveo...perfect for the 3 of us and some bags). Quite good, I think. At the Alamo depot in Cancun, they have a placard on the counter that informs you of the legal need for xxx insurance of $14 ($14.27 I think) per day on your rental despite whatever other insurance you have. Amex offers complete coverage of everything under the sun for like $18 so I always reject anything but they were insistent that it was law. The alternative to paying this is that they will take a $2500 deposit (fully refundable? I believe so) so I just took the "cheaper" route and suddenly my $160 car rental more than doubled. I'm thinking I should have done the large deposit but I'm sure they use such a large number to scare you. I guess it worked. I didn't have this issue in Cabo in 2010 when I rented there. Maybe someone can educate me better here.
Exchange rates for dollars into pesos. I'm sure there are TONS of threads on how to get the most foreign currency per dollar. I'll just relate my experience in Cancun. The hotel offers 11.7 pesos per dollar straight up. The gas stations (Pexmex...the only game in town??) will give 11.5. Most other places are 10-11. Even using your credit card, they still rape you and adjust the rate down. In fact, when I filled up for gas, the guy kept swiping my Amex and declining it...same with my Visa (they were both fine...used them for groceries and everywhere else no problem). He basically didn't want me to pay with CC!! I was even told at one gas station that the CC machine was down for an hour. They want you to pay with cash, clearly. They also aren't in any hurry to give you change. When all was said and done with my one fill up, I paid $40 for $32 (according to my CC that was declined) of gas! Ugh.
If I were to go again, I'd search locally here in the states for the best exchange rate...find out what Lagunamar is offering, and bring about $500 worth and use cash everywhere until you are out. The only place where I got a nice exchange rate was at the duty free store at the airport when we were flying back home. I got 13.6 there using my credit card...they even listed the exchange rate on the receipt.
We visited Tulum and Chichen Itza: both were awesome and for both, we had guides that made the experience even better. We drove to Tulum (no problems) but didn't bring enough cash...take at least 500 pesos (~$50). Oh, BRING BUG SPRAY...WE GOT EATEN ALIVE BY MOSQUITOES.
For Chichen Itza, we took a guided tour there. We paid about $300 for the 3 of us: TOTALLY WORTH IT. The company that the Lagunamar uses is excellent. You take a very comfortable bus from Quintana Roo (where Cancun is located) to Yucatan and it is about 2.5-3 hours. You get a reasonable breakfast on the bus. Once at Chichen Itza, the guides take care of getting you tickets/passes/etc. for getting in. It is hot and humid here...VERY HOT AND HUMID. You sweat like crazy...bring water BUT they also provide water for you...much as you want. Our guide was crazy good...he really loved to talk but it was all very interesting. The Mayan civilization is something else...I want to study them now! After the tour of Chichen Itza, we were all tired, sweaty, sticky, and hot as can be. As we headed to the bus, guess what awaited us? Yes, ICE COLD CORONA...much as you wanted. It was the best beer I ever had in my life! :whoopie: I downed a couple...I wasn't driving! They also had water, juice, and soda, which my wife and kid had. After the tour, they took us to a buffet to chow down. The food was included...but not drinks. After the buffet, we were taken to a cenote (sinkhole) for some awesome swimming. After the hot sweltering day at the pyramids, the chilled fresh water of the cenote was heaven. Then we mostly slept for the long but comfortable bus ride back to the resort. We did this on Father's Day...the best father's day I ever had!!!
We tend to not partake in eating out too much. With Costco and Supermarta (Wall Mart grocery store), we just loaded up on groceries and did our own food, used the grills, etc. If you like chips, be careful in picking up what looks like familiar Cheetos or Doritos. It seems they spice everything up there...you should see a little chilli pepper on the bag. Poor me, I had to scarf the Doritos and Cheetos myself since my wife and kid didn't like them. They do have the normal kind...you just have to look for it.
Cancun is a bit confusing driving around in. They have lots of traffic circles which I'm not used to navigating around. They also label the street names differently. I often couldn't figure out which street name went with what street. We got lost a few times. Out on the Hotel Zone, it is easy...there is only one road.
There is A LOT you can do in Cancun: scuba, snorkel, jet ski, parasailing and other places like Xcarta and Xel Ha are large theme type park areas on the coast. Cozumel and Isla Mujeres are islands you can take a ferry to. The pyramids are awesome and more our cup of tea over the other stuff but I'm game for that next time we head out there.
Oh, with our home resort on Maui, we didn't have any issues getting into Lagunamar at the 8 month window but we weren't able to do Harborside. Harborside is next on our list so I suspect I'll need to trade with someone to get in. We'd go back to Cancun in a heartbeat...wonderful beach and tons of things to do.