4/26/2026 at 5:30AM, Nadia and I took Uber to Newark Airport. This is the Costco deal: Marriott, an All-Inclusive Resort in Cancun, 5 nights, roughly $1,300 per person, including flight, room, unlimited food, airport transportation. We're on 5th foor in Room 5070 with great view overlooking the lagoon (the west side of the Hotel Zone strip) rather than the ocean view which I presume would cost more. Marriott's Cevicheria (Hispanic raw/cooked seafood salad) for lunch was the highlight for me, been want to to try Ceviche ever since learning it on Youtube Geography Now a few years back.
I never thought my introduction to Mexico would be Cancun. I thought it would be a desert cross country ride into the country instead. This Marriott resort is also rather grand. All thanks to Nadia. Hotel staffs' attitude reminded me of Indonesia's service in hotel management, professional friendliness.
It's true, coral reef is not an easy place to find in Cancun if we are talking about public accessible beach side snorkeling. However, Punta Nizuc is known to be the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. Access from shore is tricky because of private resorts around this national park trying to own it's passage, as some on reddit claimed. It's fine for resorts to restrict access through their properties but it's a problem when they overstepped their territory to government property which is the shores to high-tide level being public, not private area. So the trick is to walk 20 minutes from Playa Delphines public beach access. Maybe I'll sign up for the tour to avoid all these hassle (taking R1/R2 bus to Playa Delphines and wall 20 minutes to find the reefs.
It also seems that these past couple of years, the beaches are getting more and more infested by sargassum. Still clean water.