last edited Dec 11, 2019
Getting to the Yucatán and Southern Mexico
By air
Cancun is by far the main air gateway to the region. Its airport is the second largest in the country, with 17.45 million passengers in 2014, just behind Mexico City’s. It handles a wealth of regular and seasonal flights from Europe and North America. What’s more, the city is very well connected to the capital, with flights between the two sometimes costing less than 80 € one way on low-cost carriers.
Apart from this one, Mérida, Villahermosa, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Campeche and Cozumel are, in order, the other major airports, each receiving between 500,000 and 1.5 million passengers per year, mostly on domestic flights, including to and from the capital.
Which city to land in?
Quite logically, the vast majority of travellers opt to arrive in Cancún, which is by far the best-connected city. However, if you’re planning an itinerant trip around the region, there’s nothing stopping you from using the other airports via low-cost offers (Interjet, VivaAerobus, Volaris) from or to Mexico City. This could mean taking an international flight to the capital, then low-cost connections to one or two cities (if you want to mix it up) in the south.
Overland
From neighbouring countries
Borders: Guatemala (960 km), Belize (250 km).
There’s no problem arriving in southern Mexico overland. There are two main routes (and river access in the Petén region) on the Pacific side with Guatemala, as well as a crossing point on the Caribbean side with Belize.
Several bus companies operate direct international routes. Tica Bus is well known for its presence and transport services throughout Central America (except Belize); it serves Chiapas from Guatemala, as does Trans Galgos. For Belize, the company ADO provides access.
From the rest of Mexico
Here too, there’s no difficulty in reaching the Yucatán and southern Mexico by bus (or private vehicle) from other parts of the country.
By sea
Ferries
The Mexican border town of Chetumal is connected to the islands of Belize near the coast (Caye Caulker and Ambergris). The small companies San Pedro Water Taxi and Belize Express Water Taxi's operate daily crossings for $50 to $60 per trip.
Cruises
Most arrivals by sea are via cruise ships. Many liners call at ports in the Caribbean Sea on the Riviera Maya.