Best Beaches In Cancun, Mexico

Sun bathing at the best beach in Cancun with crystal clear turquoise blue water — White sand beach, turquoise water. The best beach in Cancun.

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Cancún is the most popular vacation destination at the Riviera Maya and has one of the best beaches in Mexico. You will find beautiful white sand beaches at the hotel zone in Cancun with the most incredibly blue water. It’s insane how blue the water is! You have to see it for yourself!

The area may be touristy and full of all-inclusive resorts, but the Cancun hotel zone beaches have the bluest water of the entire Riviera Maya.

In this post, we’ll share our favorite and best beaches in Cancun Hotel Zone, including a Cancun beach map so you see the most amazing turquoise water yourself.

Table Of Contents

Best Beaches In Cancun Hotel Zone
- Playa Gaviota Azul Beach
- Playa Delfines – Public Beach In Cancun
More Cancun Beaches
Cancun Beach Map
Which Hotel Has The Best Beach In Cancun?
Best Beach In Cancun All Inclusive Hotel
Where To Find The Clearest Water In Cancun?
Best Beach In Cancun For Swimming
Are The Beaches In Cancun Free?
Cancun Beach Or Riviera Maya Beaches?

Azure Blue Water As Far As The Eye Can See And The Best White Sand Beaches In Mexico!

Turquoise crystal clear water at the white sand beach in Cancun's hotel zone — Turquoise crystal clear water at the white sand beach in Cancun’s hotel zone

The Riviera Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula has many unique and amazing beaches to see and explore. Out of all of them, though, busy Cancún still has the best beaches when it comes to the most turquoise water. Hands down. The water is just so blue, it’s unbelievable. Here are our favorite beaches in Cancun:

Best Beaches In Cancun Hotel Zone

Turquoise water at Playa Gaviota Azul white sand beach in Cancun's hotel zone — Turquoise water at Playa Gaviota Azul in Cancun’s hotel zone

Playa Gaviota Azul Beach

Cancun’s Playa Gaviota Azul beach is located on the North tip of the hotel zone in front of Mandala Bay Beach Club and Krystal Grand Cancún.

Unlike most of the beaches in the hotel zone, Playa Gaviota is a lot calmer and flatter which makes it one of the best beaches in Cancún. On a calm day with only a little wind, the water is super flat and just amazing. Just look at that turquoise water, it’s so incredibly beautiful!

How To Get To Playa Gaviota Azul Beach In Cancun?

You can get to Playa Gaviota by taxi or bus. Take Coco Bongo and the Hard Rock Cafe as a reference since they are located right next to it.

Places To Stay At Playa Gaviota Azul

There are just a handful of hotels and vacation rentals at the beach there. Pro tip: It is especially nice off-season when there aren’t too many people.

Hotels at Playa Gaviota Azul

Krystal Grand Cancún
Krystal Cancú n

Rentals at Playa Gaviota Azul

Salvia – Beachfront Studio
Oceanfront Condo Cancun

Playa Delfines – Public Beach In Cancun

Endless ocean views at Playa Delfínes public beach in Cancun

Playa Delfínes is a public beach in Cancun located towards the Southern point of the hotel zone. Over the years it has gained a lot in popularity. Not just locals anymore, but also tourists now flock to Playa Delfínes. Once you are there, you will know why!

The long white sand beach and turquoise water (although not as calm) draw in lots of people that don’t have their hotel right by the beach. In addition, the Playa Delfines Beach is not squeezed in between hotels.

Facilities At Playa Delfines

There are changing rooms and natural umbrellas that provide shade. In addition, there is a vista point platform with endless ocean views and the famous Cancún sign is located there as well.

Getting To Playa Delfines

You can get to Playa Delfínes beach by taxi or bus that goes along the hotel zone. Just let the bus driver know that you want to get off at Playa Delfínes.

If your hotel or vacation rental is towards the Southern end of the hotel zone walking there is an option too, otherwise, it might be a very long walk.

Cancun Letters Sign

The famous Cancun sign with the colorful letters is also located at Playa Defines.

Sunbathing at white sand beach Playa Delfínes in Cancun — White sand and blue water at Playa Delfínes in Cancun

More Cancun Beaches

The hotel zone in Cancun is one big beach, however, the beach is lined with hotels and resorts right next to each other. Beach access in Cancun is not really obvious unless you are a hotel guest.

It doesn’t seem like it at first sight, but there are public beaches in the Cancun hotel zone. You just need to know where they are!

The public beaches in Cancun are located between the hotels and for everyone to access. Some are somewhat narrow paths between hotels that get you to the beach and others are located in a more open area or next to a small port.

See a list of the best public hotel zone beaches in Cancun here:

Cancun Public Beaches

Hotel Zone Cancun Beach Map

Cancun beach map with the best beaches in Cancun hotel zone — Public beaches in Cancun Hotel Zone

FAQ

Which Hotel Has The Best Beach In Cancun?

Krystal Grand Cancún Hotel pool in the Northern part of the hotel zone — Krystal Grand Cancún Hotel

You can find the best hotel beach in Cancun at the following hotels:

Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun – All Inclusive Resort

Located at the Northern tip of the hotel zone in Cancun, the Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun Mexico beach is part of a little cove that shelters the beach from the wind. Therefore, the water at this pristine Cancun beach is mostly very calm.

Hyatt Ziva Cancun

The Hyatt Ziva Cancun is located right next to its sister hotel Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun and benefits from the sheltered location.

InterContinental Presidente Cancun Resort

The Presidente Cancun beach is located in the North of Cancun’s Hotel Zone at Playa Ancha which is a mostly clam beach. When we spend the day at this Cancun hotel beach the water was super calm and jawdropping blue.

Club Med Cancun

The hotel property of Club Med Cancun is located at the Southern end of the zona hotelera. This part of the hotel zone beach on the South end also doesn’t get as many waves as other Cancun hotel beaches on the Eastside.

Krystal Grand Cancún

Krystal Grand Cancún is located at Playa Gaviota Azul at the North of the Cancun zona hotelera. Unlike most of the beaches in the hotel zone, the beach at Playa Gaviota is a lot calmer and flatter which makes it one of the best beaches in Cancún.

Krystal Cancún

Also at Playa Gaviota beach right next to Krystal Grand Cancun is Krystal Cancún Hotel.

Best Beach In Cancun All Inclusive Hotel

If you are wondering which all-inclusive resort in Cancun has the best beach, our opinion would definitely be the Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. In our opinion, the resort has the best Cancun all-inclusive hotel beach. The hotel is a luxury all-inclusive resort and the calm beach with its turquoise water is just perfect. The only downside is, that it is not cheap to stay there.

Where Is The Clearest Water In Cancun?

Cancun is known to have the bluest and clearest water of the Riviera Maya. You will find the bluest water in the hotel zone in Cancun, especially along the main stretch of the 15 km long beach and around the Northern tip.

Best Beach In Cancun For Swimming

If you are looking for beaches to go swimming in Cancun, it’s best to choose a beach that is very calm as the waves can get pretty high and the current can get strong.

Cancun beaches like Playa Gaviota Azul and Playa Coral by Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun in the northern part of the hotel zone are usually pretty calm. On a super windy day, these can get pretty choppy too, however.

Are The Beaches In Cancun Free?

The public beaches in Cancun are free. However, if you use sunchairs or palapas, which most of the time belong to hotels, you will have to pay a daily fee.

Does Cancun Or The Riviera Maya Have Better Beaches?

While the Riviera Maya may have less busy beaches, the best beaches in the Yucatan Peninsula are still in Cancun’s hotel zone. Really nothing beats that incredibly blue water!

Cancun Vs Tulum Beaches

One beach that comes close in terms of blue water is Playa Ruinas at the archeological zone in Tulum.

In terms of crystal clear water, the Sian Ka’an biosphere South of Tulum is unbeatable.

If you want to know more about the beaches in Tulum, we wrote an entire post about it, including pictures to help you decide which beaches you like better.

For a full comparison of the two beach towns, check out our Cancun vs Tulum post where we not only compare the beaches but also everything else to help you decide.