For my 21st birthday, myself and my partner of four years went on a trip to Cancun, Mexico! Here is a cost breakdown of my 21st Birthday Weekend!
Pre-Trip Expenses:
Flight-$620.00: I was very determined to pull off getting a non stop flight from San Francisco to Cancun to avoid any unexpected delays and to minimize going through Customs & Border Protection. That said, I know this flight is definitely not the cheapest but it was exactly what I wanted and the departure/arrival times worked out perfectly!
Hotel- Free: I was able to use my parents’ friend’s timeshare for my 3-night stay at Worldmark Isla Mujeres. I stayed in the smallest room option since it was a short trip with my partner. The hotel is located in the middle of an island off the coast of Cancun, called Isla Mujeres. This island is ranked as having the best beaches in all of Mexico. Once you touch the sand you are surrounded by the clearest blue water that just washes away any negativity, stress, and worries.
Friday- I started my birthday trip early Friday afternoon, once we landed at Cancun International Airport my partner had made arrangements to get us from the airport to the ferry and then the ferry port to the hotel. We quickly checked into our hotel and unpacked, taking in our beautiful cozy home for the next 3 nights. We walked over to a small restaurant called Green Verde where we enjoyed drinks and food as we just soaked up the energy of the island, our bill at the end of the dinner was 30 dollars.
Daily Total: $30.59
Saturday- Today was our first full day and we were not wasting any minute of it. My partner rented us a golf cart so we didn’t have to rely on taxis to get us from point A to point B. Like I said, the hotel is located in the middle of the island so we spent our morning going up to the north side of the island which is the more touristy, flashy side. We got breakfast and walked up the famous crystal blue beach called Playa Norte. After walking the beach we were ready to see the south side of the island, home to the retirees, locals and the ancient Mayan Ruins. We hiked through the ruins and caught so many pictures of the iguanas on the southernmost side of the island, Punta Sur. We went back home to take a nap after our very active morning and went back to the northside to get dinner and enjoy the sunset.
Daily Total: $62.30
Sunday- Sunday was my actual birthday, but it was also our last full day of vacation since we had to be out of the hotel and heading to the airport early Monday morning. Once again we wasted no time, and headed back to the same restaurant we had breakfast at the day before called North Garden. Since we knew we were departing the next day we spent a portion of the day shopping for little souvenirs, after our shopping spree we dropped off all our little goodies back in the room before changing into our swimsuits. We headed to the beach and rented an umbrella and chairs which were $30 for the whole day. I’d say we got our money’s worth because we stayed from about 2pm until sunset. We headed back to our room to change into clothes for dinner. We knew this would be our last time enjoying the island before heading back home but we were so grateful and really needed the break from school so we didn’t let this affect our mood too much. We were initially going to have dinner and drinks at a restaurant called Stingray, we saw it on our way to North Garden and we thought it looked great but once we pulled up to Stingray we saw a whole alley of restaurants, shops, and bars that we totally overlooked! Finding this alley on our last night was a little bittersweet, it was beautifully lit by string lights that spanned for about half a mile. After surveying all the restaurants we completely abandoned Stingray and had our last dinner in Isla Mujeres at a romantic restaurant called Lola Valentina.
Daily Total: $160.28
Going home from a trip is always bittersweet, but as a student it’s so important to take breaks and I always make sure I have something fun to look forward to! We’ll see what I do for my 22nd!