Are you trying to decide whether or not to rent a car in Cancun, Mexico? You’ve come to the right place.

I recently flew into Cancun and then stayed in Tulum, Mexico, on a family vacation. We didn’t stay at a resort and so needed to be mobile and flexible for swimming in cenotes, exploring Mayan ruins and simply getting groceries. So I did decide to rent a car in Cancun.

Here are all the thing I wish I’d known about renting a car in Cancun—lessons I’m sharing with you so you’re not surprised. Plus, read to the end to find tips for driving in Mexico and Spanish vocabulary you should know when you’re driving in Cancun.

Ready? ¡Vamanos!

Rent a car in Cancun: Worth it?

When you’re deciding whether or not to rent a car in Cancun, Mexico, there are some things you need to know. I’m so glad you’re here, where having all the research in one place saves you time (and headaches). After all, when you’re getting ready for a family vacation in Mexico, you want less stress—and more fun!

Here’s what you need to know about rental cars in Cancun.

Cars are cheap. Insurance is not. 

When I went to rent a car in Cancun online, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. A midsize sedan cost $2 per day!

I figured insurance for a rental car in Mexico wouldn’t be cheap, but I still had sticker shock when it came time to pay up. For the most basic car rental insurance, we paid $32 a day. That brought our bill of roughly $18 up to more than $300, plus taxes and fees.

Your insurance likely covers you only 50 miles into Mexico. 

If you drive in the United States or in your home country, you probably have car insurance already. (At least you should… please tell me you do.) You also might think that insurance covers you in Mexico.

It doesn’t.

You can always call your insurance company to double-check, but most U.S. insurance covers you only the first 50 miles into Mexico from the border. Since Cancun is more than 50 miles from the U.S. border, we would get zero protection from your U.S. car insurance.

Compare insurance you buy beforehand.

I made the mistake of not adding insurance to our car rental in Cancun when I booked online. So I bought the insurance protection plan from Alamo when I picked up the car rental in Cancun.

Looking back, I see that the basic insurance plan via Expedia with a car rental in Cancun is $11/day—a third of what it cost at the counter in Mexico.

So do your due diligence, and plan ahead. You may save a bunch of money by getting car insurance online before you get to Mexico.

Get a shuttle from the Cancun Airport.

After you’ve gone through customs and inspections, you’ll exit the secure part of the airport—and walk right into a bunch of people trying to get you to rent their cars, reserve their tours and take their taxis.

If you’ve already made a car rental reservation online, simply find the car rental company and go straight to their desk. You’ll see all the car rental companies familiar from the U.S.

I’m not sure about all the rental car companies, but Alamo’s lot was within the airport. It was about a 5-minute shuttle from the international terminal.

Pick a car rental company that’s in the Cancun Airport terminal.

When you book your car rental in Cancun online, don’t just get the cheapest rate or go with the company you recognize; look for where the counter and pick up is located.

If you just took a long flight to Cancun and you’re ready to start your vacation, the last thing you want to do is take a long shuttle somewhere off-site just to get your rental car.

Instead, choose a rental car in Cancun that says counter and car in terminal.

Here’s the difference:

Ask the rental company to comp you a tank of gas.

Ask if you should return the car with a full tank. Most of the time, this is the case, but a tank of gas was included in the insurance coverage we bought—so I’m glad I knew to return it empty!

If they do tell you to return it full, try to negotiate. You can say something like, “The car you’ve provided us has a lot of dings and scratches,” or “We had to wait 45 minutes to even start the check-out process for our rental.” Then ask how they can make it right. “To make it up to me, will you include a tank of gas?”

They might say no—but they might say yes. And returning the car on empty will save you the money of the gas, the time it takes to stop at a gas station, and the hassle of finding a gas station nearby.

Thoroughly inspect the rental car.

You probably already know that you inspect the rental car before taking it out of the lot. But when renting a car in Mexico, go over the top to make sure you note any damage.

When we got our rental car in Cancun, I made notes of every scratch and ding I saw. I also had them note the damaged lining in the rear doors.

Even better: Take photos of all the damage in case there is any dispute. And test the horn: When my sister rented a car in Cancun, they asked her to beep before leaving the lot to make sure the horn worked.

Find the gas cap release.

I swear car manufacturers spend sleepless nights inventing sneaky new places to hide the gas cap release. I can never find it in a rental car; sometimes I even have to take out the manual to look it up.

So before you leave the rental car company lot, make sure you know where it is. If you can’t find it, ask. That way when you stop at a gas station, you’re not fumbling and searching for the switch to open up the gas tank.

Traffic isn’t crazy.

Before I rented a car in Cancun, I was nervous about driving in traffic in Mexico. I’ve spent a lot of time in developing countries, and people tend to obey traffic laws a lot more loosely than I’m used to.

So imagine my surprise when cars in Cancun yielded the right of way, let other drivers merge and stayed close to the speed limit!

I felt entirely safe driving in Cancun and driving to Tulum. Traffic wasn’t much different than in the U.S.

Vocab words you need to know when driving in Mexico

I laugh because we spent a week in Mexico, and my girls learned one Spanish word: tope!

We stayed at a rental house down a dirt road, and topes—or bumps—were everywhere. We’d shout, “Tope!” every time we bumped up and over a makeshift speed bump.

Here are a few vocab words you should know when driving in Mexico:

• Tope – bump. These are speed bumps, and sometimes they’re the opposite of gradual. Drive slowly over them so you don’t bottom out.
• Retorno – return. This is a lane and break in the median to do a U-turn. On the roads out of Cancun, you’ll see them all the time and will likely have to double back to get to your destination, since they’re the only way to turn left.
• Alto – stop. You’ll recognize the stop signs in Mexico from the red octagon.
• Estacionar – park. Instead of a big P, you’ll see a bold E to signal parking areas.

Gas is full service.

As I mentioned, we got to return the rental car in Cancun with an empty gas tank. Driving around for 9 days didn’t completely empty my tank, so I never had to go to a gas station.

When I asked, though, I was told that most gas stations are full service: They will pump your gas for you. Ask to double check when you rent your car in Mexico.

Know roughly what to pay for gas.

When you do get gas, I wish you the best of luck trying to convert Mexican pesos per liter into U.S. dollars per gallon. The conversions kind of make my head explode.

But! That’s why we have the internet!

I found this handy site to convert pesos per liter to dollars per gallon.

Google Maps works well.

We had a great experience using Google Maps in Mexico: It always directed me to the right place with fairly accurate arrival estimates. It does take data, of course, but I did a $5 per day international plan with my cell phone carrier.

That said, you never quite know when you’ll lose service—so it’s a good idea to print out directions from the Cancun Airport to your destination.

Bring your own car seats.

Yes, it’s a giant pain to lug your car seats through the airport. And yes, it’s totally worth it.

I would not trust the quality or comfort of the car seats at a rental car company. You don’t know how they’ve been treated. I’d hope if a car seat were ever in an accident that the company would recycle it, but you simply don’t know.

Cop cars have lights on all the time.

Imagine this: You’re driving along in Mexico, minding your own business, and you see a police car behind you with its lights on. Don’t panic! It’s not pulling you over. From what I observed in Quintana Roo, the state where Cancun and Tulum are located, cops drive with their lights on at all times.

When in doubt, see what the cars around you are doing and follow their lead.

Watch for blinking green lights.

This one took me a while to figure out. I kept wondering why the green traffic light would start blinking. As it turns out, blinking green means the light is about to change to yellow. So it’s an extra warning, like “get ready to slow down to stop.”

A bit excessive? Perhaps. But now you know. Also, the traffic in Cancun did obey this blinking green light: The cars would often slow to a stop at a blinking green light instead of speeding through the intersection.

Leave plenty of time to return your rental car.

When we picked up our rental car, the staff working the office told us we could drop off the rental when we were done and be at the terminal in 15 minutes.

Are you surprised that wasn’t the case?

The process to return our car took at least 45 minutes, and I get the feeling we finished fast compared to the other very annoyed vacationers.

So return your rental car in Cancun with plenty of wiggle room to allow for a slower-than-expected return, long security lines—or kid meltdowns in the airport.

Now you’re prepared to rent a car in Cancun

When you go to Cancun (or Tulum, or the other wonderful destinations near the Cancun airport), you’re ready for vacation. You don’t want to stress about rental cars.

Now that you’ve read what to expect renting a car in Cancun, you have one less thing to worry about. You know what the traffic is like in Cancun, driving vocab words in Spanish, quirks of driving in Mexico—even a tactic that may get you a free tank of gas!

So drive on, friends, and have a great time in Mexico!