What's on in Cancún (Riviera Maya), Mexico through the year

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Dry season

• Rule

  Visitor tax and park fees

  1 Jan – 31 Dec

  Quintana Roo charges every foreign visitor a state tourism fee, paid online before you fly out, and the marine parks off Isla Mujeres and Cozumel add their own per-day charge on the boat. Source ↗

Still on: The nortes (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)), Christmas and New Year peak (18 Dec – 5 Jan)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, US spring break

• Holiday

  US spring break

  25 Feb – 5 Apr · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  American universities empty into the hotel zone for most of March. The beach clubs run at capacity, the flights are full, and the quieter Yucatán towns behind Cancún are barely affected. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), The nortes (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, US spring break

• Nature

  Equinox at Chichén Itzá

  20–21 MarMajor festivalCrowded

  Late on the equinox afternoon the stepped edge of El Castillo throws seven triangles of light down the north stairway, finishing at the serpent's head. Tens of thousands come for it over three days. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), US spring break (25 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, US spring break

• Season

  Sargassum season

  1 Apr – 30 Sep · usuallyRisk

  Rafts of brown seaweed pile up on the east-facing beaches, worst between May and August. It rots fast and smells, hotels rake it at dawn, and the north-facing beaches at Isla Mujeres usually escape it. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), US spring break (25 Feb – 5 Apr (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — between the peaks

• Nature

  Sea turtle nesting

  1 May – 31 Oct · usually

  Loggerheads and greens come up the hotel-zone beaches at night through the summer and the hatchlings run from August. Beach lighting is dimmed and the nests are fenced; the releases are run by the hotels. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sargassum season (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  The Atlantic season runs June to November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Source ↗

• Nature

  Whale sharks off Isla Mujeres

  15 Jun – 15 SepDive seasonBook early

  Hundreds of whale sharks gather to feed north of Isla Mujeres and the permitted swim season runs from mid-June to mid-September, July being the densest. It is a three-hour boat day in open water, often a rough one. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sargassum season (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Sea turtle nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Mexican summer holidays

• Holiday

  Mexican summer holidays

  15 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  Domestic school holidays fill the hotel zone with Mexican families, which is a different and cheaper crowd than spring break but the same queue at Xcaret. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sargassum season (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Sea turtle nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Whale sharks off Isla Mujeres (15 Jun – 15 Sep)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Mexican summer holidays

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sargassum season (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Sea turtle nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Whale sharks off Isla Mujeres (15 Jun – 15 Sep), Mexican summer holidays (15 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sargassum season (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Sea turtle nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Whale sharks off Isla Mujeres (15 Jun – 15 Sep)

Shoulder season — between the peaks

• Festival

  Hanal Pixán

  31 Oct – 2 NovMajor festival

  The Yucatán's own Day of the Dead: altars in the houses, cemeteries lit at night, and mucbipollo baked in a pit oven. Mérida and the inland towns do it properly; the hotel zone does a version. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sea turtle nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Dry season

• Season

  The nortes

  1 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  Cold fronts push down the Gulf every couple of weeks through the winter and bring two or three grey, blustery days with a chopped-up sea and the ferries to Isla running rough. Source ↗

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  The trade winds settle, the water goes clear over the reef, and the beaches are free of weed. It is also when everything costs the most and the reef sites are busiest.

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Hanal Pixán (31 Oct – 2 Nov)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Dry season

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year peak

  18 Dec – 5 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  The most crowded and most expensive fortnight of the year, booked out months ahead. Restaurants run set menus and the transfer roads from the airport back up all afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Visitor tax and park fees (1 Jan – 31 Dec), The nortes (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))