Day passes at hotels in the Riviera Maya
Do you want to spend the day at a nice all-inclusive hotel, but not the night? You can! Day passes are a great way to spend the day relaxing poolside or even watching a show with food and drinks included. Each hotel is different, and it is best to contact each hotel you are interested in. Usually, day passes are only sold directly by the hotels themselves and based on the availability and occupancy of the hotel.
Passes range in price from about 800 pesos to 2300 pesos for the day. So that is about $40-$115 USD for a day of relaxing, food, drinks and perhaps some entertainment. It is not a bad deal when you think about it. Although sometimes prices are similar to staying at the hotel if you averaged out a weekly stay, this affords you the ability to stay for the day and then other days doing other activities.
Day passes for weddings in the Riviera Maya
If you are invited to a wedding at an all-inclusive hotel and not staying that the wedding venue hotel, often day passes are available for guests, but often at a premium. Hotels want to encourage guests to stay at the hotel rather than just come for the day since many people come to the Riviera Maya for at least three days. Often a wedding day pass is only about 30% off the price of one night. When you figure in taxis back and forth to your hotel, it might not be worth it to stay somewhere else.
What to expect for a day pass at an all inclusive hotel
Most hotels will have a time frame on the pass. Most will include two mealtimes and most likely morning until the late afternoon. This affords them to put out the dinner meal for hotel guest and not include the more expensive food for the day passes. When you check in at the front desk you will get a bracelet or other identifying item and then you are in.
It is good to check the hotels website to see if there are specific activities or attractions you want to include in your day. For example, some hotels have amazing snorkeling right off the beach, others have multiple pools or water attractions that are good for children. Most meals are buffet style or small café style with open hours around mealtimes to give guest an opportunity to eat whenever they like. Hotels will have sit down restaurants and specialty cuisine, but this is usually an add on even for guests staying at the hotel.
Getting to hotels for day passes
If you are going to a hotel outside of Playa Del Carmen for your day pass, you can take the colectivos (minivans that pick up and drop off people) to your hotel. This is a great option if you are a few people or plan to do some drinking. The drivers know where the major hotels are and will drop you at the entrance. Otherwise, you might consider having a car to drive there. Taking taxis on the highway and out of town can get expensive.
Recommended Hotels for Day Passes
Here are just a few super large resorts where you can go for a day pass. Grand Sirenis, Palladium, and Barceló Hotels. Hotels do not always offer them, and it sometimes depends on availability. When occupancy rates are high, they often do not offer day passes.
There are some hotels in Playacar area, which is in Playa Del Carmen, that offer day passes. You can walk to them or take a taxi. Even some small hotels in Playa Del Carmen will let you use their pool for the day for a small fee, but this is not really a day pass, and you miss the excitement of being at a large resort.
Tip 1 for day passes:
Bring your own sun cream, don’t bring towels, they will have them there. Bring a change of clothes if you are going to be swimming and if your pass includes the evening entertainment, have clothes for that as well. There should be public changing areas and showers for you to freshen up in.
Tip 2 for day passes:
If you are a resident of Mexico, you can ask for local prices. They will ask for ID, so be sure to ask what form of ID they accept. Often a driver’s license for Quintana Roo is sufficient or your residential visa.
Tip 3 for day passes:
Larger hotels tend to have more to offer then smaller hotels. The price may be the same as well. Prices are based more on how many stars they have rather than size. Larger hotels have more pools, more entertainment, and more food options.
If you do just a hotel pool to go to for the day in Playa Del Carmen, you might want to check out these rooftop pool options. You just have to pay the consumption charge at each one. It ranges from about 500-1000 pesos per person. This just means buying drinks and/or food. It is pretty easy to buy drinks and a meal to cover the consumption charge.
Do you have any questions or comments about day passes? Let us know below in the comment section.
Some smaller boutique hotels offer day passes as well for a quieter day or something located in Playa Del Carmen.
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Hello. I remember there used to be a hotel on Constituyentes near 10th Ave. that used to have day passes for 100 pesos. Do you know if they are still around and offer that?
We think we know what hotel you are talking about. Was it on the north side of the street? That hotel has been renovated and now is the HM Hotel. It looks nice and has the same pool in the courtyard. We have not seen any promotion of day passes there but we can stop by and ask them. If they do, it would be much nicer now.
I wish there was a list of all the day passes and prices for hotels in the Riviera Maya. We like to stay at small hotels and then visit one big hotel each time. We usually just go to Sirenis because they have such great pools and day passes.
I had a friend getting married at an all inclusive hotel in Playa del Carmen and if you did not stay at the hotel for the wedding you could get a day pass. It was $80 which I thought was high but the hotel would of been $300 a day. So I stayed at a hostel and got the day pass. It was all good in the end and people planning weddings should know you can do day passes for guest but just check the prices because they range in price a lot.
I would love to see a list of Day pass hotels so I can go to some in the Riviera Maya.
If you have any list of day passes from hotels, I would like to know. We are staying at a hotel but would not mind one day of staying by the pool at an all inclusive. We tried to call some hotels but it is too confusing to figure out what they have, how much and even if they have a day pass.
There is a concert at Barcelo Maya Feb 15-18. The only way to attend is to have a hotel wristband, as well as a concert wristband. I’d like to listen to the show although I will not have a concert pass. Do you know the hours of the Barcelo Maya day or night passes as well as the cost? Thank you
You will need to contact the hotel to see if they are even going to have day passes or evening passes that day. Often on busy occasions there is no availability. Just to give you an estimate, an evening pass there is around $100USD.
Hey I live in cancun i want to see a day pass for me and my daughter she have 4 yr. ¿Could someone advice me which place is good
Hello Jorge
You might want to contact Palladium Hotel. They have a good pool for kids and nice beach.
I would like to know if Mamitas has a day pass as well as royal palace hideaway? Or of a resort between 60-80 usd
Mamitas is a beach club. Everything is a la cart. You can just go and rent a bed or chair. Each resort will depend on the season and if you want a day pas which is normally from 9-5 or full day which is in the evening. Most resorts will charge upward of $80-100 USD for the day per person. Of course you want to see if the beach in front of the resort is clean of seaweed when you want to go unless you only want to visit for the pools and buffet.
Hello, We will be staying at a resort in Cancun in 2 weeks. We would like to visit the HR Riviera maya so my son can use the Woodward facilities. How do we get a day pass to visit? What is the cost? Our children are 14 and 17. The 17 year old would like a day pass to Woodward. How do we get that and how much does it cost? Does he also need to purchase a day pass to HR? thank you
Hello Sally
You will need to contact the Hard Rock to ask them directly. Sorry we don’t have that information for you right now.
Woodward is not included in the all inclusive fee when you stay at Hard Rock. There is a fee per hour. Contact the resort and you may be able to just pay to go to Woodward without a day pass