What’s the Best Way to Get from Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen?
The best way to get from the Cancun Airport to Playa el Carmen depends on if you want the cheapest option, the most convenient, or something in between. Here we will tell you what most people consider the best option and how to take each of the transportation options.
I have been living in Mexico for 15 years now and Cancun Airport has been my home airport. Over the years and many flights later, I have taken every form of transportation to and from the Cancun Airport. Below I have included all the tips and information that is needed to make the connection between the airport and your vacation.
Note: If you are staying in the Playacar section of Playa Del Carmen, we have specific instructions and details for getting from the Cancun Airport to Playacar here.
For Many, Private Transfers Are the Best Transportation from the Airport
This is one of the most popular transportation methods to connect between the airport and your hotel. These are prebooked vans that are just for you and those traveling with you. They are waiting for you at arrivals and take you directly to your hotel. It is like a taxi, but a little better because you have it prebooked and waiting, fixed price, accepts multiple payment options, and comes with a bilingual driver.
You can also book a round trip and have all your transportation to and from the airport all planed even before you take off. This is the most convenient and fastest way to get from the airport to Playa Del Carmen. Below is the transfer company that our readers have been using for more than 10 years now. They are reliable and give good service to our readers. It is also the company I use when I need an airport transfer.
- One Way price is $95 USD. Round trip is $171 USD. When you purchase a round trip, you save about 10%. This is for up to 8 people. Some people wonder why the price is the way it is, just remember you are traveling about one hour between the airport and Playa Del Carmen. This taxi ride would be expensive in any place in the world.
Luxury Private Transfers to Playa Del Carmen
If you are traveling for a special occasion or just want to make your trip a little more special, there are luxury transfers available from the Cancun Airport going to the Playa Del Carmen. Cancun luxury transportation is regularly provided with Suburbans or similar vehicles, like Expeditions. This is for transportation of up to six people.
Prices for the luxury transfer from the Cancun Airport to the Playa Del Carmen are:
- $160 USD one way or $270 USD round trip. To save money you just need to book a round trip at time of booking. Click the reserve now button below to go to the official booking website.
The Cheapest Option is the ADO Bus (see footnote)
The ADO bus are the red buses that go between Cancun Airport and Cancun, Cancun Hotel Zone, Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. For about $15 USD you can get from the Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen’s ADO Bus Station on 5th Avenue and Juarez Avenue. Most people consider this to the cheapest way to get from the Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen.
Footnote: Since the ADO bus does not stop at hotels or along the highway, if you are not staying in the downtown of Playa Del Carmen, you might want to consider a shared shuttle. A shared shuttle is a van that goes from the airport to hotels, dropping off multiple people at hotels near each other. The shared shuttle can save time and money over the ADO bus because if your hotel is outside of the downtown of Playa, you will need an additional taxi. Taxis can cost $20-$50 USD. Instead of taking the ADO bus to Playa Del Carmen and getting a taxi to your hotel, you can take a shared shuttle direct to your hotel with no transfer or expensive taxi.
What is the ADO Bus?
The ADO Bus Company is one of the main long-distance bus services in Mexico, operated by the company ADO (Autobuses de Oriente). It’s widely used by both locals and tourists as a comfortable, safe, and affordable way to travel between cities, especially in regions like the Yucatan Peninsula and Riviera Maya. ADO is also the only bus service to and from the Riviera Maya and the Cancun Airport. This is considered the only “public” transportation to and from the Cancun Airport.
How Long Does the ADO Bus Take to Get from the Airport to Playa Del Carmen?
It will take between 1 hour 25 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes to get to Playa Del Carmen from the airport. Why the range of times? It is because there are multiple terminals at the Cancun Airport and the bus stops at each of them. The journey starts from Terminal 3, then goes to Terminal 4, and then to Terminal 2 (Currently Terminal 1 in in renovations).
This means that travel time will depend on what terminal you arrive at. The ADO bus leaves the Cancun Airport from each of the terminals about every 30 minutes during the day. Since the ADO website is in Spanish, we do have the schedules of the ADO airport bus here.
Tip: You can see exactly how long the trip will be between your terminal at the Cancun Airport and Playa Del Carmen by going to the ADO website and searching the route “Aeropuerto Cancun” and select which terminal you are using (T1, T2, T3, or T4), then select Playa Del Carmen turistica, (the ADO bus station you arrive at in Playa). When you have the list of schedules, click on “ver detalle“ (see details). Then click on “ver mapa” (see map). This will tell you the estimate time and show you the route on a map. See photo below for an example.
How much is the ADO Bus to Playa Del Carmen?
The current price for the ADO bus to Playa Del Carmen is 270 Pesos. That is roughly about $15.50 USD according to the current exchange rate.
How Do You Buy the Tickets from the ADO Bus?
Tickets are available upon arrival at the Cancun Airport. You can purchase tickets online ahead of time, but we do not recommend this. You don’t know if your flight will arrive on time or how long it will take to go through immigration and customs (Usually count on 40 minutes at the Cancun Airport). The tickets are timed and if you arrive late, you will need to get another ticket.
Once you arrive at the Cancun Airport and leave the customs area, you can purchase ADO tickets at an ADO booth or a stand on the bus platform. Usually, it is quicker to buy them outside on the bus platform. It also means you might be able to jump on a bus that is just leaving if they see you buying a ticket. Note: In the early morning hours or after about 6:00pm there are not ticket sellers on the platform, make sure to buy the tickets inside the terminal.
You can pay with credit card, USD or Pesos. If you pay with USD, make sure you have small bills, nothing bigger than a 20-dollar bill. Change is in Pesos.
Tickets are also assigned a seat. Sometimes when purchasing the tickets the person will turn the screen toward you to select seats, or they might just be automatically assigned.
For more about taking the ADO bus from the Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen, see our guide here.
Taking the ADO Bus Back to the Cancun Airport
Here are a few tips for taking the ADO bus back to the airport.
- Buy your return ticket in advance so you get the bus schedule you want. Buses often are full returning to the airport. We recommended one day in advance to buy your ticket.
- The one difference in the return journey is that the ADO bus leaves from both bus stations in Playa Del Carmen. You can get on at whichever one is closest to you.
- Check how long it will take to get to your terminal and then calculate how long you need to be at the airport for your flight.
Taking a Shared Shuttle (Sometimes Cheaper Than ADO Bus)
Shared shuttle transfers are a popular compromise between price and convenience. These offer door to door service for any of the hotels in the Riviera Maya.
How Shared Transfers Work
You’ll ride in a van with other travelers heading to Playa Del Carmen. The shuttle drops passengers off at different hotels along the route. These are prebooked transfers, so the booking can put you with other hotels nearby yours. Usually, the shuttle only goes to a few hotels.
Cost & Value
A shared shuttle is more expensive than the ADO bus but will drop you off at your hotel or accommodation without additional taxi ride. The price of a shared shuttle to Playa Del Carmen area is $36 USD per person when you have a minimum of two people. This is a little over double the ADO bus price but does get you door to door for a cheaper price than the private transfers.
If you think the shared shuttle is the cheapest and best option for you, it is best to reserve in advance, so it is all booked and planed. It is NOT possible to book a shared shuttle when you arrive at the Cancun Airport.
Things to Keep in Mind
You may wait at the airport until the van fills. Sometimes multiple riders are arriving at the same time but may take longer going through the airport (the company we recommend does a good job a scheduling and making the pickup go as fast as possible). Shared shuttles can make several stops before getting to your hotel. Normally a stop can take an extra 8-10 minutes.
Be aware of cheap prices or bait and switch prices online for shuttles. This is a case where you get what your pay for. Some cheap shuttles do not show up if they do not have other passengers to help cover the costs. If this happens to you on your way back to the airport, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth if you have to find last minute transportation to the Cancun Airport.
What About UBER, Taxis, and the Tren Maya for Airport Transfers?
All three of these airport transportation options are not considered the best. Here are the reasons why.
Uber
Uber has had a rough go of it in the Riviera Maya. The taxi unions and transportation regulations have limited Uber to work very limited in Cancun only. The rest of the Riviera Maya, like Playa Del Carmen, does not have Uber service. Because service is limited and not readily available, this is not the best option for our readers. See our article Is there Uber from Cancun to Playa del Carmen? where we talk about the realities of uber service and this route.
Taxis from the Cancun Airport
Taxis at the Cancun Airport are one of the most complained about services in the Riviera Maya. Why? Taxis at the Cancun Airport do not use meters nor is there a set price for destinations. Each person much negotiate the price. Often people overpay because they just want to get their vacation started. But don’t blame just the drivers, the companies will tell them not to accept low fares, even when business is slow. The extra fees and licenses that taxis need to work at the airport are added into the fares. See our article about how much taxis are from the Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen.
Additionally, the taxis at the Cancun Airport are smaller cars. The private transfers are made with larger vans which makes the approximately one-hour drive to Playa Del Carmen much more comfortable.
Tren Maya to Playa Del Carmen
Many airports have trains that connect them to cities. The Tren Maya does have a station next to the Cancun Airport. This station connects to the Tren Maya station in Playa Del Carmen. Even though the train route is comparable to the time it takes to drive, with the connections and limited trains per day, taking the Tren Maya takes nearly twice the time as the ADO bus and costs more.
It you do want to see what this train trip looks like, we have a complete guide and video of how to take the Tren Maya from the Cancun Airport to Playa Del Carmen here. Most people will agree that this is not the best way to get from the airport to Playa.
Conclusion
While Cancun Airport does have about 7 different transportation options, the best options are taking a private transfer or the ADO bus. Private transfers are the quickest and most convenient way to get to Playa Del Carmen. Especially after a long flight, getting to your hotel is kind of a priority for most people.
If a lower price makes for the best option, the ADO bus offers consistent quality and frequent service. This however will add between 30 minutes to one hour longer to your transportation time from the airport.
We hope whatever option you choose, your transfer goes smoothly and it is the best option for you. We hope you have a great vacation in the Riveria Maya! If you have any questions about any of the transportation options, feel free to leave a comment below and we will be sure to get back to you.
About The Author
My brother and I booked a shared shuttle with a company. The initial price was $6 but in the end it costs us a lot more. We were met at the airport are they loaded us up with 6 other people. We were the first to drop us off, so we felt lucky. But when we were leaving, the shuttle never came. the hotel helped us call but they never came. So we had to take a taxi. My tip to other travelers is to be careful with cheap transport. It might end up costing you more. Thanks
Hello Wanda
We are sorry this happened to you. We are aware that this does happen to some travelers, and we make sure that the companies we have on our website are screened and continue to offer our readers good service. Your warning to others about cheap offers is a good one. We see some ridiculously cheap rental car offers, and shared shuttles. Between labor cost, gasoline and the travel distances in the Riviera Maya, transportation does have some fixed costs. Next time you come, please use one of the companies on our list of recommended transportation, we always make sure they offer good value and service to our readers.
We have always stayed in downtown Playa del Carmen. Now we are going to try one of the all inclusive hotels the Fives. We are debating the shared shuttle or transfer, besides the price is there anything we should know?
Hello Kevin
The Fives is just north of Playa. Transportation time will be about 50 minutes with the private transfer and about 1 hr and 20 minutes or more with the shared shuttle. The links we have in the article are for reputable companies. Shared shuttles in general have become less popular. the reason is the Riviera Maya is spread out and getting enough passengers at the same time to arrive for a full load can be hard. Especially since this is a slower year, a lot of shared shuttle companies have stopped offering service. Some of the cheap ones have been known to skip a pickup if they don’t have enough passengers going to the airport at the same time. So we just want to caution against some of the cheap priced transfers.
It is a good tip about the shared shuttles because the ADO do not stop along the road. The hotels are really spread out, and some are in the middle of nowhere.