Top Night-Time Activities In Cancun

The Mexican city of Cancun has a wide range of night-time activities guaranteed to keep you up past your bedtime. From salsa dancing to pirate shows, here are the top activities you can’t miss when visiting the beautiful Riviera Maya.

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Take a Floating Tour

Nothing is more relaxing, fun and romantic than taking a floating tour around the hotel zone and the Nichupte Lagoon. There are many options to choose from: romantic ships, New Orleans-style boats, and Mexican traditional parties on Xochimilco barges. Go with your friends or partner, take some drinks, and enjoy the breeze and the beautiful view of the coast; a great way to start your night out.

You’ll need energy for the long night ahead, so begin with a good dinner. Where to go, as always, depends on what you want to eat, and how much you want to spend. Do you want a traditional Mexican dinner? La Parrilla has a very Mexican menu and a great atmosphere (including mariachis). If you’d rather experience an apparently endless variety of tacos, Taco y Tequila Cancun is a good choice: the food is delicious, the margaritas are great and it’s close to a lot of the bars.

Take a Bar Crawl

Walking through Cancun’s bar zone is a great way to explore and enjoy a few drinks. A good place to start is Mandala. It doesn’t get too crowded, and it’s not too loud, so you can still talk and meet people.

Dance Salsa

If you want to feel the real Latin beats, hit Mambo Café and dance salsa, bachata, cumbia, and merengue to live music. You will need a dance partner, so it’s a great way to meet new people. Do book ahead if you don’t want to be standing up all night. This place is popular with locals, and the volume is not so high that you can’t still talk.

Have an Adventure in the Jungle

This is a different way to spend a night in Cancun: no bars, no discos, but an exciting adventure in the Mayan jungle. Take a night-time trip to Xplor Cancun Park and experience the adventure park in a whole new way by the light of the stars, the moon, and the occasional fiery torch. Here, you can live the fantasy of an expedition through the jungle by flying in a tirolesa, swimming in a river, driving through caves and paddling in an underground river.

Watch a Pirate Show

Let the pirates welcome you aboard the Jolly Roger ship. There’s a restaurant where pirates sing and play games; after dinner, a pirate battle will commence, with the sound of cannons and grenades. We recommend you take a sweater with you in case the breeze gets cold, and wear flat shoes.

Hit the Discos

If you like crowds, noise and dance, this is the activity for you. The best option is Cocobongo. More than just a disco, it also offers an artistic high-rise show performed to an exciting soundtrack. There’s a free bar, and it gets very busy, so don’t turn up too late. Other good options include La Vaquita, Cuncrawl, and The City.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.