My husband and I planned this trip meticulously, but due to scheduling conflicts had to cancel, and did not end up utilizing this itinerary. Maybe one day soon...
Day 1 - Thursday, August 27, 2026
Accommodation
Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York 🔗
We planned to sleep over near the airport as we a) had an early morning flight and b) had an expiring Hyatt night we figured we might as well use
Day 2 - Friday, August 28, 2026
Travel
JFK →
CUN
Airline:
JetBlue
Departure:
08:44
Arrival:
11:50
Flights were 7.5k JetBlue miles per person, plus $62 in taxes per person. Taxes was paid using our JetBlue travel bank, replenished via the Amex Platinum $200 annual airline incidental credit.
Travel
Cancun →
Playa del Carmen
Departure:
13:00
Arrival:
14:00
We booked a car rental for 4 days for $22 total, including TPL insurance (car rentals are available for a $1/day, but those don't usually include the mandatory TPL insurance). We booked via Mas Car Rental. Note that renting a car in Mexico comes with a potential set of challenges (being pulled over and having a bribe demanded is commonplace)- we felt that after renting cars in several less developed countries than Mexico, that we were up for the task.
Restaurant
Bake & Roll By Mas Pan 🔗
The plan was to stop in Playa del Carmen for lunch, as well as head to Hilula Bakery to stock up on some goodies for Shabbos.
Travel
Playa del Carmen →
Tulum
Departure:
15:00
Arrival:
16:00
Accommodation
Unho Tulum 🔗
There are tons of hotels in Tulum for incredibly cheap prices. Most hotels were already sold out for our dates- we wanted something clean and walkable to Chabad. While this isn't very close to Chabad, it had good ratings, and the rooms had private pools (commonplace in Tulum- don't expect a lap pool- these are tiny plunge pools). We booked this for two nights for $87.
Day 3 - Saturday, August 29, 2026
Day 4 - Sunday, August 30, 2026
Activity
Tulum Ruins
We planned to spend ~2 hours at the Tulum Ruins, overlooking the ocean.
Accommodation
La Zebra Tulum, a Small Luxury Hotel 🔗
Booked two nights utilizing Amex's THC $300 hotel credit.
Day 5 - Monday, August 31, 2026
Travel
Tulum →
Chichén Itzá
Departure:
10:00
Arrival:
12:30
Activity
Chichén Itzá 🔗
We planned to spend 3 hours exploring the ruins of this "New 7 Wonders of the World" site.
Travel
Chichén Itzá →
Playa del Carmen
Departure:
15:30
Arrival:
17:30
Restaurant
Playa del Carmen Kosher Restaurant
There are lots of kosher restaurants in Playa del Carmen- we were planning to choose a restaurant on the fly.
Travel
Playa del Carmen →
Tulum
Departure:
20:30
Arrival:
21:30
Day 6 - Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Travel
Tulum →
Cancun
Departure:
11:00
Arrival:
13:00
Travel
Cancun →
JFK
Airline:
JetBlue
Departure:
14:25
Arrival:
19:26
Flights were 15k JetBlue miles per person, plus $79 in taxes per person. Taxes was paid using our JetBlue travel bank, replenished via the Amex Platinum $200 annual airline incidental credit.
