Hi all, my husband and I are going to the Riviera Maya for the first time next week. We were just planning on renting a car when we get to the aiport in Cancun. Do we need to make car rental reservations ahead of time? Thanks in advance.

Have you driven in Mexico?

It can be a bit overwhelming - especially in Cancun. The taxi drivers run wide open, and the busses run at top speed up and down the highway.

A better choice might be to get your car once you are in Tulum or Playa del Carmen or Akumal, etc.

Executive is a good choice for car rental.

just got back myself, and i would second the executive suggestion; however, the traffic out of the airport and onto the main north/south artery is really not that bad, cars do go pretty fast, but you'll see cars move to the far right, actually in what looks like an emergency lane, and stay there and let faster traffic pass on the left - best thing to do is get behind someone going the speed you want to go and stay with them, they'll slow down at the right places for the speed bumps, but be ready to slow from 50 mph to a crawl because of them - if you plan to go into the yucatan, be careful on the 'libre' free roads since every village puts up many speed bumps and they'll take your oil pan out if you don't slow down - lastly, get the all-inclusive insurance waiver ($25 a day extra), just do it and have fun, don't worry....

Book your car before you go to get lower prices.

Keith

Driving in the Riviera Maya is one of the easiest places we've found to drive in Mexico...especially if you're not driving in Cancun itself, which can get a little wild, but still not as bad as Cabo or PV...
I'd get a car at the airport and make rez ahead of time

I suspect you would have no problem renting on the spot, there are several car rental desks at the airport. However, you might get a better price reserving ahead. We used Ace, which is affiliated with Executive, and got a good rate. It's not bad driving from the airport, but you may have to loop around a few times to find your way out, and the exit for rte 307 south is not marked, so get good directions!

actually that brings up a very good point, road signs are minimal, i remember only 1 fairly small sign for the turnoff TO the airport, can't remember coming out... but not a huge deal since you can loop back pretty easy - other thing is, if you only doing cancun there are buses that are cheap and run up and down the zone, a very good thing after a few drinks - and you may rethink getting a car if this is the case

We always rent a car ahead of time. I wouldn't just show up as they may charge a completely different price. The driving is fine and we've never had a problem. Its great having your own transportation or you're a prisoner of limitied public transportation. Plus, you can find little nitches of private beach this way as well. We've used Avis and Enterprise in the past with no problems.

Have a great time -- Tulum beaches are spectacular.