joanie

What food and water safety precautions should we follow in Cancun and any day trips around it? Mom, Dad, teens. We're staying at the Royal Sands. Should we use bottled water at the hotel? Please advise.

diann

Joanie, as a precaution I would use bottled water in hotel. Usually they say the water is the hotels have been purified. My husband drinks it out of the tap in Cancun with no problems. I only drink bottled, and always have some issues in visiting Mexico no matter what I do. Nothing terribly serious. I think Mexcico is pretty safe, have a good time.

Nancy

Joanie,
We usually do a little of both - tap water and bottled water.
We've been all over the area many times and never had any problems, but if you are particularly sensitive, you may want to stick with bottled water and drinks with no ice.
They say the drinks with the ice that is round with a hole in the middle is supposedly purified - I don't know. We have drinks with ice all the time (I have to have my Margaritas and don't have any problems.
We usually don't eat anywhere that is buffet style and do not stay at all-inclusives.
Take plenty of bottled water with you on the day trips if it is not provided.
It is very hot - especially at the ruins - and if you are not used to that type of weather it is easy to get dehydrated.
Have a great time!

Jennine

Hi Joanie, Diann & Nancy,
Investigating Cancun's all inclusives for next June. 2 adults, 2 teens.
Joanie: how did you decide on the Royal Sands?
We're looking for excellent beach #1. My travel agent doesn't have any personal experience, so I'm searching for opinions. We've never done an all inclusive, and only have enough in our travel budget to do this type of vacation once a year. Want it to be great!
Thanks!

Bonnie

Dear Joanie:

We have just returned from our 10th trip to Cancun a few days ago. The food and water in the hotel zone is safe. We don't drink from the tap, but use ice from the ice machines at the hotel. We've never had problems with the water or food at restaurants in the hotel zone and downtown Cancun. The only time my husband & I became ill was during a trip to Chitzen Itza several years ago. We ate a buffet lunch at the Mayan Hotel at the ruins, and the bottled water we purchased there smelled/tasted like fish when we opened them. Needless to say, it was a long bus ride back to the hotel, but we both were fine by morning. So, if you travel outside Cancun, be careful of what you eat/drink, otherwise, you should be fine.

We've not stayed at the Royal Sands, but it is very beautiful. While you're there, hopefully, you'll get to meet Roberto, who works at the bar/restaurant. We are very good friends with him & his wife. He's a wonderful person, and you'll enjoy him immensely.

joe

I stayed and ate at all inclusive Iberostar Paraiso del Mar. We stayed with bottled water in rooms, they stock it in free mini bars.We had no trouble with any food or bottled water or ice in bar drinks. We actually saw a woman in a lab coat,clipboard and hairnet testing food temperatures at one of the buffets. So I don't think they totally ignore health issues at the all inclusives.We noticed they kept warm food warm and the cold food cold.Bring bottled water if you take day trips.

Mandy

Have been to Cancun many times. The first year I drank only bottled water and had no problems. After that, I drank tap water from the resort. I usually go AI and have never had any food problems or sickness whether I ate buffet or ala carte. Most, if not all, the top resorts in Cancun have purified water and are good about food temperatures.

However, I would use caution and only bottled water outside of resort.