If you are planning a trip to Cancun and you are wondering if is there Uber in Cancun area and if you can take it safely during 2024, especially after so much news about it, the short answer is yes, Uber is already operating in Cancun, officially resuming operations on March 2023.
As you probably already know, Uber is a private transportation company that connects passengers with drivers who use their own vehicles.
The company has rapidly expanded across the globe and is now available in more than 600 cities across the globe.
In Cancun, Uber began operating in 2016 and in a relatively short time it was very successful among locals and Mexican or foreign tourists, but due to problems with groups of taxi drivers in the state of Quintana Roo, the service had been suspended for a while.
It stopped working completely for some years and recently it resumed operations but without having official approval from the local government until March 2023, when it officially began operating “legally” in Cancun, not in Playa del Carmen or Tulum.
Can I use Uber in Cancun?
Uber is present in a large number of cities in Mexico, and as we mentioned before, you can officially use the app and get a ride in Cancun in 2024, but due to the problems mentioned above with local groups of taxi drivers, it is not always easy to do it or recommended.
Although Uber drivers officially have permission to operate and is available in Cancun, they still have various problems with taxi drivers, mainly in areas of high tourist concentration such as the Hotel Zone and the Cancun Airport.
👉 From the airport or your hotel, it is better to avoid using it for security reasons, instead, most travelers prefer to use taxi services or book private transportation from Cancun Airport to get to their hotel, airbnb or destination.
Is Uber cheaper than Taxi in Cancun?
The reality is that in most cases, yes, it is cheaper to book a trip through the Uber app than to ask for a local taxi or an official transportation company if you travel within the city.
But as you may know the price still depends on the hour, cars availability and demand.
Is Uber safe in Cancun?
In general terms yes, Uber works well in most areas of Cancun (except Cancun Airport), it is pretty safe but it carries a certain risk due to what has been described above with some taxi drivers.
If you are arriving to Cancun Airport there’s no way to take an Uber because they can’t pick you up there, a great option to book transportation at your arrival is with CancunRide, we recommend their service!
You can book here or clicking the banner:
Uber VS Taxis in Cancun
If you want to compare the cost for a certain ride to decide if it’s better an Uber or Taxi in Cancun is pretty difficult.
The issue with taxis in Cancun is that they do not have defined public rates and they don’t use a meter, so as a tourist, you cannot know exactly if what they are charging you is a lot or a little.
The problem with many taxi drivers is that, when they realize that a passenger is a tourist, they usually give them “another rate” (higher than the normal/local one), so if you are going to take a taxi, it is best to ask a couple of them what the rate is before getting in so you have some price references.
For this reason, it is difficult to compare the Cancun Taxi rate VS Uber, in addition to the fact that in the Uber app the rates are constantly changing according to demand (and other kinds of variables).
What is real is that if you are in the Cancun hotel zone and you want to go to from one point to another, even if it is close, the taxi fare is usually much more expensive in that area (even for a very short distance), than traveling the same distance in Cancun downtown.
If you want to save money within the hotel zone in Cancun, a good option is to use public transportation, since it is cheap and the road only has two lanes one way and two lanes back, it is practically impossible to get lost, plus there is a lot of security 24/7 in this area.
Uber VS Private Transportation in Cancun
Private transportation is usually hired to go or return from a hotel or point in the city to the Cancun Airport.
In these cases, if you are arriving at the Cancun Airport, the Uber service is currently not available to pick you up there and take you to your hotel or airbnb, so the best option is to book a Transportation service, either private or shared.
If you go from any point of the city to the Cancun Airport, you can take an Uber considering the above points, mainly with greater risk when you are leaving from hotels in Cancun where there are taxi stands (because they are usually against Uber).
In conclusion, yes, there is Uber in Cancun since 2023 and you can use it, although there are still certain risks, so you must be very careful (mainly leaving from hotels or the Cancun Airport) in these cases we recommend using private transportation, and just use Uber for short journeys within the city.
You can use Uber from downtown Cancun to Playa del Carmen or Tulum, but not from Cancun Airport, we recommend you to compare rates before use any of this options.
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