10 Most Instagrammable Places in Cancún

Chichén Itzá is amongst the most important Mayan ruins in Mexico and offers photo opportunities in sophisticated ruins with a complete step pyramid and an ancient Mayan calendar. If you're interested in ruins, history, and ancient Mayan culture, this place is a must-visit on any travels to Cancún.

The ruins take about 2.5 to 3 hours to reach by bus or car from city centre, and you can book a tour to get a better understanding of what you've seen. Plan a day trip and light up your Instagram feed with all the photos you can take here.

The MUSA Underwater Museum is one of the most unusual Instagrammable sites in the city, with hundreds of reef-friendly statues in a nature conservation site. The sculptures evolve and change over the years as the corals erode them and leave a mysterious, stunning atmosphere. They're accessible by snorkelling or scuba diving, with guided tours available.

Here you can photograph more than 500 sculptures and experience a true interaction between art and the environment. It's in the Hotel Zone about 20 minutes from city centre.

The El Rey Archaeological Zone lets you explore and photograph a city built by pre-Columbian Mayans along the coastline, with 47 complete structures. These date to the early classical period from about 250 CE to 600 CE. The ruins are believed to have once functioned as a vital commercial and fishing port in the Mayan Empire.

Today the site is amongst the most important archaeological sites in Cancún. It's located in the Hotel Zone about 20 minutes from city centre and is sure to light up your Instagram feed.

Delfines Beach, or Playa Delfines, is amongst the most popular beaches in the Hotel Zone due to its unspoiled, stunning photogenic beauty, easy accessibility, and lack of touristy attractions. Its name means Dolphin Beach, and it has a distinct lack of hotels and restaurants nearby, but it does offer clean white sands, clear turquoise waters, and features like a playground, bathrooms, and shaded palapas.

Not only is this a great site to capture photographs for your Instagram feed, but it's also a wonderful place to enjoy the surf and sun. If you're staying in the Hotel Zone, it's an easy jaunt, as it takes about 20 minutes to reach from city centre.

Langosta Beach, or Playa Langosta, is a swimming destination with powdered coral sand and shallow, calm waters that are excellent for snorkelling and photographs. The underwater scenery here is outstanding and will certainly offer some unique Instagram-worthy photos if you've got an underwater camera.

Street vendors offer cold drinks, and the beach is amongst the most family-friendly in the city, just about 20 minutes from city centre in the Hotel Zone. You can even catch a ferry and catch photos of dolphins while you swim with these majestic creatures.

Cenotes near Cancún offer some of the most magical photo opportunities you'll find anywhere with mysterious pools rife with sea life and clear, cool waters. These sites were formed thousands or even millions of years ago from limestone sinkholes and today are a unique way to explore the Cancún underworld.

Whether you go swimming in a deep underground pool or choose an open cenote above ground, you'll find a world of opportunities to light up your photo feed. The best place is along the Route of the Cenotes, where you can see no fewer than 57 cenotes.

Punta Maroma is the lookout point on Playa Maroma, amongst the most famous beaches in Mexico, offering vibrant blue waters, soft white sands, and a tranquil location. This beach is often ranked amongst the best beaches in the world, and it's accessible through beachfront hotels or local restaurants. It's something of a hidden gem amongst local attractions due to its private access.

This beach is about 2 hours south of Cancún, so plan a day trip. It shouldn't be an issue to find photo ops and things to do all day in this region, however, with lots of restaurants, shops, and points of interest in the area.

Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres offers a range of cosy beach clubs and stunning sites for photographs with options for snorkelling, scuba diving, and swimming with dolphins. The island is accessible by a ferry ride from the shores, but it takes about 2 hours to get here, so plan a day trip.

You can rent a beach hammock for a siesta or capture tonnes of photos of the stunning crystal-clear waters and sugar-white sands. There's a good reason this beach is considered one of the most popular in the area, and it's sure to blow up your Instagram feed.

The Shell House, or Casa Caracol, is a unique cabin you can rent in Cancún, but it's also a photo-worthy site for your Instagram feed that's shaped like a living coral reef. It's located on the south end of Isla Mujeres and takes an hour to get to from city centre, but it's worth the journey. It offers a private oasis away from the hustle and bustle with a private pool, coconut trees, tropical plants, and even wild iguanas that pop in for visits.

It's just steps away from breathtaking cliff views and small, secluded beaches accessible at low tide. This is the place to catch a photo of the sunrise and showcase this intriguing building that looks like it's just risen from the ground on its own.

The Pink Lagoon in the village of Las Coloradas is exactly what it sounds like: a lagoon with naturally pink-colored water that's sure to start conversations on your Instagram feed. The vivid pink colours of this lagoon are utterly unique and are created naturally by the massive salt contents that generate microbes that colour the water.

The lagoon is on private land and is only visible during the dry season because in the summer the owner draws water out to distil for salt. It's a practical location and not generally open to the public, but it's possible to visit on tours and is totally worth a photograph.