Cancún: When to Go

Cancún has the sun on permanent retainer. The city's temperature averages an idyllic 27°C (80°F) year-round, dipping painlessly from time to time, hitting 19°C (65°F) in January. It can swelter to 38°C (100°F) in May, though ocean breezes keep it more bearable than the rest of Yucatán. Hurricane season lasts from July to November. Cancún got severely clobbered in 2005 by Hurricane Wilma (but has made an impressive recovery since then).

November and early December are perhaps the best times to go, as the climate is good, there are fewer tourists and prices are low. The busy season is from mid-December to April, when prices are noticeably higher. Surcharges get tacked on around the Christmas, New Year's and Easter holidays.

Weather

Semi-tropical weather, where the sun shines 253 days of the year on average, helps Cancún maintain a healthy holiday reputation. Rainfall is rare, though violent storms called nortes can roll in on any afternoon, their black clouds, high winds and torrents of rain followed within an hour by bright sun and blue sky. Averages don't drop much below 20°C (68°F), summer temperatures push but rarely exceed 35°C (95°F) and the humidity level stays just high enough for the promise of a swim to be tempting all year round.

Temperature (average ° C)

Humidity (average %)

Rainfall (average mm)