Compare Cancun car hire

Beaches, ruins, jungles and colonial towns: Mexico makes an incredible backdrop for a road trip.

Hiring a car is by far the best way to explore the Yucatán Peninsula. Head south from Cancun along Highway 307 and you’ll stumble upon all kinds of show-stopping sights.

The roads are great, the signposts are clear and getting lost is pretty tricky, so what are you waiting for? There’s absolutely no reason not to rent a car in Cancun in 2025.

Language: Spanish | Currency: Peso (MXN) | Avg. Flight time: 10.5 hrs

As soon as you clear customs at Cancun Airport (CUN), you’ll be set upon by a gaggle of sales reps all hungry for your business.

Avoid this post-flight headache – and earache – by booking Cancun car hire in advance. It’s a no-brainer.

If you book online before arrival, you’ll find a representative waiting for you when you land, ready to whisk you off to your wheels. Not only that, but reserving ahead cuts time-consuming paperwork and nets you the cheapest deals.

All the major international players, such as Avis and Hertz, offer car rental in Cancun.

If navigating a new city moments after a long-haul flight feels like too much, take a transfer to your hotel from the airport and arrange to rent a car in Cancun at another time.

If you’re lucky, the car hire company will drop your wheels right at your front door, but usually at an extra cost. Otherwise, there are pick-up spots scattered throughout Cancun, including the Isla Mall and Plaza Royal, as well as prestigious hotels such as Hotel Dreams and Secrets Silver Sands Hotel.

In other words, you’ll only ever be a stone’s throw from your own set of keys.

Driving around the city itself isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs, with bags of urban traffic and a complicated grid system. Bear with it. Once outside Cancun, car hire really comes into its own.

Take a road trip to the dreamy beaches and hilltop ruins of Tulum, explore the towering Mayan pyramid of Coba, discover sparkling underground cenotes and swim with dolphins at Xcaret Park (Carretera Chetúmal-Puerto Juárez Kilómetro 282). Wherever it takes you, having car rental in Cancun is guaranteed to rock your holiday.

1. Rental companies often expect you to return the hire car with roughly the same amount of fuel as when you left. Protect yourself from any possible scams by taking a photo of the fuel gauge before you hit the road.
   
   
2. Look out for topes, Mexico’s somewhat torturous equivalent to speed bumps. The big ones feel like small mountains, while the little ones can send your car slipping all over the road. Keep your eyes peeled for humpy signposts and go slow. If you take these bad boys too fast, you’ll give yourself whiplash.
   
   
3. If you break down, there’s a heart-warming and completely free service called Green Angels (Angeles Verdes) on hand to help. These guys cruise the highway on the hunt for drivers that have run into problems. There’s a phone number too, so if you find yourself stranded call 078 from any phone in Mexico.

Fair fuel policy

A fair fuel policy (also known as full-to-full or same-to-same) means you’ll only pay for the fuel you use. All car rental deals compared on TravelSupermarket come with a fair fuel policy, so you can book your hire car safe in the knowledge there will be no nasty surprises at drop-off. More information on TravelSupermarket’s commitment to fair fuel policies can be found here.

No hidden fees

All rental deals compared on TravelSupermarket include mandatory fees (for example, one-way and young driver surcharges) in your rental quote at the time of booking, meaning you’ll know the full price of your car hire upfront.