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“This is the ‘gay beach’ of Cancun, they do everything here,” said Gabriel, a man from Veracruz, Mexico, whom I met on Playa Delfines. As he spoke he pointed to two young Mexican men as they openly embraced and playfully pecked each other on the lips. When Gabriel, who identified himself only by his first name, said, “gay beach” he used air quotes.

Playa Delfines is very much an unofficial gay beach. Most of those on the beach when I was there were families or heterosexual couples but none appeared to have any problem with the young gay lovebirds. The beach is sloped up to a parking area and it gets gayer in the grassy area, closer to the top of the slope.

If you’ve thought about visiting Cancun or another part of Mexico, now is the time. The country is quietly having a 30 percent off sale. Since last summer, the exchange rate has shifted dramatically in favor of the dollar. You can get a little more than 13 pesos per dollar now. Over the summer, you would have been lucky to get 10. Plus, lower fuel costs have meant lower airfares. (See the money tips section at the end of this article for ways to save money when exchanging money.)

Cancun is Mexico’s most visited tourist destination. It is on the Caribbean Sea on the country’s East Coast. It is also Mexico’s newest metropolis. In the late 1960s, Cancun was a tiny fishing village with a population of only 500. In 1974, the Mexican government decided that Cancun would be the perfect spot for a tourist destination and hotel developers eventually signed on. They transformed the 14-mile Island of Cancun into an upscale collection of full service hotel resorts. More than 500,000 people live in Cancun now. Few locals live on the island where all the hotels are. Instead, they live on the mainland mostly in and around the downtown or El Centro. The island is connected to the mainland by bridges on the north and south of the island.

While some would pooh-pooh the artificial evolution of Cancun as a tourist mecca, no one would argue over the beauty of its pristine white beaches or its awe-inspiring crystal clear turquoise water. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma devastated Cancun, forcing hotels to close for months, or in some cases, more than a year. The storm forced a facelift for virtually everything on the island. The end result is that Cancun has never looked better. Most resorts used the opportunity to skew even more to the upscale, updating furnishings and decor.

Nightlife

There are three gay bars in Cancun. All are downtown, on the mainland. Attempts to open a gay nightclub on the island where the resorts are failed. That’s not surprising. The locals socialize downtown, closer to where they live, and few tourists wanted to go to a club where they couldn’t meet locals.

The newest gay bar in Cancun is also the most upscale. It is called Metro. It is a small lounge bar located on 8 Nichupte Av. at Nichupte Plaza. It tends to attract a more upscale clientele than the city’s other two bars.

The most popular gay nightclub in Cancun is Karamba. It is located on downtown’s main street, Tulum Avenue, near the corner of Azuenas. By the way, the club scene in Cancun, like most of Latin America, is very late. Karamba doesn’t open until 10:30 p.m. and things don’t get going until after 1 a.m. There are no lesbian bars in Cancun but Karamba is the most popular among the three bars for lesbians. Gay women tend to hang out on the stage platform above the dance floor. Karamba is open-air on the second floor, so if you like to sweat, this is the place for you on hot nights.

The third gay bar in Cancun is Picante. It is about a five-minute walk from Karamba. It’s small and is will never be accused of being upscale. It is popular with the gay Mexican working class and those who appreciate them.

Money tips

Something to keep in mind, most places in the tourist areas of Mexico will gladly take your U.S. dollars, but don’t do it. You will probably get the old exchange rate. For years, the rate was 10 pesos per $1, so most merchants conveniently are sticking to the old conversion rate. It is currently a little more than 13 pesos per dollar.

And don’t exchange your money before you go to Mexico. You will probably get a lousy exchange rate here and have to pay a fee. Your best bet is to change money at a bank in Mexico.

All major airports of Mexico have concessions where you can change  money but the rate will be less favorable than banks. The best advice is to get only enough pesos at the airport to tide yourself over until you can get into town.

Most large hotels will exchange your dollars with a pretty good exchange rate and there are many street-side concessions in town that will give you rates that are almost as good as you would get in a bank. Just be sure to shop around.

You can also withdraw money in pesos with your ATM card but many banks sock you fees that can erode what would otherwise be a favorable rate. Credit cards are not as widely accepted in Mexico as they are in the U.S. and most credit card companies charge fees when you use them in a foreign country.

Source: www.ebar.com