For the second year, I rented an Airbnb apartment, a different one this time. My 2016 apartment did not show up on Airbnb and indeed it is still not there but there are many similar ones in the same area. You just need to poke around different dates.
I paid 437 USD for 11 nights. The man running the operation seems to have several apartments in the same building. Other guests rented through another web site I have forgotten!
I think these two shots give you the best quick idea of the apartment. First picture is looking front door to back door. The first room has a couch, bar and kitchen. The second room you can see in the second picture is the bedroom, looking toward the front door. The bathroom is off the bedroom.
This property was close to Parque Las Palapas, a large paved area in the middle of the town full of food trucks where locals gather every night with children. My location was 15 minutes walk to the out of town bus station and to the main square where one catches the daily buses to the Hotel Zone.
Cancun is safe. I walk everywhere at night and have never seen even a hint of trouble. The town is full of these.
Armed military-looking police riding in the back of trucks. Maybe the show of force and my seeing no problems are connected? Even when I ride my bike to the gathering point at 6am, the trucks are moving, lights flashing.
Click Here if you want to read more about the accommodations. Bottom line, my wife would be unhappy with the water pressure, inability to flush paper and patched sheets, but for my purposes, it was a great place from which to stage my adventure.