what is considered to be the best areas in cancun to settle?

I've only really seen cancun from a tourist point of view over the past 5 years since I've been visiting, so far I've gathered alot of useful information for this site, thanx guys. I am interested to know what areas of cancun are best to settle in (low crime area, rental rates in different areas etc) any information is honoured thanx

 

Du Cooke - what is your budget?

 

At present I'm unsure of what the prices of rental properties are in cancun so I've not set myself a budget yet, I'm coming from the UK so am thinking of looking on par with what I pay in UK rents (£600 around $1000) plus with the understanding that cancun is a tourist location & more expensive so I'm thinking between $1000 - $1500 monthly but as it stands I am still in the dark about properties in the area

 

You can rent something pretty nice in Cancun for those amounts! Rent here is more expensive than the rest of Mexico, but still cheaper than the US and I'd assume GB as well.

Cancun is divided into many neighborhoods known as "supermanzanas" or "SM", and each has a number.

Off the top of my head, I'd recommend SM 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19. This is one of the city's most upscale residential areas. I used to live there and I know several expats who live there as well. It's very close to Plaza Las Americas, the city's most popular mall.

SM 4 is another area with a great location (right by the entrance to the Hotel Zone), as well as SM 44, 45, 46 and 47 (a little further into downtown, but with nice parks and within walking distance of several malls and supermarkets).

Here's a map showing the different neighborhoods, where you can search by SM (thanks Kelly!) Mapa de Cancun : Centro y Zona Hotelera Cancún | Cancun Foros.com

My rental budget is considerably lower so I'm probably not the best person to answer, so wait and see what others with a more "healthy" rental budget have to say

 

You can rent a 2 bed house in SM18 for 8000 pesos a month, gated with security and a pool.

 

Good info from Gringation. If you make a single zoom click in the middle of the map you can better see the downtown SMs. I would totally agree with the ones she suggests as being the nicer areas of downtown. There are other nice areas but not so convenient as these. I would definitely suggest somewhere in the SM 1-50 range. There is a not so easy to find map book, like in a binder, called Punto Mapa. It has a pull out overall map and then each SM has a separate page. They cost $85 Mxn, about $7 US. I can usually find them as I know where their office is but they are hit or miss in the stores where maps are sold. A good SM map is an invaluable tool for locating places.

Our addresses (direcciones) are very different here. Areas of town are called Supermanzanas (SM) or Regions (Reg). Within the SMs are Manzanas (Mz), which are like city blocks. Then each Mz has Calles & Lotes, or streets & lots, and it is a miracle if the buildings are numbered or numbered correctly. That is the basic deal. You just don't go to 15 Downing Street or wherever. Here certain street names appear all over town and one has nothing to do with the others. Bacalar comes to mind as one example.

 

I'll agree with matkirk... even on the lower end of your budget, you could easily find something in a nice gated community with a pool

 

Thanx guys really helpful I shall look in to getting a maps on the SMs but I defo will be taking a first hand look down them ways when I visit in November, thanx Gringation & T.J, great info, ill be happy to find a place under the amount I've said I just like to safe guard my self and not end up in lumper but thank you very much any other directions are most welcome

 

For the budget quoted above you can rent something in the form of a studio in the hotel zone. Some of these may be ocean front some may not. But you will be steps from the beach if that is what you are looking for. Downtown you can find something much cheaper and larger then a studio.

 

I think it would be great to have a place in the hotel zone but I think I'd like to get in to the local areas in downtown cancun, been checking out the map links Gringation said with all the "SM" on and finding properties rounds "SM 1-50" and am really impressed with what is on rental & sale am not after top of the range condos/apartment just a nice little place in a good little area oh & hopefully a place that pets are allowed but thanx again guys the info