Cancun

I had the incredible opportunity to attend a friend's destination wedding in sunny Cancun, Mexico this past weekend. We stayed at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Cancun resort that boasts “access to unbelievable All Inclusive amenities like experiential dining at 6 world-class restaurants, never-ending cocktails, legendary entertainment, and top-shelf everything across the board. It’s All Day. All Night. All Included, baby”. While all that sounded great (and expensive), I had to take care of some business and you guessed it – play some pickup basketball. 

Between the 7 different wedding events over a 3-day period, I had a small window of time to myself, so after checking into the hotel, the first thing I did was take the bus directly into the Cancun city center to start my search for a basketball court. I knew it was going to be hard as one local had told me, “All basketball courts are used to play futbol (soccer)”. 

My basketball adventures started at around 4pm on an extremely hot 32C/90F degrees Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t the ideal time to play basketball, but I did find some covered or shaded courts that seemed opportunistic.

After getting off the bus (R-2), I started near Market 28, a popular flea market where you get to test out your haggling skills with the locals.  After that, I walked straight to the first court on my list.

Basketball court, 77505, Lagartos 11, 17, Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

I was a bit scared at first because the Google maps directions took me to a security gate with a guard that I couldn’t get past. But undeterred, I circled the premises until I found a back entrance through the woods, directly to the courts. While it was a nice court, there was, unfortunately, no one playing on it. I forgot that it had been a while since I had traveled internationally so it was interesting to see the FIBA free throw lanes which are shaped differently than in the NBA. 

As I was walking away from this court to make my way to the next court, I did see a little kid and his mom going to the court to play some basketball. I briefly contemplated whether to challenge him to a 1 on 1 matchup but I think I made the smart decision to continue on my adventure onto the next court.

Cancha de Baloncesto Pancho Contreras, Av. Mayapan 21, 21, 77505 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico 

This next court was under construction or something, but I couldn’t even tell why or where this basketball court would be anyways. This seemed like a futbol stadium, but somewhere hidden in the construction, there is a basketball court somewhere. While google maps may show that it is there, I’m here to let you know that this court is unavailable at this time.

BUT – right across the street to this stadium was another court right in the middle of a parking lot. I had no idea how to get into it, but here’s the location in case you want to check it out: 5527+649 Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Unfortunately, there was no one else here as well.

Cancha de basketball frente a Cheester, Mazatlan 352, 31, 77508 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

I finally saw a sighting of human life on this basketball court. This court was filled with kids doing some basketball practice or camp. There was no opportunity for me to play but I wonder if older kids or adults play here after the kids finish? I didn’t have time to stay long so I had to move on to my last court on the list.

Hard Rock Hotel Cancun

I originally didn’t want to include this court on the list since this one was exclusive to the resort and only resort members could play on it. But, if you are looking for a resort in Cancun and having a basketball court is #1 on your list of must-haves, make sure you book this hotel. Though, your only competition may be against birds. 

Conclusion 

I was a bit disappointed I did not get the opportunity to play pickup basketball in Cancun, especially since in my last post I said I wouldn’t just take pictures of courts. While I didn’t get to play any pickup basketball, my brief interaction with the coach at the last court gave me an extremely positive lasting impression of the area.  Neither of us could speak each other’s language, but I told him that “I like basketball” and he smiled, fist-bumped me, and we both continued on our separate ways – me, back to an all-inclusive resort and him, back to coaching basketball.