A stay in an overwater bungalow/water villa in Cancun, Mexico might sound like something only for couples - the ultimate romantic getaway, but this is not always the case.
They can also be an incredibly memorable experience for children, and many overwater bungalow resorts will have child minding services, kid's clubs and even educational programs (mainly about marine life, the environment etc.) for children. Check on the booking page for each resort for all the fine details.
So then, for an alternative vacation experience for your family, here are our choices for the best family friendly/child friendly overwater bungalows in Cancun, Mexico in 2021!
All of these wonderful resorts come with instant online booking & a lowest price guarantee via our affiliate partnerships with Booking.com, Hotels.com & Marriott Bonvoy.
Over Water Bungalows near Cancun - An Overview
Cancun is a hugely popular tourist destination with many top class resorts, especially to the south of the city - the famously beautiful Mayan Riviera and such heralded vacation spots as Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Puerto Aventuras and Tulum.
Only three resorts near Cancun, and in Mexico in general, have overwater bungalows though, these are Palafitos El Dorado, Rosewood Mayakoba and (brand new in 2021) Banyan Tree Mayakoba.
Only three to choose from then and all are in the aforementioned Mayan Riviera, in Playa Del Carmen to be exact.
The lack of choice hardly matters though as all three are fantastic 5 Star luxury resorts that are very fitting settings for Cancun's overwater bungalows.
Where the lack of choice does matter though is in terms of supply and demand. Overwater bungalows are an extremely popular accommodation choice around Cancun and they get booked out well in advance.
You may ask why then don't more resorts build overwater bungalows to cope with the demand and the answer is mostly that they are specialist structures that generally need certain conditions to be viable, that is a shallow, sheltered, consistently very calm sea bay or lagoon.
The Cancun/Mayan Riviera coast, though stunning, just doesn't have enough suitable places to put them.
Of the three that do have them it is very difficult to judge which resort is better overall but in terms of the actual overwater bungalows for us the Palafitos bungalows at El Dorado are a better choice.
Rosewood Mayakoba's and Banyan Tree's bungalows are sleek, modern and luxurious but we think they lack that romantic, traditional Pacific vibe that makes the overwater bungalow vacation experience so incredibly popular, especially for honeymoons.
The Palafitos overwater bungalows are also more out in the open sea giving you more of that nice floating on the water feeling whereas the Rosewood Mayakoba's and the Banyan Tree Mayakoba's are lined up alongside the edge of the lagoon.
Finally the Palafitos' bungalows have glass floor panels - a classic, and very popular feature of the traditional overwater bungalow.
Palafitos El Dorado Cancun is adults-only and all inclusive. The Rosewood Mayakoba is neither but their overwater bungalows are strictly adults only. Banyan Tree is child friendly - both the overwater bungalows and the resort in general.
Check out the extensive reviews below plus lots of photos and booking information etc.
