How noisy is Cancun?

This morning, I awoke early & went up to our hostel's rooftop patio to watch the sunrise. It was a lovely, peaceful moment, interrupted only by the arrival of another guest, who had been roused by the sound of music blaring from around a corner. It was 7:00 am.

Shortly after returning to our room, I heard more noise outside: this time it was the sound of a bugle call coming from a school about a block away...

Did I Mention that it was It was ~7:00 a.m.? It may not sound that loud in the video, but it sure seems loud when you're trying to sleep.


That's pretty bad. But wait, there's more...


Dogs bark a lot here with complete impunity (even at night) & birds caw & roosters crow (you can hear them in the video). Garbage is also picked up daily. And we have vendors peddling (pedaling?) their wares through the neighborhood too.


One morning a few weeks ago, I awoke (despite wearing earplugs) at 9:00 am to the sound of a man's voice. It was a guy broadcasting something which, to my uneducated Spanish ear, sounded like a concert promotion. I tried to catch some of what he was saying. My notes say "...tupac... beyonce... el nino (the child)... lavadora (washer)... mares antigua (ancient seas)..." I still have no idea what he was selling. This was still going on an hour later & I have heard it a few times since.

Oh, i almost forgot: there's also an election coming & the electioneering is also noisy, tho admittedly hilarious. The roads are full of cars & trucks (including many VW beetles) equipped with speakers, blaring election blather. They are very animated, & sound at times like American television programming for preschoolers! Oh, & did I mention the songs? They sound like Mexican versions of Asian teen pop & they too are hilarious, until you consider that election issues here include high-level corruption & daily drug-related violence.


Finally, we have the famous Cancun nights. Ok, maybe they're not that famous, but they should be, especially among noise pollution experts. On several occasions, we've heard loud parties in the middle of the night.


So, to anyone who's thinking of staying in our neighborhood, I can honestly say: you don't have to worry about noise inside the hostel, because you can barely even hear it!


And if the noise outside is bothering you, you can always call the trusty local authorities...