Cancun offers more than lazy beach time

Along with the above, Cancun — a 2½-hour flight from Dallas — offers mucho activities, from swimming with dolphins to holding an alligator to swinging through the jungle. The operative word is "vamanos” or "let's go.”

"This is our fifth time here (to Cancun),” said one California tourist, there with her large extended family. In a seven-day trip, they like to spend five days going and doing, she said.