Puerto Cancun With Kids: Marina, Beach and Photos

Puerto Cancun is easy to miss on a map, yet it is home to SLS Cancun and, from December 2026 if Hyatt's plans hold, the first Grand Hyatt in Cancun. This is what the area offers a family, what is private, and where we would plan your photos.

What Puerto Cancun Is, and Where

Puerto Cancun is a waterfront development around kilometer 1 of Kukulcan Boulevard, the road that leaves downtown Cancun and runs the length of the Hotel Zone. Hyatt calls it a private, gated community, and Club Puerto Cancun runs its beach club, marina and golf course. Inside are hotels and condos on the beach, more condos and homes along the marina and canals, an 18-hole golf course and an open-air mall at the entrance. Hyatt puts its new resort about 25 minutes from the airport and SLS Cancun says 15; with car seats and luggage, plan for the longer time.

Renting a condo? What is open to your family depends on your building and on whether your stay includes club access:

• Your building's beach, pool and gardens: as the building allows.
• The mall by the marina: open every day, 11 am to 9 pm.
• The Puerto Cancun Beach Club: membership share owners and their guests.
• SLS Cancun's pool day pass: adults 18 and over only.
• The club's Toptracer driving range: open to the general public, at its own rates.

The Beach and the Beach Clubs

Is the Puerto Cancun beach public? By law, the beach itself is. Mexico's General Law of National Property makes beaches and the 20-meter federal zone beside them common-use federal property, and says access to them may not be blocked, restricted or conditioned except as the regulations allow. The practical question is the gate, so ask your building or hotel how your family, and any visitor, reaches the sand.

You will see three beach clubs named here:

The Puerto Cancun Beach Club belongs to Club Puerto Cancun, which says it is exclusive to owners of its Membership Share and their guests. It lists family and adult pools, a restaurant and outdoor games for children. The club's plans page also mentions shareholders' registered tenants, so if you rent, ask your host whether your stay includes access.

Bungalow Beach Club belongs to SLS Cancun. The hotel's pool day pass, sold through ResortPass, and its cabanas are for adults 18 and over; SLS says children are permitted as hotel guests only.

Grand Hyatt Cancun's private Beach Club will have its own pool and restaurant plus snorkeling, kayaking and paddleboarding, according to Hyatt, whose announcement does not mention day passes.

The Marina and Marina Town Center

Club Puerto Cancun runs the marina from three docks; its launch ramp and toll rates give members and residents preferred pricing, with options for the general public. SLS Cancun lists yacht excursions from the hotel, and Hyatt says Grand Hyatt guests will be able to arrange yacht and sailing trips.

The open-air mall at the entrance is the one many people still search for as Marina Town Center, its name when Thor Urbana bought it in 2018; its official site now calls it Marina Puerto Cancun. It opens every day from 11 am to 9 pm, with two playground areas for different ages, a movie theater, ice cream and dessert shops, and restaurants with terraces facing the marina. For families in a condo, it is the easy evening out.

The Puerto Cancun Golf Course

Club Puerto Cancun's course has 18 holes, par 72 and 7,241 yards, designed by Tom Weiskopf and winding through natural canals. Tee times are booked on the club's website and the green fee, in US dollars, is paid at the pro shop on arrival; golf attire is required and soft spikes are mandatory. With children, the club's Toptracer driving range is the easier hour: bays take up to six people, the games include Angry Birds and Go Fish, and the general public pays 25 USD an hour per bay before 6 pm and 35 USD after. The academies, from golf to sailing and swimming, mostly run as monthly programs, so ask the club what a visiting child can join.

Grand Hyatt Cancun: What Hyatt Has Announced

Hyatt's announcement of September 15, 2026 says Grand Hyatt Cancun Beach Resort is expected to open in December as an all-inclusive, the first Grand Hyatt in Cancun. It lists 500 rooms, including 47 suites, each with a private terrace facing the ocean or the marina; nine outdoor pools, among them an adults-only pool and the Beach Club pool; and a Grand Kids Club, though the announcement gives no ages. Dates can move, so confirm yours with Hyatt before booking flights, and ask about outside photographers, which the announcement does not cover. Planning a wedding there? See our Grand Hyatt Cancun wedding guide.

SLS Cancun Is Not SLS Playa Mujeres

Two SLS hotels near Cancun share most of a name. SLS Cancun, sometimes listed as SLS Cancun Hotel & Residences, is the one in Puerto Cancun, with suites designed by Piero Lissoni; SLS Playa Mujeres is a separate all-inclusive resort.

One parent who stayed at the all-inclusive wrote:

“We were staying at SLS Playa Mujeres and she clearly knew the resort already which was so helpful - she knew all the best spots!”

Stacy T., Google review

Family Photos in Puerto Cancun

The beach at sunrise

If your building or hotel opens onto the sand, we would choose the early slot: cool sand, soft light and children at their best. From mid-November through February the sun rises around 7:00 to 7:30 am, which suits our 7:00 and 7:30 am online slots; from May to August it rises around 6:05 to 6:30 am, which suits 6:30. Our golden hour table has every month.

The marina in the late slot

Boats and warm evening light make the marina the second setting, and the mall's hours fit our 5:00 and 5:30 pm slots. From mid-November to mid-January, with sunset around 6:05 to 6:25 pm, those sessions run into the last warm hour before sunset; from May to August, when the sun sets after 7 pm, ask us on WhatsApp for a later start. The mall is private property, so we confirm its rules with you first.

Access in towers and hotels

Each condo building sets its own rules: ask your host how a visitor gets through the gate and whether a photographer may work on the beach or by the pool, then send us the answer. Some hotels charge a fee for an outside photographer; where yours does, you pay it to the hotel, and we confirm the hotel's rule with you before the session.

When a Hotel Zone beach is better

Not every stay here comes with sand: the club's marina page mentions Marina Condos and Canal Homes. If you are on the marina or a canal, or your building says no to outside photographers, we meet you at a public Hotel Zone beach; our guide to the best Hotel Zone beaches for photos compares them. For a sunset over water, there is the Nichupte Lagoon; for rentals anywhere in Cancun, see our residences and guesthouses guide. For groups of up to 16 people, we can arrange full-van transportation.

For families we recommend The Chapter: 60 minutes and 35 edited photos for 475 USD. There is no limit on people, no per-person charge and no deposit; you pay at the end, by card or in cash, and can cancel free up to one day before. A sneak peek arrives within 24 hours and the full private 4K gallery in 1 to 3 business days.

Vianey Díaz leads a team with more than 20 years of photography experience and thousands of families and couples photographed over those years; since 2023, IVAE Studios has delivered more than 500 sessions and holds 5.0 across 75 Google reviews. See our Cancun family photographer page.

Sources Checked

Read on November 14, 2026; dates and rules change, so check again before you book. Sun times are our own calculation for Puerto Cancun.

• Hyatt: Grand Hyatt Cancun Beach Resort announcement, September 15, 2026.
• SLS Cancun: home, suites, location and experiences pages; address via Accor; the Hotel & Residences name via Forbes Travel Guide.
• SLS Playa Mujeres: home and location pages.
• Club Puerto Cancun: beach club, access rules, plans, marina, golf course, tee times, Toptracer range, academies and home pages.
• Marina Puerto Cancun: home, hours, playgrounds and directory.
• Expansion: Thor Urbana buys Marina Town Center, September 3, 2018.
• General Law of National Property (Ley General de Bienes Nacionales), articles 7, 8 and 119, as amended to November 14, 2025.