There are actually two Cancuns: the Hotel Zone on the island and Ciudad Cancun (Cancun City), a district on the mainland that is more of a residential and business enclave. You can get from one to the other via a short bus or taxi ride. The island, which is where most visitors spend their time, does not feel like an island. It is 14 mi/22 km long, less than 0.5 mi/1 km wide and shaped rather like the number seven. The island is connected to the mainland by bridges at each end. It has calm, shallow waters off its northern side, wilder Caribbean seas to the east, and the vast freshwater Nichupte Lagoon between the island and the mainland.
There are no street addresses on Cancun island because there's really only one road—Boulevard Kukulcan. Places on the island are located by their distance (in kilometers) from the northern end of the boulevard, which begins at the edge of Ciudad Cancun. Markers indicate every kilometer along the side of the road. The bridge that connects the northern tip of the island to the mainland is just past the Kilometer 4 marker; the southern bridge to the mainland is at Kilometer 25. Thus, a hotel whose address is "Km. 12" is about 7.5 mi/12 km from the north end of Boulevard Kukulcan. Ciudad Cancun, on the other hand, does indeed have streets with names and regular-sized city blocks.
