When making your travel arrangements keep the following in mind:
- Make sure your passport is current, and the expiration date is at least six months after the date you enter Mexico. Since 9/11, all U.S. citizens and permanent residents must have a passport to travel internationally. It can take up to 12 weeks to get a passport, so be sure to apply early if you don't already have one. It's always a good idea to travel with a xerox copy of your passport stored in a safe place, in case you lose your original. Keep your passport locked in your suitcase or in a safe place while you are in Mexico. Most of the time, there's no reason to carry it with you.
- Most citizens of the U.S., Canada, or the European community don't need a visa to enter Mexico, but check with the appropriate authorities in your country to be sure. If you only need a tourist card to enter Mexico, you will get this on the airplane when you fly into Mexico. Be sure to keep the tourist card until you leave Mexico, because you have to turn it in when you depart. If you lose the card, you pay a fine plus spend a lot of time trying to reissue it.
Minors may need a notarized letter from parents or legal guardians authorizing travel out of the country. If your child is traveling to Mexico for one of our camps or immersion programs, check with group leaders or the airline authorities to see what's required.
- Shop around to find the best price on an airline ticket for a flight to Mexico City that arrives no later than 4 p.m. and departs from Mexico City no earlier than 8 a.m. Be sure you are flying into Benito Juárez International Airport in MEXICO CITY. We recommend these arrival and departure times so you can travel to/from Cuernavaca on the same day as your flights. Cuernavaca has an airport but it's small, and it's very expensive to fly into it. It's better to take the commuter non stop bus to Cuernavaca. Pullman de Morelos offers luxury bus service directly from Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City to Cuernavaca's conveniently located Casino de la Selva terminal. Ask at the information desk in the airport or follow the signs for ground transportation. Buses leave about every 30 minutes. The cost of a one-way ticket is about $215 pesos ($15.00 U.S.). The bus ride will take between 2 hours, depending on traffic.
- Check with your health insurance company to be sure it will cover your medical costs in the case of you become ill or are injured while abroad. If additional coverage is necessary we recommend you purchase it before coming to Mexico, as insurance purchased in Mexico can be very expensive for foreigners. To highlight, Cuernavaca has first-class medical facilities and many highly trained doctors and dentists. We have a doctor on call who can attend you if you become ill while you're studying at Kukulcan.
Last but not least make sure to bring along a pocket Spanish dictionary. For suggestions on what to pack, click here.
