Tulum
The Tulum ruins, Maya-Toltec, are 131 km south of Cancun, 1 km off the main road. They are 12th century, with city walls of white stone atop coastal cliffs. The temples were dedicated to the worship of the Falling God, or the Setting Sun, represented as a falling character over nearly all the west-facing doors (Cozumel was the home of the Rising Sun). The same idea is reflected in the buildings, which are wider at the top than at the bottom.
The main structure is the Castillo, which commands a view of both the sea and the forested Quintana Roo lowlands stretching westwards. All the Castillo’s openings face west, as do most, but not all, of the doorways at Tulum. Look for the align¬ment of the Falling God on the temple of that name (to the left of the Castillo) with
the pillar and the back door in the House of the Chultiin (the nearest building in the centre group to the entrance). The majority of the main structures are roped off so that you cannot climb the Castillo, nor get close to the surviving frescoes, especially on the Temple of the Frescoes. In 1993 the government began a major improve¬ment and conservation programme to improve facilities at the site.
Akumal
A luxury resort, 102 km south of Cancun, 20 km north of Tulum, Akumal is reached easily by bus from there or from Playa del Carmen (30 minutes). There is a small lagoon 3 km north of Akumal, good snorkelling.
Sleeping and eating L Hotel Club Akumal Caribe. One of many luxury hotels, villas and condos which can be booked in the US through Caribbean Fantasy, PO Box 7606, Loveland, Colorado 80537-0606, caribbfan@aol.com, accommodation is all LL-AL.
Holbox Island
Also north of Valladolid, but in the neighbouring state of Quintana Roo, turn off the
road to Puerto Juarez after Nuevo Xcan (seepage 566), to Holbox Island. Buses to
Chiquila for boats, three times a day, also direct from Tizimi'n at 1130, connecting
Holbox 0600 and 1430, one hour, returning to Chiquila at 0500 and 1300. A bus to Merida connects with the 0500 ferry. If you miss the ferry a fisherman will probably take you (for about US$14).
You can leave your car in the care of the harbour master for a small charge; his house
is east
Playa del Carmen
A pleasant little town on the beach which still maintains some of the charms of its former existence as a fishing village. The beach is dazzling white, with crystal-clear shallow water, ideal for swimming, and further out there is good scuba diving. There is accommodation for every budget, and plenty of good restaurants and bars of every description. Many travelers choose Playa as their base for trips to the ruins of Tulum in the south, and archaeological sites such as Coba in the interior.
The town is laid out in a grid system, with the main centre
Chetumal is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. In 2000 it had a population of 238,520 people.
The city is on the western side of Chetumal Bay near the mouth of the Rio Hondo, at 18.50° North, 88.29° West. Chetumal is an important port for the region, and Mexico's main port of trade with Belize.
History of Chetumal
In Pre-Columbian times a city called Chactemal (sometimes rendered as "Chetumal" in early European sources) was the capital of a Maya state of the same name which controlled
Mexico resorts getting back in the swim
Tourism officials in the hurricane-battered Mexican state of Quintana Roo hope to have 80 percent of the accommodations and amenities in the affected Caribbean coast resorts fully operational by February.
The Yucatan Peninsula state, home to tourism magnets Cancun, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya, accounts for about 36 percent of Mexico's nearly $11 billion tourism industry, according to Quintana Roo tourism secretary Gabriela Rodriguez.
Hurricane Wilma hit Cancun the hardest in late October, closing most of its hotel rooms. Between 8,000 and 10,000 of the city's approximately 25,000 hotel rooms are now open, and officials expect
Cancun
The ever-expanding resort of Cancun (pop 100, 000) is built on Quintana Roo's northeast coast overlooking the blue waters of the Caribbean. Size and glitz are the operating principles here, and the resort is beginning to have crowding problems that resemble Fort Lauderdale at the height of Spring Break. There is nothing older than 1970 in Cancun, except for some tiny vestiges of Mayan temples; for antiquity or colonial sights, you have to head west to Yucatan or south to Tulum and Coba. Cancun is divided into downtown and the hotel zone. The latter is a 33-kilometer (21-mile)-long sandbar (hat
Six dead as Wilma batters Mexico
At least six people have died as Hurricane Wilma lingers over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Reuters reports.
Two deaths been reported on the island on the island of Cozumel, and one person died in Cancun when a gust of wind blew out a window.
In the resort town of Playa del Carmen, two people died when a gas tank exploded, while to the west of the Yucatan Peninsula, a large tree branch crushed a man to death.
The slow-moving storm has sent waves as high as the third storey of some hotels in the resort of
Hurricane Wilma slams into mainland Mexico
Ocean waves surged over the narrow strip of land that holds Cancun's resort hotels as Hurricane Wilma slammed into Mexican mainland, where some 30,000 tourists huddled in hotels and shelters amid shrieking winds and shattering glass.
The eye of the category 3 storm, which had already killed 13 people, first slammed into Cozumel Island _ the worst-hit, and now cut off _ and then headed north-northwest onto the mainland near the beach town of Playa de Carmen, south of Cancun.
The howling winds caused severe damage in Playa de Carmen, flattening dozens of wood-and-tarpaper
Cancún is a coastal city in Mexico's easternmost state, Quintana Roo. It is the municipal seat of Benito Juárez municipality and a world renowned tourist resort. The city has grown rapidly over the past thirty years to become a city of approximately half a million residents, covering the former island and the nearby mainland. There are actually very few true 'cancunenses' (people originally from Cancún) because of the rate at which the resort and its service areas grew. Most people living here are from mainland Mexico and a growing number are from the rest of America and Europe.
In Cancún there
Xcaret
Back on the mainland, there are some Maya ruins at Xcaret, a turn-off left on Route 307 to Tulum, after Playa del Carmen. The Maya site, an ancient port called Pole, was the departure point for voyages to Cozumel. It has now been turned into an overpriced and very tacky theme park catering exclusively for day-trippers. â– US$37 (children under five years free). This entry fee entitles you to visit the small ruins, the aviary, the -, K beach, lagoon and inlet, to take an underground river trip (life vest included) and to use all chairs, hammocks and palapas.
