Mexico Travel Guide and Destinations

Puerto Juarez

About 3 km north of Cancun, Puerto Juarez is the dock for the cheaper ferry services to Isla Mujeres; there is also a bus terminal, but services are more frequent from Colour map 4, grid A3 Cancun. There are, many buses between Cancun and Puerto Juarez, for example No 8 opposite the bus terminal (US$0.70), but when the ferries arrive from Isla Mujeres there are many more taxis than buses (taxi fare should be no more than US$2, beware overcharging).

Isla Mujeres

A refreshing antidote to the urban sprawl of Canciin, Isla Mujeres is a good place to relax for a few days away from the hurly-burly of package tourism. The island is especially nice in the evening, when all the Canciin day-trippers have gone. The town is strictly low-rise, with brightly coloured buildings giving it the feel of a Caribbean island such as Trinidad. The island’s laws prohibit the construction of any building higher than three floors, and US franchises such as McDonalds and Walmart are not allowed to open branches here.

There are several good beaches on Isla Mujeres, the best being Playa Cocos on the north west coast, five minutes walk from the town. Further south, there are several places to swim, snorkel and observe marine life. Restaurants and nightspots are plentiful, good quality and cheaper than those on the mainland, and the people are friendlier. There are several ways to explore the island: you can rent a golf cart, many of which chug around the streets all day, good for families; mopeds and bicycles are cheap and plentiful to rent, and a public bus runs all the way from the town to El Paralso, almost at the southern tip of the island.

The name Isla Mujeres refers to the large number of clay female idols found by the Spaniards here in 1518. The island contains the only known Maya shrine to a female deity: Ixchel, goddess of the moon and fertility. Sadly, the ruins of the shrine at the southern tip of the island have recently been bought by developers. They will be made into part of a new tourist complex like Xcaret, and locals are furious at having to pay a fee to view them. The tourist office, Rueda Medina, opposite the ferry dock, is very helpful. Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1400. The immigration office is next door.

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 of tourist activity based on Avenida 5, pedestrianized, one block from and parallel with the beach. This is where the more expensive hotels and restaurants are, as well as being the centre for nightlife. Cheaper accommodation can be found up Avenida Juarez and further north of the beach. Tourist information is scant, but the kiosk on the main plaza will provide a copy of Destination Playa del Carmen, a useful guide with maps pro¬duced by US residents.

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 arcs south around the polluted Nichupte Lagoon and returns to the mainland near the airport. The hotel zone’s main street is the four-lane Avenida Kukulcan, which is lined with condominiums, malls, discos and big resort hotels catering to tourists on package vacations.

The first few kilometers of Kukulcan have fiberglass reproductions of Mesoa-merican monuments, like an Olmec colossal head, placed in the median. The Pok-Ta-Pok Golf Course on the right has a small Mayan temple at the 12th hole. There are also Mayan structures, probably watchtowers, on the grounds of the Camino Real and Shera¬ton hotels. The Anthropology Museum near the Hotel Krystal was badly damaged by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and there are no signs that it will ever re-open. The El Rey ruins, Canciin’s largest, lie to the west of Avda Kukulcan, about two-thirds of the way down the hotel zone. The highlight is a low pyramid surrounded by several platforms. Returning to the north, downtown begins where Avda Kukulcan hits the mainland at Blvd Bonampak. The next major crossing is Avda Tulum, downtown’s main street. The sculpture in the middle of the traffic circle commemorates the 1970s meeting of the Organization of American States that put Cancun on the jrjgp.. Avdg Tulllffl is lined with ffi9!lgy 6X£llaTlgg§, Iegg glitzy restaurants, cinemas, the bus station, airline offices, nightclubs, municipal offices, the crafts market, supermarkets, gift shops and medium-priced hotels. Buses head out from here to the public beaches of Playa Tortugas and Playa Chac Mool in the hotel zone.

Cozumel

The town, San Miguel de Cozumel, is a seedy, overpriced version ofPlaya del Carmen. C Daily tour groups arrive on cruises from Miami and Cancun, and the towns’ services seem geared towards this type of tourist. But Cozumel is a mecca for scuba divers, with many beautiful offshore reefs to explore, as well as much interesting wildlife and bird life. Travellers looking for a beach holiday with some nightlife will find the island disap¬pointing compared to Playa del Carmen. There is only one nice beach, on the west side, and the eastern, Atlantic coast is far too rugged and choppy for swimming.

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. Everything else is extra: food and drink (none may be brought in), snorkel rental (US$7), snorkel lessons, reef trips (US$10), diving, horse riding (US$30) and lockers (for which you have to pay US$ 1 each time you lock the door). There are also dolphins in pens; you don’t actually swim with them, rather they jump or pass over you (US$50). No suntan lotion may be worn in the sea, but there is a film of oils in the sea nonetheless. Buses from Playa del Carmen leave you at the turn-off (US$0.65), by a roadside restaurant which is very clean (accepts Visa). There is a 1 km walk from the entrance to Xcaret. The alternative is to take a taxi, or a tour from Playa del Carmen or Cancun (in a multicoloured bus). You can also walk along the beach from Playa del Carmen, three hours.

Paamul, just south of Playa del Carmen and about 92 km south of Cancun, is a fine beach on a bay, planned for development, with chalets (C with bath, fan, terrace for hammocks, comfortable, pretty, clean, recommended) and campsites (recom¬mended). There is snorkelling and diving and a reef a few metres offshore. Sec¬ond-class buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen pass.

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.