At Mexico's larger beach resorts you can indulge in a wide choice of water sports, from windsurfing to parasailing to waterskiing, snorkeling, and “banana boat” riding. If you like diving, you'll discover many great sites beneath Mexico's tropical waters. At several resorts, fishing is especially good.

Fishing

If you're a deep-sea fishing enthusiast, you'll find all you can handle at Mexico's Pacific Coast resorts. Fishing charter companies provide half-and full-day fishing excursions, most including tackle and bait. You can obtain a spot on a boat with other anglers, or you can charter an entire boat for your family. Longer-range cabin-class cruisers cost between $250 and $300 a day, including equipment and a guide, while small local boats (called pangas) go for about $80 to $100 a day. Prices and service varies from one resort to another and from company to company, so be sure you establish what's included — drinks, bait, snacks, equipment, and so on. Some companies charge to release the fish. Find out first. And it's customary to tip the boat captain 10 to 15 percent of the charter cost upon returning. Sailfish are quite prevalent, as are marlin, wahoo, yellowtail, dorado, mackerel, and bonito. But you can also hook sea bass, striped marlin, red snapper, swordfish, albacore, halibut, and shark. While Manzanillo claims to be the sailfish capital of the world, Mazatlán makes a similar claim.

All Cabo outfitters request that you release billfish back into the water, and some even require it. Pangas here rent for $200 a day, twice the going rate, while cabin cruisers go for $350 to $450 per day.

If you're traveling to Cancún or Cozumel, you'll also find good deep-sea and lagoon fishing. Cancún's Nichupte Lagoon, where you can catch needlefish, barracuda, and occasionally sharks, is excellent for off-shore fishing. Charters leave from several marinas and start at $240 per boat per day.

Swimming, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling

Mexico's 6,000 miles of shoreline offer some of the best snorkeling, skin-, and scuba-diving spots in the world. The clear, warm lagoons off Cozumel, Cancún and Isla Mujeres barely conceal brilliant coral, tropical fish, and exotic marine plants and animals. At 80 to 100 feet, you can swim among magnificent coral gardens and fish, as well as see guns, anchors, and sealed chests remaining from fifteenth-century shipwrecks.

If you like to dive and party, too, then Cancún should be your choice. All the larger hotels can make arrangements for both instruction and equipment. Most of the best dive sites lie off Punta Nizuc at the southern end of the island. At Las Cuevitas (Little Caves), the resident big fish and small tropicals love to pose among the corals for photographers. Both snorkelers and divers head to El Garrafon Beach, at the end of the five-mile-long island of Isla Mujeres to view the beautiful coral gardens. In the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks, also on Isla Mujeres, you can observe the razor-toothed predators as they doze in a stupor caused by the area's low salinity.

South of Cancún at Akumal is Xcaret, a water-sports theme park. If you've never snorkeled before, you can float on a river through an underground cavern and out into the inlet. The natural aquarium there is considered one of the most beautiful in Mexico.

You'll find innumerable beaches and lagoons with great scuba diving along Baja's Pacific Coast, but you'll need a wet suit if you plan on diving as far north as Ensenada.

In the Sea of Cortés, you'll experience the clearest of conditions during the summer and fall, with visibility of 100 feet and water temperatures in the 80s. Because its waters are temperate, this area lacks the bright tropical coral of the Caribbean. What will attract you to dive here is the opportunity to swim with such large creatures as whales, sea lions, dolphins, manta rays, groupers, and dozens of other giants of the deep. Los Cabos features dives on the North and South Walls, the Shipwreck, Land's End, and the Blowhole. Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, the only resort where you can dive on the Mexican Riviera, offers good diving and snorkeling in its shallow bay waters.

Personal Watercraft (PWC) Rentals

Hobie Cats are a fun way to get on the water when the wind kicks up. And Jet-or water skiing offers an exhilarating alternative. Or perhaps you prefer to skim the surf in a WaveRunner. Your hotel concierge or activity desk will be happy to make arrangements for you.

Sailing

Over the last fifteen years, the Mexican government has built a series of marinas from Ensenada south to Acapulco and beyond. What better way to see the Pacific coastline than to spend a day sailing aboard a luxurious sailboat? Whale-watch in winter and observe dolphins, turtles, and manta rays throughout the year. Luxury day sails include open bar, lunch, snacks, tropical fruit, snorkeling and fishing equipment, and lifejackets. If you're an experienced sailor, then you'll want to rent a boat for a few hours and sail around the bays of Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, or Acapulco.

Along the Caribbean coast, you'll find two marinas in Cancún, one on Isla Mujeres, and another at Puerto Aventuras, below Cancún at Akumal.