While Cancún offers nonstop entertainment, the Riviera Maya offers diversity. Once just a string of secluded beaches, it offers you a variety of activities, from sun worshiping to beachcombing, horseback riding, and water sports. You'll discover why its unique combination of nature (through its ecological reserves), culture (through its archaeological sites), and natural beauty (through its soft palm-fringed beaches), makes the Riviera Maya so popular with families. The region stretches from Puerto Morelos in the north to the Sian Ka'an biosphere in the south, taking in the town of Playa del Carmen and the villages of Puerto Morelos, Akumal, and Tulum.

Puerto Morelos, the first town along the coastal route, offers a peaceful mood combined with easy access to the sea. Known ages ago as the departure point for Mayan women making pilgrimages to Cozumel to worship the goddess Ixchel, shops and restaurants line its streets. Puerto Morelos is also home to one of the nicest diving reefs along the coast, filled with caverns of coral and multicolored marine life.

It used to be that visitors flocked to the town of Playa del Carmen, forty-two miles south of Cancún along the Riviera Maya, only to make the ferry ride to Cozumel. But today, Playa, as it's known locally, has open-air cafés, quaint shops, minimarkets, cantinas, and an oceanfront malecón that attract more than just passers by. During the last decade, Playa del Carmen has developed from a quiet fishing village into the main town along the Riviera Maya. Its main street, Avenida la Quinta (Fifth Avenue), running east to west along the waterfront, will provide you with a variety of entertainment and dining options.

One of the newest resort areas in the region is Puerto Aventuras. Located forty-four miles south of Cancún, it offers a 900-acre self-contained resort with a 250-boat marina, private villas, a nine-hole resort golf course, a beach club, dive center, and luxurious hotels. The warm, clear waters of the Caribbean make snorkeling and diving popular pastimes, along with deep-sea fishing and sailing. Your family will enjoy stopping at the CEDAM Underwater Archeology Museum that displays artifacts collected from a sunken Spanish merchant ship.

The next stop below Puerto Aventuras, some sixty-five miles south of Cancún, is Akumal, which means “Land of the Turtles” in Mayan. Here, you'll discover one of the Riviera Maya's more beautiful beaches and a favorite of divers. Or you can explore the subterranean sea caves with over 200 entrances and depths to nearly 500 feet. Once a large coconut plantation, the northern palm-lined area is known as Half Moon Bay, an exceptional snorkeling area lined with villas and condominiums. While some come here for the outstanding diving opportunities, others just stroll the tranquil beaches, combing for shells and catching sight of the ample bird life in the area. There's also a small Mayan community here that offers its wares at informal markets in town.

Best Time to Go

The seasons here are the same as for Cancún, with May through November being the rainy season when it rains a little just about every afternoon. Average annual temperatures range from 77° to 86ºF. You should make note that Daylight Savings Time is not observed during the summer months, as it is in the rest of Mexico.

Cuisine

Yucatecan cuisine, particularly Mayan, is the local specialty here. Delicious and varied dishes like fajitas de pollo (chicken fajitas), cochinita pibil (roast suckling pig), tacos al pastor (taco meat slow-roasted vertically), and pollo pibil (chicken baked in banana leaves) are popular with locals and visitors alike. Or perhaps you'd like to try puchero (stew of pork, chicken, and vegetables). Huevos moteleños (scrambled eggs on tortillas smothered in tomato sauce, ham, beans, bacon, and peas) is a popular breakfast dish. Here, Mexican cooks combine Mayan ingredients and techniques with those of Spanish origin.