A dune and small islands linked by a highway, this is Cancun, a real paradise in the American Way of life.
There are hundreds of hotels and palaces for practicing "sea-sex-and-sun". Each hotel is a waterfront property with giant salt and fresh water swimming pools. There are lagoons on one side and the green, blue and purple horizon of the most beautiful ocean in the world. There the sand is made of reef dust accumulated over the centuries. Cancun is the largest tourist place in Mexico and the largest in the world because of its exponential growth in residential and hotel development. Mexican President Etcheverria laid the foundation stone in 1969, where there was only a fishing village with 117 inhabitants living from shark fishing (The sharks are harmless there).

There were almost six millions tourists in 2008, and there are more each year ! For the reason that everybody knows, Year 2009 have started well but decreases since april 2009.
2010 year is much better than 2009 but the number of tourists
should be more and more increasing for the end of the year.


     Right picture : view on the hotel zone in Cancun


With water skiing, diving, sport fishing, tennis and above all, golf : Cancun is a paradise of luxurious farniente. From Cancun, you can visit the whole coast as well as the Pre-Hispanic inland of the state of Quintana Roo. This trading city with its long paseo could make you believe that you are in Nice, Miami or Acapulco : you can find in Cancun everything from everywhere in the world. For the record, this tourist destination has been known worldwide since the famous "Summit of Cancun" in 1982 and also because of the many cyclones which has devastated the coast during the past several dozen years. But, all year long, and especially in summer, it is the paradise of sunscreen oils. The temperature has an average fluctuating from 26°C to 35°C (78 to 95°F).

Cancun is divided in three parts : the sad and ugly suburb with a concentration of workers living from the tourism, the old city, and the island of Cancun, a large sandy stripe between the ocean and the lagoons. The 22 kilometer long Kukulcán Boulevard, between the continent and the Island, services the hotel complexes. More than six hundred businesses, restaurants and cafés surround the main places such as Caracol and Kukulcán places. The Museum of anthropology and history, located by the Convention center, displays a small collection of Mayan objects ($37).

On the coast, many aquatic clubs offer activities such as surf, diving, parasailing and wonderful themed cruises, excursions in the islands, transparent-floor boat rides, dinner-cruises, etc. Mass Tourism and Luxury Tourism !

Left picture : view on hotel zone in Cancun

Extract of the interview of José Bayon, director of the infrastructures of the city :
The « flaunted wealth » : it is the first Cancun that you discover coming from the airport. A 22 kilometer long four way boulevard, 26,000 hotel rooms which hide the ocean, swimming pools and golf courses, luxurious stores and green lawns : this is an artificial zone, built on a thin sandy stripe between the ocean and the lagoons. 95% original mangroves, which was a protection against hurricanes, disappeared.
The second Cancun is a city with 700,000 inhabitants, which grew up in twenty-five years. It broke another record in Mexico : this is the strongest demographic growth, nowadays about 5%. According to every property developer, the prodigious expansion of this fishing village (100 inhabitants in 1970) is the undeniable proof of tourism as an economic engine. José Bayon said :

« Cancun, which nobody believed in at the beginning, was a model for tourist resorts during years. Today, we recognize that we made mistake on the environment».
Avoid the Zone of Cancun. You will find, on the Riviera Maya, wonderful wild places, but for how long ?

Mayan religion is a geographically and historically versatile phenomenon whose history is not done yet. Mayan people believed in the recurrence of the cycles of creation and destruction. The rituals and ceremonies were strictly linked to these multiples terrestrial and celestial cycles. The Mayan priest had to interpret these cycles and prophesy the past and future times. Short video of a Mayan ritual, show offered in one of the hotels in Cancun.

If you are looking for organized tours in small groups, contact Cancun Diving Adventures at info@cancundivingadventures.com or log on to www.cancundivingadventures.com. Boat tours through the mangrove or jeep tours to the Mayan ruins or diving tours in the "cenotes" or offshore, which is what they started with !

Map of the city of Cancun :

Map of the state :

Quintana Roo state extends over a surface of 50 843 km2 (18,303 sq miles) and has 1 136,000 inhabitants (2007). There were 2,432,000 tourists in Cancun, 447,000 in Cozumel, 2,649,000 in the Riviera Maya and 119,500 in Isla Mujeres in 2007.

Click here to display the selection of photos about Cancun

 

They were the TWO pearls of the Mexican Caribbean coast.

ISLA HOLBOX

Located at the very north of the Quintana Roo state, where the waters of the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea merge, this island is more than 30 km (19 miles) long and 2 km (1.2 mile) wide. It is separated from the continent by the Yalahau Lagoon. Since a dozen years, the Island is part of the ecological reserve Yum Balam. The island is accessible only to the two wheelers and golf carts. You will enjoy going to this still unspoiled island that offers 35 kilometers (22 miles) of beaches, with waters nice but less "emerald" than on the East Coast of Quintana Roo. The fishermen can take you to the bird island,a natural reserve with 400,000 pink flamingos, ducks, pelicans, etc. or to the Island of Passion, islet with a nice beach. Half day ride in a lancha costs MXN$300.


Tours for swimming with the whale sharks eare from June to September. Log on to the website : - It is very impressive.

     Right picture : whale shark


To access the island, there are six daily buses from Cancun (4:30AM, 6AM, 7:50AM, 12:30, 1:30PM, 2:15PM, MXN$65) and many ferries or private boats from Chiquilá. There are departures about every 2 hours. The trip lasts about 20 minutes and costs MXN$45.

There is no bank or ATM in Isla Holbox or Chiquilá.

Click here to display the selection of the photos about Isla Holbox



ISLA MUJERES

Located 20 minutes from Puerto Juárez by boat, 3 km (2miles) north from Cancun, this small island (8 km (5 miles) long by 4 km (2.5miles) wide) unfortunately lost its charm. Favor the northern beach Playa Norte or the western ones Playa Paraiso and Playa Lancheros.

There a few narrow and busy beaches. He western ones are busier than the eastern ones which are wilder. The island stays pleasant and you will be attracted by the beauty of turquoise waters. The village is located in the northern part of the island. It is really quiet when the hordes of the tourists arriving in the morning go back to Cancun. You can rent bikes, scooters or golf carts. When you reach the Mayan ruins at the very south, you have a fantastic view of the Caribbean Sea and Cancun. Take the ferry from Puerto Juárez, ferry dock located 15 min by bus from downtown Cancun.



Take the bus #13 along Tulum Avenue or at any road sign showing "Puerto Juárez".
Ferry, 877 06 78. There are many ferries (every 30 min) which run every day from 5:30AM and 11:59PM, from Puerto to Isla Mujeres and from 6AM to 0:30AM on the way back for MXN$35 one way, with the cheapest company "La Tintorera".