DK Travel : Cancún and the Yucatán

Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula has a special atmosphere and an immense variety of attractions, including some of the world’s best beaches and diving areas. The modern, glittering resorts of the east coast’s “Mayan Riviera” lie alongside charming old Spanish Colonial towns, sleepy Mayan villages, and the awesome remains of ancient civilizations.

Air Tours

Aerosaab, at Playa del Carmen, offers aerial sightseeing tours over the Riviera, Chichén Itzá, and other parts of the Yucatán, for around $150 per person.
Aké

This ruined city west of Izamal is a great mystery, as its thick, drum-shaped columns and huge ramp-like stairways are unlike any other Mayan buildings. The local village church was built on an ancient pyramid.
Aké

Built of massive columns and huge stone slabs, this city is unlike anywhere else in the Yucatán, making it a challenge to archeologists.
Aktun-Chen

From the highway near Akumal, a dirt track leads west through thick bromeliad-filled jungle to a nature park set around a vast cave and cenote system. You can’t swim in the cenote, but the guided tours through the stalactite-filled cavern are highly impressive. Colorful birds, monkeys, and wild boars can be seen outside.
Aktun-Chen Cave

This giant cave and cenote system, an awesome series of chambers and stalagmite towers, is in thick jungle in a nature park; it was only recently discovered.
Aktun-Ha Cenote

Another fine swimming-hole cenote amid rocks and woods toward Cobá. Snorkelers can explore the huge main cavern; divers (with guides) can go further.
Akumal

A lovely area that extends through beautiful, sweeping bays of white sands and gentle seas. Some big hotels have opened, but along most of the bays are secluded condo apartments and villas. It’s an excellent diving center (see also Akumal , Akumal).
Akumal

The beaches here are an important breeding area for sea turtles, which coexist with the development along the bays. The reefs fringing the beaches are wonderful for snorkeling and diving. Akumal is also an important cave-diving center, with the Villas de Rosa Hotel (see Aquatech – Villas de Rosa, Akumal).
Akumal

Long a favorite dive destination, with fabulous reefs and places for cave diving, Akumal has grown a good deal without being overwhelmed. It spreads over several long, lovely bays – Media Luna is the most beautiful, with the delightful Yal-Ku lagoon (see Laguna Yal-Ku, Akumal). There are more apartments, villas, and small hotels than big developments, so it’s still quite easy to find secluded spots – certainly the turtles try to, and the beaches near Akumal village are favorite breeding grounds.
Akumal

Not a remote spot, but the curving beaches here are very long and often occupied only by a few small-scale hotels and condo apartments. It’s quite easy to find uncrowded space at Akumal, by an idyllic sea and with creature comforts included. There are also excellent diving facilities here.