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Mérida’s port and favorite beach town is a place to get close to ordinary Yucatecan life. The harbor is stuck at the end of a long (6-km/4-mile) pier, and so the shallow waters around the beach remain blissfully tranquil. Until the weekend, that is, when Meridanos spill out onto the sand and into the warm blue waters. There are excellent fish restaurants along the seafront, too, with big, convivial outside terraces for socializing.

The biggest, most opulent resort on the southern Riviera, a specially created vacation village around an inlet that’s now a pretty pleasure port lined with shops and restaurants. The nine-hole golf course is attractive, and the marina is the best-equipped on the whole Riviera, making it a popular base for serious deep-sea fishing enthusiasts. In another part of the harbor you can swim with dolphins (see Dolphin Discovery).

A small, stylish group of shops. Among cigars and sophisticated jewelry, you’ll also find Mexican designer clothing at Arte Maya and fine handicrafts at El Guerrero.

Despite its location between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos has avoided big-scale development. There’s plenty of space along the long, white beach, where pelicans hang in the wind. A great snorkeling reef lies close to the shore (see Puerto Morelos, (see Puerto Morelos.

This little fishing town was the biggest place on this coast before the rise of Cancún. It has avoided overdevelopment and retains a low-key atmosphere, much loved by the many foreign-ers who own houses here or stay whole winters in its small hotels. There’s a beautiful white beach, and a superb reef close offshore (now protected as a marine park) that’s wonderful for diving and snorkeling. Local dive operators and fishing guides give individual, friendly service.