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Cancún and the Yucatán : Overview & Top 10

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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.

  • All-American sports bar where you can keep up with all the scores, and bet on games and horses. It’s more of a real bar than some Riviera sports bars. Buckets of beer a specialty.

  • Like many Yucatán towns, Valladolid puts on entertainment for free – the town band gives a concert every Sunday night in the square, with a musical menu that runs from rumbas and boleros to classic jazz.

  • Small rolled tortillas filled with 1,001 possible fillings: at taco stands, they’re served rolled up; at taquerías you sit and assemble them yourself.

  • More consistent quality and less brash than some handicrafts stores, with beautiful ceramics from all over Mexico and haunting folk art such as painted masks made to traditional designs.

  • Tamarindo, Cozumel

    A lot of energy and style have been put into the house and its sheltered garden by its Mexican-French owners. Each of the five pretty rooms has its own character, there’s an open kitchen and ample breakfasts, and they have many happy clients. They also run Palapas Amaranto nearby, with self-contained suites.

  • A less well-known beach with just a few hotels (see Tankah Dive Inn) that’s great for relaxed snorkeling and diving away from the crowds. As at Akumal, the reef comes quite close to the shore.

  • Off the beaten track, Tankah is a placid, narrow beach with a fine reef, a restaurant, and a small cluster of villas and hotels. Just behind the beach by the Casa Cenote restaurant, there’s a broad, reed-lined cenote, so it’s a toss-up between swimming in the surf or the freshwater pool.

  • This laid-back hotel on the Riviera has only a few rooms, but they’re all comfortable and full of character. Diving is a big attraction, of course, but it’s ok just to sit on the beach and sample the fine cuisine.

  • Tattooluum Fine Art & Tattoo Gallery

    Tattooluum is a fun and creative place to visit. It features artwork by Alfredo Hinojosa, a local artist. He specializes in sculptures made from natural materials such as driftwood and shells. His son, Olmo, also an artist and photographer, creates his works of art on another type of canvas, the human body.

    Come by and enjoy the art or become the art.

    Tattooluum is where pain becomes art.

  • With an air of tranquility, this remote town clusters around its grand and lofty Franciscan church, built in 1650–95. In the sacristy are rare murals of saints, discovered by accident in the 1980s. Teabo is also known for its fine embroidery.

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