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The favorite destination for RV travelers, who take advantage of generous long-term rates to settle in for the whole winter. The campsite also has cabañas (see Cabañas María del Mar, Isla Mujeres), a beach bar (see Paamul), and a dive shop.

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.

Just across the Highway from the popular snorkel park, this ruined Mayan city is one of the oldest in the region. On some buildings there are murals dating back to about AD 200.

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.

Dos Ojos is very possibly the world’s longest underwater cave system. The snorkeling or diving tours offered by the Hidden Worlds center are a memorable experience.

The Cobá road north from Tulum is one of the best places to find swimmable cenotes, and this is one of the most beautiful, a crystal-clear pool that’s a must for swimmers and snorkelers.

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

In a tiny village by a forest lake north of Cobá, this nature reserve is one of the best places to see spider monkeys in the Yucatán. Villagers act as guides.

Location is the attraction of this old, atmospheric Mayan city: in hot, steamy jungle between the Highway and Lake Chunyaxché, in the Sian Ka’an reserve.

One for the adventurous – one of the bumpiest, most rutted, overgrown and deserted roads in the Yucatán – with fabulous vistas of sea, sky, and forest.