Mexican Riviera. Our best Riviera Mayan tours. Riviera Art Gallery

Called part of the coast Caribbean Sea in the east of the state of Quintana Roo. Today this territory is a successfully developing resort area with a length of about 100 km from Cancun to Tulum.

Description of the Riviera Maya resort

This part of the Caribbean coast began to be intensively built up 10-15 years ago, when there was no longer any free space for new hotels. Palaia del Carmen is the center of the Riviera Maya, it also includes the most big Island Mexico - the island of Cozumel, which is 45 minutes by ferry.

The Riviera Maya in Mexico is a green paradise for a quiet and relaxing holiday. There is no such active nightlife like other Mexican resorts. Many Europeans prefer to relax here. The resort area consists of tourist towns and resort complexes. Already, more than 400 hotels of varying levels of comfort and good infrastructure for their maintenance. Beautiful sandy beaches, magnificent nature, quiet life coastal villages and the warm turquoise sea - all this creates excellent conditions for relaxation. barrier reef, stretching along the coast, allows for diving.

The weather in Mexico's Riviera Maya is warm and sunny all year round. The climate at the resort is subtropical. Average annual temperature air +30°С, water temperature +25°С. The most favorable period for vacation is the season from November to April. When we have snow, here on the coast it is the height of the beach season.

Beaches of Riviera Maya

The beaches of the resort area stretch for hundreds of kilometers along the sea coast. The following main tourist beach areas are distinguished:

Playa del Carmen is the center of the resort, the beaches are located parallel to the hotels, and there are many entertainment venues.

Puerto Aventuras is suitable for sailing enthusiasts, and there is also a coral reef a hundred meters from the shore where scuba diving is possible. A calm and uncrowded place, unlike the beaches of Playa del Carmen. People swim here mainly on the Fatima Bay beach.

Xpu-Ha - located 20 km from the central resort and is a picturesque natural beach. Here you can swim in a charming lagoon, and there is also a natural underground lake - a cenote.

Cantenal is one of the best places for diving.

Akumal is a small beautiful beach where people gather to do sailing, diving, fishing. Small White sand and clear waters are great for families with children, and sea turtles are found among the diversity of the underwater world.

Tulum – a special feature of this beach is the ruins of ancient Mayan buildings located next to it.

Xcacel - lagoons, dunes and mangroves combined with white sand make this beach a paradise. From late autumn to May, rare loggerhead sea turtles lay their eggs in the sands of this beach.

What attractions can you see in the Riviera Maya?

When visiting the Riviera Maya, plan several excursions to admire the diversity of the local wildlife And cultural life aborigines, as well as to capture as a souvenir the ancient cities of the lost Mayan civilization.

Suggested attractions for tourists to visit in the Riviera Maya:

Sian Ka'an is a biosphere reserve where, in addition to natural beauty, there are ruins of ancient Mayan cities;
Eshkaret parks – thematic ecological park, dedicated to the culture of the Mayan Indians;
Shel-Ha Park – natural Park, which is unique for its karst lakes and stalactite caves. It is located on the spot seaport Mayan Indians;
the ancient Mayan cities of Coba and Tulum;
Sak-Actun is the famous largest cave system, partially flooded with water.

Riviera Maya- a successfully developing resort area on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. This is an ideal place for tourists who prefer a relaxing and extreme holiday.

Over the past 15 years, the coastal area (including the city of Playa del Carmen) and the largest mexican island Cozumel was built with comfortable hotels. Get to know this a piece of paradise you can order from us excursion to Mexico from Riviera Maya. The choice of destinations is wide enough to bring pleasure to everyone who comes on vacation to this amazing country.

Today Riviera Maya- This:

Wonderful beaches,
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef,
Cenotes,
Theme and eco-parks,
Excursions into the jungle to ancient Mayan monuments.

The most beautiful beaches Caribbean coast are on Riviera Maya. They delight with white sand, clear water and amazing natural treasures hidden under the water.

Beaches

The beach most visited by tourists is Xcacel. Here tourists can enjoy diving in underground lakes and cenote caves. The mango thickets and lagoons located near the beach attract great amount vacationers. They also do not ignore the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

Another popular beach is Tulum. It is distinguished by beautiful white sand and small waves that make this corner Riviera Maya a favorite holiday destination for tourists from Europe. Considering the young age of tourists coming here, there are bars, restaurants, and clubs on the beach offering the most popular entertainment programs on the coast, and guest festivals.

Active resort life in Riviera Maya buzzing on the beaches of Playa del Carmen. At the service of tourists wide choose entertainment establishments for day and night recreation (restaurants, bars, discos)

Attractions

Except beach holiday tourists in Riviera Maya attracts visiting the ruins of ancient monuments of the Mayan civilization. They are located near Tulum Beach - the actual Mayan site of Tulum, and located 160 km away from Chichen Itza.

Popular excursions

Most Popular excursions in Mexico from Riviera Maya organized with historical and natural monuments. Tourists enjoy visiting:

Chichen Itza,
Kobu,
Tulum,
Akumal,
Xcaret and Explore parks.

Chichen Itza

To get acquainted with the ruins of the temple complexes of the Mayan civilization, guests Riviera Maya offer to go to. Located here religious center famous for the pyramid of Kukulkan, the main Mayan god. The structure is subject to the laws of astronomy. The stairs leading to the top correspond to the cardinal directions, and the number of steps in each of them is 91 - together in the very last step at the top they give 365!!!.

Tulum

These are not only popular beaches, but also unique monuments ancient architecture: Pyramid of El Castillo, Temples of the God of the Wind, Temple of the Frescoes. The last one is better preserved than the others! Here you will witness the once existing great civilization Mayan.

Tulum is a Mayan port city.

Koba

Coba is located 40 km from Tulum - ancient city Maya, or rather its ruins. This is one of largest complexes ancient civilization, but almost all buildings need renovation. Only a small part of the sites is open to tourists, including the El Castillo pyramid - which you can climb!

Akumal

To get to know each other better sea turtles, to a secluded beach Riviera Maya you need to arrive early in the morning. Under the guidance of instructors, tourists with special snorkeling equipment watch turtles feeding on algae and shellfish at the bottom. Large sea creatures necessarily rise to the surface to take in air. At this moment you can swim up to them and even carefully touch them.

Xcaret Park

The park is a tourist area with an area of 80 hectares. It houses theme and natural parks, a Botanical Garden, zoos, and an aquarium. An impressive end to your day in Xcaret will be a spectacular show about the history of Mexico!

Show in the Mayan village, Xcaret Park, Mexico

The natural landscape of the Riviera Maya embodies the typical image of the lagoons of paradise resorts: white fine-sand beaches washed by transparent turquoise waves adjacent to coastal mangroves. Adding to the richness of the region are the surviving Mayan cities, ecological reserves and scuba diving at the world's second largest coral reef.

The Riviera Maya stretches for almost 160 km along the Caribbean coast in the state of Quintana Roo. Starting in the port village of Puerto Morelos, 30 kilometers south of Cancun, it heads south to Punta Allen, a fishing settlement in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve.

Flight time:
(flights to Cancun airport)
from Moscow - from 16 hours 10 minutes. (1-2 transfers)
from St. Petersburg - from 17 hours 40 minutes. (1-3 transfers)
from Kazan - from 19 hours 15 minutes. (2-3 transfers)
from Yekaterinburg - from 20 hours 15 minutes. (2-3 transfers)
from Novosibirsk - from 23 hours 40 minutes. (2-4 transfers)

Story

The Riviera Maya was the central region for the development of trade and religion for the ancient Mayans. Currently, many archaeological sites - ancient sites of the Mayan civilization, such as Tulum, Coba and Muyil - are open to tourists.

For hundreds of years, the Riviera Mayan territory remained isolated from the rest of the country due to the lack of basic transport links.

The growing popularity of Cancun among tourists led to the fact that some of them rushed to look for an alternative to the studied mega-resort, as a result of which several hundred hotels were lined up along the coast.

Climate and weather in Riviera Maya

Districts

Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen is a once forgotten fishing village that has become... largest city in a region that, however, can still be easily explored on foot. The main shopping centers(in the Playacar area), restaurants and gathering points for tourists who are active at night. By the way, all this is complemented by an amazing beach on the Caribbean Sea.

Cozumel Island

Get to the largest in Mexico Caribbean Cozumel Islands short trip by ferry from Playa del Carmen. Fans of scuba diving and scuba diving find here ideal conditions for such activities, as visibility in the water sometimes reaches 70 meters. For a walk through the untouched jungle and lagoons, you should go to the central part of the island. It is inhabited by characteristic endemic species of animals and birds, miniature in size.

In the territory national park Chankanab is located Botanical Garden, Chankanab Lagoon and an aquarium with more than 60 species of tropical fish, crustaceans and corals.

Tulum

Tulum was once official center and a Mayan trading port. Climbing up to the ruins of an ancient city located on a rock, you can get a wide panoramic view of the Caribbean Sea. The city has many budget options for finding accommodation along the coast.

What to see

Extreme tourism

The unique topographical features of the Riviera Maya make it a destination for adventure seekers. They can dive into cenotes (natural wells or small lakes, which the Mayan Indians used as a source of water and a place for sacrifices), raft down an underground river, race through the jungle on an ATV and fly on a zipline.

Ecoparks and reservations

A visit to the eco-theme park Xcaret can take a whole day, given the wide range of activities: swimming in an underground river, snorkeling, watching a Mesoamerican ball game, visiting the ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization.

Museums and galleries

Attractions

Private guides in Riviera Maya

Russian private guides will help you get acquainted with the Riviera Maya in more detail.
Registered on the Experts.Tourister.Ru project.

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useful information

about the country without fear of spending all your money on roaming. To Tulum. The main resorts here are Playa del Carmen and Cozumel Island. This coastline began to be developed relatively recently, when Cancun ran out of free territory. The main contingent of the resort are Europeans. Riviera Maya is good for

family vacation

, with children - including. The beach here is snow-white sand. In addition, tourists are attracted by excellent diving conditions, professional golf courses and high-quality spa centers.
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How to get there

Buses run frequently, but only during the day, the fare is 4 USD one way per passenger, these buses stop at many popular hotels. The most budget option is minibuses - colectivo, which run along the coast. The fare is 2 USD, stops only on request, but you will probably have to walk to the hotel. There are only official taxis here, there are no private taxis (nominally there is Uber, but it works here intermittently), they are easy to recognize - they are white cars with a green stripe. A trip from the airport to the resort center will cost approximately 35 USD. Prices on the page are for October 2018.

Flights to Cozumel

Flights from Moscow to the island of Cozumel are rare and cost more than to Cancun - from 1000-1500 USD with a transfer to Miami. To get to the Riviera Maya from the airport, you must first drive to the pier and then transfer to the ferry that will take you to the resort of Playa del Carmen. The entire journey from the airport to the resort will take about 2-2.5 hours.

Search for flights to Cancun (the closest airport to the Riviera Maya)

Hotels in Riviera Maya

The Riviera Maya offers its guests 368 hotels with 37,000 rooms in total. Hotels generally do not exceed the height of palm trees. Over the past few years, the Riviera has been actively developing, new hotels are being built here: from modern European to exotic Caribbean bungalows. As a rule, the hotels here have large areas and all inclusive meals. Moreover, in the Riviera Maya they are more affordable than in Cancun.

Beaches of the Riviera Maya

The city of Playa del Carmen is located in the center of the Riviera Maya, 70 km south of Cancun. This is youth resort center, very popular. On the pedestrian zone along the coast, life is in full swing 24 hours a day.

Cozumel, the most large island Mexico (14 km wide and 53 km long), located 19 km east of Yucatan. It is famous for its underwater world and the world's second largest coral reef with a length of over 700 km. The sandy strip of the beach occupies only 3% of the entire island; the rest is a national park.

Guides in Riviera Maya

Entertainment and attractions of the Riviera Maya

You can have a good rest at the resorts of Cancun and the Riviera Maya without even leaving the hotel premises - but few people deprive themselves of the opportunity to explore the ruins of Mayan and Toltec cities.

Chichen Itza is the largest ancient city of the Mayans and Aztecs, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Tulum is the only Mayan seaport-fortress. It is also worth visiting reserve park Shel Ha, a favorite vacation spot of the Mayan emperors, famous for its stalactite caves and karst lakes, take an excursion to Ek Balam, where an acropolis with secret room. In the most famous ecological park of the Riviera Maya, Xcaret, you can swim along the underground river, visit the aquarium museum, turtle farm, butterfly park, orchid park, jaguar island, play with dolphins, snorkel, and in the small fishing village of Rio Lagartos admire huge flocks of defiantly pink flamingos.

Riviera Maya

In 2009, the Xplor ecopark was opened in the Riviera Maya, a nature reserve located on an area of 50 hectares. This unique underground world invites tourists to go rafting or travel along underground rivers surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites. The water temperature in the rivers is +24 °C. The underground journey ends in cenotes - natural wells that the Mayans used as sources of water. Centuries-old rock formations, walks through the jungle and hanging bridges will make your holiday truly unforgettable.

Weather in Riviera Maya

Average monthly temperature, °C day and night, water

January

March 22, 2015 3:36 pm Cancun, Chichen Itza, Valladolid, Playa del Carmen - Mexico February 2015

If I were asked to describe my trip to Mexico in one word, I would say: “Colorful!” I visited only one part of it, the Yucatan Peninsula, and I was extremely pleased that I chose this for my vacationdirection. Mexico ---- a country, which you want to return to. Incredible flora and fauna, ancient ruins mysterious civilization maya, culture Latin America with its colorful shows and dances, friendly, smiling people; a large selection of villas, hotels, hostels, for every taste and pocket, a variety of entertainment and, of course, one of the most the most beautiful seas world - all this cannot leave anyone indifferent. The country has a unique flavor, and no matter where you are: in a hotel or outside the tourist areas, you don’t forget for a second that you are in Mexico. The people who carefully preserve and value their traditions have tried to achieve this. Now, first things first:

1. Nature of the Riviera Maya.

I'll start with one of the most important advantages of the Yucatan Peninsula - nature. Thanks to the fact that this part of Mexico has become tourist destination relatively recently, the flora and fauna of the region is distinguished by its diversity. The Riviera Maya is paradise in every way! Here you can get acquainted with the amazing underwater world of the coral reef, which is the second largest in the world, swim in the purest water of underground lakes - cenotes, walk through the jungle and relax on snow-white beaches azure Caribbean Sea. Many interesting eco-parks have been created for tourists, which allow them to explore the nature of the peninsula. Mexicans do not advise going into the jungle on your own; according to them, you can stumble upon not only wild animals, but also settlements of the descendants of the Mayan civilization, who prefer to live away from civilization. It is believed that among them there are stillXamans(shamans) who have supernatural powers.

The fauna of the Riviera Maya is not inferior in its diversity (but there are no dangerous or unusual insects here). At every step, even on the hotel grounds, you can see harmless iguanas, noses, agouti (South American golden hare), and on the beaches you can see pelicans and others interesting views birds.

Warm weather all year round makes the Riviera Maya one of the most... popular resorts(mainly for tourists from the USA, Canada, Germany and South America). For people not used to heat and high humidity, best season considered dry, which lasts from November to April. I was on vacation in January-February, the temperature was very comfortable - +25-26 degrees air temperature and +27 degrees water temperature.

2. About people and the stereotype of “dangerous Mexico”.

(All information is based on experience gained in the Riviera Maya; I cannot say that the situation is the same in other regions.)

Is it that dangerous in Mexico? The crime rate in this country is higher than in Belarus or Russia, however, according to a person who has lived in Mexico for a long time, danger can only be found in certain cities (Acapulco, Chihuahua), areas bordering the United States and in poor areas. During my stay in Mexico, I did not have to worry about my safety, although I even walked through the so-called “dark” areas. Concerning resort areas, then there is nothing to worry about: the streets are well lit in the evening, and the police keep order. Many hotels, by the way, are located in separate protected areas, in which there are shops and cafes, but only tourists or staff can get there, for example, by taxi. At the entrance to the zone there are barriers with inspectors, the same check at the entrance to each hotel.

Before traveling to Mexico, I had doubts about renting a car and... independent travel. The fears are unfounded: the roads in the country are amazing, in the evening the dividing stripes become bright, which makes traveling by transport at any time of the day very convenient, and there are police checkpoints after a certain number of kilometers. The police are exactly as I imagined them from Hollywood films - strong men with huge machine guns. I haven’t seen them stop passing cars, but apparently they are there for some reason. In any case, this is somehow reassuring.

Conclusion: Mexico did not seem dangerous to me at all during my stay .

MexicansshowedBe a friendly people to me. I talked both with residents of the peninsula and with Mexicans from the northern states, they are very different in appearance. If the southerners are small, about 160 cm tall, stocky (both women and men) and dark-skinned, then the northerners are more like the Spaniards - tall and handsome. Not once during my vacation did I encounter rudeness or impolite attitude!

Many people think that Mexicans are noisy and often drink tequila. If you really see their national drink everywhere, then I never had a chance to meet a drunk Mexican. Unlike other southern peoples with whom I am familiar, the people of Mexico are not what you would call noisy. They are balanced, smiling and calm, they do not talk loudly on the street and are not intrusive, like the same Turks. But if you go to any Mexican show, here you see Mexicans energetic and emotional. Their performances are a riot of colors, dynamic dances and music, incredible costumes and energy.

Being objective, I still cannot help but dwell on how these wonderful people live. There is a stereotype that Latin American countries are dirty. And it depends on what you compare it with. For example, Mexico is much cleaner than South Asia, but dirtier than Western Europe. Some places are untidy, I would say so. Within city centers and resort areas, everything is more than neat and clean, but in private sector areas the situation gets worse. Perhaps their soil also creates an image of untidiness - it is dry and rocky, but when you drive past villages, you notice a lot of ordinary garbage in the courtyards of houses and on the sides of the roads. The architecture of the cities is very colorful - bright, low concrete houses of different colors and shapes, while in the villages people mostly have a small wooden hut 5x5 meters with a thatched roof and hammocks on which family members sleep. Although, if you observe people, they give the impression of being very happy with life. Just like in our villages, they garden and raise birds and livestock.

3. About prices

It is believed that Cancun and resorts in the Caribbean in general are a vacation for millionaires. I disagree! Cancun is a more expensive city than the rest of the Riviera Maya, there are really many luxury hotels there. I didn’t have a chance to rest there, but I know what to find there too budget options for living it is possible. As for the city of Playa del Carmen, where I spent my holiday, there are hotels for every taste and every pocket, from huge 5-star hotels to hipster hostels.

According to Americans, the cheapest holiday option for them is Mexico. For us, of course, this is not the case. One flight (round trip) costs at least $700, but on the peninsula itself you can relax on a budget. Not last minute trips to Turkey for $500 all inclusive, but still... The beaches are shared almost everywhere, so there is no problem enjoying the most beautiful things on the Yucatan Peninsula.

As for prices in resort areas of Mexico, they are adapted to the main tourists - from the USA. I don’t know how it is in other states, but in Yucatan you can pay either in dollars or pesos everywhere. I wouldn’t call the prices for souvenirs and things cheap, but most of the products in stores (especially American chains, such as Walmart) are even cheaper than in Belarus.

Bottom line: Mexico is not the best cheap option for relaxation, but it is possible to go on a budget.

4. Attractions

You can’t just come on vacation to Mexico and not see the world-famous Mayan Pyramids! Moreover, the Riviera Maya has several historical complexes that are located near the resort towns.

The most famous of them is Chichen Itza. I won’t describe the entire story I know about this center of the Mayan civilization, but I will say that it’s really worth seeing! It still remains a mystery how people in the 7th century built something like this. The Mexican guide surprised me. He said that the following theory is popular in Mexico: the ancestors of those same Mayan Indians are people who came from Northeast Asia to explore the American continent (the Bering Strait did not yet exist). Scientists (anthropologists, geologists, ethnographers, archaeologists) have provided a lot of evidence for this theory. No matter where the Indians come from, their heritage gives the impression of something unearthly. Located in Chichen Itza, the Kukulcan Pyramid is declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World. You can also visit Tulum - these are ancient ruins on one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world and the partially preserved Mayan city of Coba.

Extreme sports lovers will easily find entertainment here. For example, the park (Xplor), where tourists are offered to fly in special harnesses over waterfalls and gorges at an altitude of 45 meters, ride through the wild jungle and raft along an underground river, enjoying the views of stalactites and stalagmites.
The Yucatan Peninsula is rich natural parks for every taste. I visited one of these (Xcaret) and I can say that it is best park, which I've ever been to! Animals in their natural environment habitats, stunning nature: waterfalls, jungles, exotic plants; here you can see a recreated village of the Mayan Indians, swim with dolphins, stingrays, sharks, turtles (this, however, is for a fee), raft down an underground river and in the evening see an incredible performance about the history of Mexico.

Underground lakes that can only be found in Mexico - cenotes - deserve special attention. These are huge, very deep wells with clean, blue water. Tourists can swim in them; even one view of the lake under the stalactites is very unusual.

I have only listed short list the main advantages of the Riviera Maya and their observations. There are a lot of impressions left! And they are entirely positive, so I advise everyone, if the opportunity arises, to visit Mexico.

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