Recommendations from Past Vacations to the Yucatan

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My family has been going to the Yucatan for vacation for many years now. (My parents are creatures of habit that enjoy vacationing, as opposed to traveling.) So, while we have used Cancun as a homebase during our trips, I’ve been able to check out a lot of the countryside.

As for ruins, obviously Chichen Itza I the best known and the most restored. It is definitely worth the visit and a guide is highly recommended. Their knowledge of the place is amazing and it surely won’t disappoint. However, the place is crowded with tourists and it ruins any sort of serenity by mid morning. Similarly, Tulum is well restored but crowded. However, its position on the sea is fabulous and remains one of my favorite places due to this stunning backdrop. Coba is great. It is larger than Chichen Itza in shear size, has huge ruins, and yet isn’t as excavated, giving it a more original feel. You can rent bicycles to get to the various ruins and it is highly recommended as they are pretty far apart. Ek Balam is also an amazing site. It is the least touristy and also the least renovated of the ones mentioned (or at least was when I saw it in 2000).

I’ve been to a few other beaches in the area. Playa is nice, or was nice, and is now getting a bit crowded (this from the guy who spends most of his time in Cancun; so yeah, it is crowded). There is a city further south, a small fishing town who's name escapes me, which has a great beach, not many people, and, best yet, has a great limestone cover nearby for snorkeling. A lot of people still go to Xcaret but it has turned into a Disney Land spectacle of Yucatan wildlife. It is kind of bizarre, and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it does offer the opportunity to swim with dolphins which is worth the experience.

As for Cancun… Go into the Old Town, ride the buses, enjoy what of Mexico there is to see; but in the end, you are in a tourist haven so embrace the chaos of Americans wearing socks with sandals, families asking for you to take their Christmas photos, and eighteen year olds grinding on dance floors and puking on buses. It can definitely provide some interesting stories.

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Photos

Yucatan Wildlife
At the snorkeling spot

Deep Sea Fishing in Cancun
My brother Ryan caught this guy.

Fishing Village
A nice quiet beach in the Yucatan

Cancun
A tourist haven.