Cancun, Mexico
CANCÚN is, if nothing else, proof of Mexico’s remarkable ability to get things done in a hurry – so long as the political will exists. Between 1970 and 1974, a near-deserted stretch of beach was transformed into a viable resort destination, as the Mexican government built city infrastructure from scratch and funded three hotels. International hotel chains flocked to profit, workers and tourists arrived in droves, and now Cancún has a resident population of half a million and hosts almost two million visitors a year. The government chose the location well: the white-sand beaches are impeccable, and the city is marginally closer to Miami than it is to Mexico City. If you come on an all-inclusive package tour the place has a lot to offer – striking modern hotels, a hectic nightlife and high-energy entertainment including parachuting, jet skiing, scuba diving and golf – and from here much of the rest of the Yucatán is easily accessible. For the independent traveller, though, Cancún is expensive, and can be frustrating and unwelcoming. You may well be forced to spend the night here, but without pots of money the typical pleasures of the place will elude you. Cancún (Spanish pronunciation: [kaŋˈkun]) is a coastal city in Mexico’s easternmost state, Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula. Cancún is located on the Yucatan Channel that separates Mexico from the island of Cuba in the Greater Antilles. The Cancún region is sometimes known as the Mexican Caribbean.
Cancún is the municipal seat of the Benito Juárez municipality and a world-renowned tourist resort. The city center is located on the mainland which connects the Nichupté and Bojórquez lagoons to a narrow 7-shaped island where the modern beachfront hotels are located. The island of Isla Mujeres is located off the coast and is accessible by boat from Puerto Juárez.
The city has two quite separate parts: the zona comercial downtown – the shopping and residential centre which, as it gets older, is becoming genuinely earthy – and the zona hotelera, the strip of hotels and tourist amenities along “Cancún island”, actually a narrow, 25-kilometre-long barrier island connected to the mainland at each end by causeways. It encloses a huge lagoon, so there’s water on both sides.
The older section of the city, known as “El Centro” follows the original master plan, consists of neighborhoods called “supermanzanas” (superblocks) that are formed by the intersections of the boulevards and traffic circles (roundabouts). This area is characterized by winding streets with culs-de-sac that tend to keep out the main flow of traffic, including market places such Xel Ha. They usually have one or more parks, green spaces, paseos (pedestrian walkways) and various national historical monuments.
Cancun, Mexico
Ave. Tulum is the main north-south artery (connecting downtown to the airport some 30 km (19 mi) to south). Tulum is bisected by Ave. Cobá. East of Ave. Tulum, Cobá becomes Ave. Kukulcan which serves as the primary road that runs through the long 7-shaped hotel zone. Ave. Tulum is terminated on the north side by Ave. Paseo José López Portillo which connects to the main highway to Chichén Itzá and Mérida. Another major north-south road is Ave. Bonampak which runs roughly parallel to Ave. Tulum. The main ferry to Isla Mujeres is located in Puerto Juarez on Ave. Paseo José López Portillo.
The original master plan was repeatedly modified, and on the mainland, often ignored. To save on the cost of installing sewer systems and other public services, the design of much of the rest of the city reverted to the grid plan after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. The newest upper-middle-class residential areas reflect the original plan, but are much less intimate. Less expensive developments are comprised almost entirely of identical one- or two-story small row-houses, sometimes built around interior plazas. Almost all buildings on the mainland are below four stories high.
The city is actually split in two main area, the Zona Hotelera, which is a an 18 Km long island which is located facing the caribbean on one side along a long sunny beach strip with many large fancy hotel and on the other back side it is surrounded by a beautiful lagoon called Laguna Nichupte. The second part of the city is called Ciudad Cancun, which is in the mainland. This is where most of the Cancun local people live, and also where tourists can find more budget accommodations. Ciudad Cancun and Zona Hotelera are joined by this long causeway/bridge. They are literally two different worlds. Ciudad Cancun has some nice restaurants and bars along Avenida Yaxchitlan, and a more Mexico feel to it. The Zona Hotelera has the opulence of Las Vegas, Nevada with a beautiful beach, nice malls, fancy bars but no casinos.
Originally known as Ekab (“Black Earth”), what is now the northern district of the state of Quintana Roo was thickly populated by people who spoke the language now known as Maya when the Spanish arrived, according to the conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo. In the years after the Conquest, most of the population died off or left as a result of disease, warfare, piracy, and famines, leaving only small settlements on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island
The city of Cancún resulted from a 1967 study by Banco de México to determine the feasibility of capturing more dollars and other foreign exchange through tourism development. Although the story goes that Cancún was picked by a computer, it was actually selected after extensive research and exploration by the bank’s researchers. Banco de México obtained a $27 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank to install the first infrastructure. When development was started on Jan. 23, 1970, Isla Cancún had only three residents, caretakers of the coconut plantation of Don José de Jesús Lima, who lived on Isla Mujeres, and there were only 117 people living in nearby Puerto Juárez, a fishing village and military base.[1]
Monument to the history of Mexico
“Due to the reluctance of investors to bet on an unknown area, the Mexican government had to finance the first nine hotels.” The first hotel financed was the Hyatt Cancun Caribe, but the first hotel actually built was the Playa Blanca, which later became a Blue Bay hotel, and is now Temptation Resort. The entire project was master-planned, with the island (soon connected to the mainland by causeways) devoted almost exclusively to tourism facilities, while workers housing and service areas were located on the mainland in what became the city of Cancún.
Most ‘Cancunenses’ here are from Yucatán and other Mexican states. A growing number are from the rest of the Americas and Europe. The municipal authorities have struggled to provide public services for the constant influx of people, as well as to control squatters and irregular developments, which now occupy an estimated ten to fifteen percent of the mainland area on the fringes of the city.
There are about 150 hotels in Cancún with more than 24,000 rooms and 380 restaurants. Four million visitors arrive each year in an average of 190 flights daily.[citation needed] The Hotel Zone of Cancún is shaped like a 7 with bridges on each end connecting to the mainland. Hotels on the vertical or long side of the 7 tend to have rougher beaches and beach erosion can be a problem. Resorts on the horizontal or short end of the seven tend to have more gentle surf because the waves here are blocked by the island of Isla Mujeres which lies just off shore. The Hotel Zone offers a broad range of accommodations, ranging from relatively inexpensive motel-style facilities in the older section closest to the mainland, to high-priced luxury hotels in the later sections, great malls, theme parks and swimming with dolphins activity.
On the opposite side of the island from the Caribbean Sea is the Nichupté Lagoon, which is used for boating excursions and jet-ski jungle tours.
Cancún is also the gateway to the Riviera Maya, another tourist pole in the area, where people go attracted by the numerous archaeological sites, as Cobá and Tulum, the many cenotes, the ecological parks as Xcaret and charming towns as Playa del Carmen.
Nearby are many Maya sites that are easy to explore. They offer a unique insight in the precolombian civilization of Mexico. Many tourists get packages to visit Chichen Itza,a good 2-3 hrs away by car.
But, if a tourist takes local buses, or even better, rents a car…there are many wonderful places to see. Some of the closer ones to Cancun are Cobá and Tulum, which are near Playa del Carmen, which is also another tourist ocean area on the so called Ruta Maya, within an hour from Cancun. Tulum ruins are near the water, so it is a scenic place, Cobá is about 45 mins. inland from Tulum….very wonderful place. Renting a bike on site is recommended in order to visit the whole site, as it is very spread out. There is also a nice tall pyramid to climb with an awesome view of the surrounding jungle….
Near Chichen Itza, just north of the city of Valladolid, there are the recent excavations in a place called Ek Balam. The place is very well preserved, and it is worth a visit…and you’ll miss most of the crowds that go to Chichen Itza.
If you are into Mayan ruins, it is recommended that you visit the surroundings near the city of Mérida (on the west side of Yucatan, 4 hrs. by car from Cancun) and do the Ruta Puuc. This route is best enjoyed in a couple days, but, if you are in a rush, you can do it all in one day if you have an early start. The most impressive one is a place called Uxmal…it is well preserved and very large. There are several other ones…about 5-6 of them, among them Sayil and Labna. They are all great, well kept, and uncrowded. From there, after Ruta Puuc, you can drive to Chichen Itza…visiting some small Yucatecan small towns and villages on the way, such as the town of Oxcutzcab, famous for their citrus industry and see their main downtown square, church and market.
The other main attraction of Cancun consists of the possibilities to see the world under the waves. Snorkeling and diving in Cancun and nearby Cozumel are among the best of the world.
There are these other things around Ruta Maya, they are these waterholes near mangrove area, sort of like sinkholes filled with clean fresh water. These are called Cenotes, and you can swim in them. There are tons around this area and they are worth checking out.
The town itself is rather disappointing however and if you have not booked a room with your flight it would be better to find lodging somewhere else. The big hotel chains are focused very much on package deal groups and do not cater well to individual travelers. This is correct, yet, to do Cancun in a budget, try Ciudad Cancun for lodging, the hotels are a lot more reasonable there, and there are even a few hostels. You can always catch a bus to the beach area.
Cancun is a wonderful destination. For beachcombers who do not want to leave the sun, they can just do that. But for those who want to get some culture and explore the richness of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, the opportunities are endless. This is a very unique area, very different from Mainland Mexico.
Cancun at night
The town and beaches
There’s little in the way of sights in downtown Cancún. Most visitors head straight for the zona hotelera and the beaches. Though you’re free to go anywhere, and signposted public walkways lead down to the sea at regular intervals, some of the hotels do their best to make you feel like a trespasser, and staff will certainly move you off the beach furniture if you’re not a guest. To avoid being eyed suspiciously by hotel heavies, head for one of the dozen or so public beaches that are squeezed between the hotels. The beaches on the north coast of the zona hotelera, such as Playa Tortugas, are calm and shallow but often crowded, while those at the southeastern tip, such as Playa Ballenas and Playa Delfines, have more surf (and occasional dangerous currents) and are often near-deserted; a couple of beaches facing the bay – Playa Linda and Playa Langosta – are naturally quite calm and are very good for swimming. All are free but you may have to pay a small charge for a shower. Entertainment and expensive water sports are laid on all around the big hotels; if you venture further south, where more sites await construction, you can find surprisingly empty sand and occasional groups of nude sunbathers.
To catch a bit of culture while you’re out here, the Sheraton boasts a small Maya ruin on its grounds, while the Museo de Antropología, behind the convention centre (Mon– Sat 9am–8pm, Sun 10am–7pm; US$2), has a small but absorbing outline of Mesoamerican and Maya culture and history, with information in English and Spanish. Cancún’s largest Maya remains, El Rey (daily 8am–5pm; US$3.20), are at Km 18, overlooking the Nichupté Lagoon. They’re not especially impressive – and if you decide not to take one of the guides at the entrance, there’s no information available to explain them – but the area is peaceful and good for spotting birds and iguanas.
The best snorkelling in Cancún is at Punta Nizuc, next to Club Med. You aren’t allowed to cross the grounds unless you’re staying there, so you have to get off the bus at the Westin Regina Resort, cross the Westin’s grounds to the beach, then turn right and walk for about twenty minutes until you reach the rocky point. Walk over the rocks and snorkel to your heart’s content. To join a snorkelling tour or go diving, contact Aquaworld (998/848-8326, www.aquaworld.com.mx). A one-tank dive costs about US$60 and a full PADI open-water certification course is around US$385. To view the colourful underwater life in a more leisurely fashion, take a trip on the Subsee Explorer, a glass-bottom boat that leaves from the Aquaworld centre at Bulevar Kukulcán Km 15.2 every hour from 9am to 3pm (US$35).
Both jet skiing (US$50 for 30min) and parasailing (US$40 for 10min) are very popular in Cancún and operators are dotted at frequent intervals in front of the big hotels on the beach.
Eating
Cancún’s restaurants outnumber hotels many times over, and competition is fierce. Downtown, the bulk of the tourist restaurants line Avenida Tulum and its side streets: eat here and you can enjoy “fun” disco sounds with your meal. Though seafood and steak are the mainstay of many menus, you can also eat Middle Eastern, Yucatecan, Italian, Chinese, French, Cajun and Polynesian, not to mention international fast food and local chains. All the hotels in the zona hotelera have at least one formal restaurant, some of which are very elegant indeed, surrounded by tropical foliage with fountains and music. Many also feature a more relaxed beach or poolside dining room.
For budget food, follow the locals and make for the markets. The biggest in Cancún is Mercado 28, close to the city’s main post office at the western end of Avenida Sunyaxchen, where there are plenty of food stalls and tiny cheap restaurants. Because Cancún draws workers from all over the country, the selection reflects a wide variety of regional specialties, and the atmosphere is lively, especially at weekends. The other market in Cancún, Mercado 23, is much smaller but makes a relatively peaceful venue for a decent Mexican lunch. From the bus station, walk a few blocks north along Avenida Tulum and then turn left on Calle Flamboyan or Calle Cerdo. For dinner, the Parque de las Palapas has a number of food stalls that are open late.
Almost all of the restaurants in the zona hotelera are geared towards one thing only: parting tourists from large amounts of cash. The few recommended here are good for a splurge, or are rare bargains. If you are staying on the beach, you’re often better off taking a cab or the convenient “Hoteles” bus into downtown Cancún, where you’ll find good food at reasonable prices, and more importantly, a congenial mix of peo
Entertainment and nightlife
As Cancún’s goal is to encourage almost two million visitors each year to have fun, the entertainment scene in the zona hotelera is lavish – or remorseless, depending on how you look at it. There’s everything from sports and gambling bars to romantic piano lounges to fun bars, even just plain drinking bars: enough choice to ensure that you can find a place to have a good time without being ripped off. Most of the nightclubs, on the other hand, are pricey, with a “no shorts or sandals” dress code, and the music usually painfully generic. Downtown, people often dance at weekends to traditional Mexican music at the Parque de las Palapas, and the stretch of Avenida Yaxchilán north of Avenida Sunyaxchen is quite lively – a few touts still push menus at tourists, but the clientele at the open-terrace restaurant-bars is mostly Mexican, and the entertainment limited to TVs, karaoke and roving trovadores. A couple of cinemas show new American releases subtitled in Spanish; the largest downtown is the multi-screen Cineapolis in Plaza Las Américas on Avenida Tulum south of Avenida Cobá; in the zona hotelera, there’s a cinema in Plaza La Isla, Blv Kukulcán Km 8.5.
Hurricane impact
Cancún is located in one of the main Caribbean hurricane impact areas, but since it was founded it has received direct hits from only two major hurricanes, Gilbert (1988) and Wilma (2005). In both cases, federal, state and municipal authorities were well prepared to deal with most of the effects on tourists and local residents. After Wilma, emergency plans were modified to rectify areas of weak performance.[citation needed] To avoid having tourists wind up in uncomfortable situations in public shelters, authorities asked tourism operators to suspend sending tourists to Cancún when Hurricane Dean approached, and encouraged airlines to send empty planes, which were then used to evacuate tourists. Most recently, remnants from Tropical Storm Olga caused some localized flooding on December 2007.
Hurricane Wilma
On October 21, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with strong winds in excess of 150 mph (240 km/h). The hurricane’s eye first passed over the island of Cozumel, and then made an official landfall near Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo at around midnight on October 22 EDT with winds near 140 mph (230 km/h). Portions of the island of Cozumel experienced the calm eye of Wilma for several hours with some blue skies and sunshine visible at times. The eye slowly drifted northward, with the center passing just to the west of Cancún, Quintana Roo. Some portions of the Yucatán Peninsula experienced hurricane-force winds for well over 24 hours. The hurricane began accelerating in the early morning hours of October 23, exiting the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula and entering the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 storm.
Hurricane Dean
Although in 2007 the eye of Hurricane Dean landed 190 miles (310 km) to the south of Cancún, fierce winds at the outside of its impact cone stripped some of the sand off 7.5 miles (12.1 km) of beach from Punta Cancún (Camino Real Hotel) to Punta Nizuc (Club Med), reports Virginia Prospero in Novedades de Quintana Roo.
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