Riviera Maya

Cancún International Airport is one of the Americas' busiest and best connected, with direct flights from virtually every US city and many international hubs. The drive south along the 307 highway passes Playa del Carmen (45 minutes) and continues to the major resort zones of Mayakoba, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum. Check into your resort and get to the Caribbean immediately — the color of the water on the Riviera Maya in the afternoon light is extraordinary. Mayakoba, 65km south of Cancún, contains four of the world's finest resort hotels (Rosewood, Banyan Tree, Andaz, Fairmont) in an eco-preserve of coastal jungle, mangrove, and freshwater lagoon. The Mayakoba lagoon system, navigated by golf cart and boat, constitutes one of Mexico's most thoughtful luxury resort environments.

Tulum is the most dramatically situated Mayan archaeological site on the Yucatan Peninsula — a walled city built on a cliff above the Caribbean, with the ruins of the Castillo (the main pyramid) and the Temple of the Frescoes directly above a beach of extraordinary turquoise water. The site is compact (unlike Chichen Itza's enormous scale) and the combination of 13th-century Mayan ruins, the sea-cliff setting, and the Caribbean turquoise visible through every gap in the ancient walls creates a photographic composition unlike any other. Book the first entry slot at 8am before the crowds arrive and explore with a guide who can explain the Mayan cosmology and astronomical alignments. The Tulum Beach town south of the ruins is the Riviera Maya's hippest destination — yoga retreats, cenote clubs, jungle boutique hotels, and creative restaurants in a bohemian strip.

The Yucatan Peninsula has the world's largest underground freshwater cave system —kat the cenotes (limestone sinkholes providing access to the underground rivers and caves) are the Riviera Maya's most extraordinary natural experience. Cenote Dos Ojos (Two Eyes) near Tulum has two connected cenote chambers accessible by snorkeling or scuba through clear water of extraordinary visibility (100+ feet). The open sky cenote of Grand Cenote is shallower and perfect for swimming in crystalline fresh water surrounded by stalactites and underwater cave formations. Cenote Ik Kil near Chichen Itza is the most visually spectacular — a 60-meter open-sky cylinder with vines and trees growing from the rim and the circular water surface 26 meters below, with the walls covered in ferns. The underground cenote Aktun-Ha (Car Wash) near Tulum has completely still clear water in a cave accessible by kayak.

Chichen Itza (2.5 hours from Playa del Carmen) is the most important Maya archaeological site on the Yucatan and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. El Castillo (the Temple of Kukulcan) — a 30-meter pyramid of 365 steps (one for each day of the Maya solar calendar) — is aligned so precisely that on the spring and fall equinoxes, a serpent of shadow descends the northern staircase in the late afternoon, re-enacting the descent of the feathered serpent god Kukulcan. The Great Ball Court (the largest in Mesoamerica, with acoustic properties that allow whispers to be heard 150 meters away), the Sacred Cenote (a natural sinkhole used for ritual offerings), and the Observatory (El Caracol) —kat the Maya's circular astronomical observatory — are the other major monuments. Visit early (8am) to avoid the midday heat and the tour groups.

Playa del Carmen is the urban hub of the Riviera Maya — a town of 300,000 that has grown from a fishing village in 30 years to the most active urban beach destination in Mexico. The Fifth Avenue (La Quinta Avenida) — a pedestrianized street parallel to the Caribbean, 1.5km long and lined with restaurants, boutiques, and bars — is the heart of the resort town. Playa del Carmen's beach (Playacar and the beach clubs at Mamitas and Zenzi) is excellent. The Cozumel day trip — 30 minutes by fast ferry to the island with some of the finest coral reefs in the western hemisphere — leaves from the Playa del Carmen ferry terminal. Cozumel's Palancar Reef (part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second longest in the world) has visibility of 100+ feet and extraordinary deep-wall coral diving.

A day of deliberate luxury at Rosewood or Banyan Tree Mayakoba. The Mayakoba lagoon system — navigated by silent electric golf cart through the jungle, crossing the lagoon bridges, watching the birds in the mangrove, and arriving at the beach through a corridor of jungle —kat is one of the most thoughtfully designed resort environments in the Americas. The Sense Spa at Rosewood Mayakoba uses Mayan healing traditions (chocolate body wraps, copal incense, jade stone massage) in treatments that are among the finest spa experiences in Mexico. Afternoon at the private Mayakoba beach club, then dinner at La Ceiba (Rosewood's restaurant in a jungle cenote clearing) for the most dramatic restaurant setting in Mexico.

Cancún International Airport is 65km from Mayakoba — allow 90 minutes for the transfer. A final morning swim in the Caribbean or the Mayakoba lagoon, a final breakfast of chilaquiles or huevos rancheros facing the jungle, and the specific color of the morning Caribbean light before the airport journey. Take home Mayan cacao chocolate (the ancient Maya's sacred drink), a bottle of Riviera Maya mezcal from a Playa del Carmen specialty shop, hand-embroidered huipil textiles from the Playa del Carmen market, and the understanding that the Riviera Maya has evolved from a Cancun beach appendage into one of the world's great luxury and cultural destinations.