Mayan Riviera Rebounds: Large resort proves good choice on this foray into Mexico

02-19-2006

David Bear The walled Mayan ruins at Tulum are one of the Yucatan's most picturesque sites. Its name, which means wall in Mayan, was given by explorers in 1843, but the ancients who built the city called it Zama, or "to dawn," appropriate for its setting on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean.

COBA, MEXICO -- Once in the open I felt the blazing sun, and sweat beads began bubbling on my forearms. Grabbing the thick rope, I began hauling myself up the steep, rough stone steps of Nicoh Mul, at 140 feet the Yucatan's tallest Mayan pyramid. I reached the top platform in two minutes and took a look around to catch my breath. Other than a pair of lacquer lakes shimmering in the distance and the gray pinnacle of a small temple protruding from the forest canopy, everything else was an undulating sea of green.

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is a vast thumb of low-lying limestone blanketed by dense tangles of stubby woodlands and drained by a network of subterranean rivers. For 1,000 years the Yucatan was occupied by a shifting patchwork of Mayan kingdoms that had faded back into the forest by the time Spaniards arrived in Mexico. The Europeans set up commerce along the peninsula's perimeters, but generally found its mangrove swamp coastlines unwelcoming and its heated interior of little use, too rocky to farm and with few natural riches to exploit. So the eastern Yucatan remained undeveloped until the 1970s, when a new industry was born.

Creation of the resort city of Cancun 40 years ago has transformed the Yucatan's Caribbean coast into one of the world's most magnetic tourism destinations, each year luring millions of sun, sand and sea seekers from around the world. The city and the 24-mile-long ring of sandy keys that enclose its Nichupte Lagoon have become a parade of hotels, resorts, haciendas and condo developments of all degree of luxury.

Even more recent resort development has spread over once-empty stretches of coastline between settlements along the 80 miles south from Cancun airport to the ancient Mayan citadel now called Tulum. Twenty years ago beachfront accommodations along this stretch tended to be basic and small, low-key on the beach. But that formula has changed; so many big resorts have cultivated large tracts of coast between Highway 307 and the sea, the 60 miles between Puerto Morales and Tulum have been dubbed the "Riviera Maya."

Last year, the Yucatan hosted two unwelcome visitors: Category 4 hurricanes Emily on July 19 and Wilma on Oct. 21. Both storms triggered mass evacuations and inflicted significant damage, especially on the exposed ring of Cancun's hotel zone.

They packed plenty of punch farther south on the peninsula, but as we learned during a recent getaway, the storms struck more glancing blows in this area of the Yucatan, shearing high-standing foliage and rearranging roof tiles and road signs, but few knockout punches.

We had come to the Mayan Riviera for a long weekend in the sunshine (which as it turned out was the one between AFC Championship and the Super Bowl), and curious to see how this part of the Yucatan had weathered the weather. Although my wife and I are more usually attracted to smaller, exclusive hotels on secluded beaches rather than vast, inclusive resorts, we thought our nearly 18-year-old son would appreciate the amenities of more modern accommodations, especially those that include easy access to ESPN and the Internet.

So we went big, checking into the Barcelo Maya Resort, which occupies over a mile of shoreline roughly halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. The four-hotel complex proved very enticing, with commodious and comfortable guest rooms, a great beach, family-oriented pools and lots of activities. (Click here for related story.)

Since I'd never sampled other resorts on the Mayan Riviera, I don't have many points of comparison, but Barcelo provided what we vacationers wanted. Indeed, there would have been no need for us to go anywhere else. But we'd also come to witness more of the Yucatan, so we headed out each day in our rental car to see what we could see.

One morning we drove 15 miles south to Tulum, where we visited the picturesque remains of the Mayan walled city set on a stony bluff over the Caribbean. Afterward, we drove a few miles south along the coast road to a chain of small inns and guest houses, stopping for a late lunch on a beach patio at Ana y Jose's, a charming little place with 24 beachside rooms.

The next day, we drove to Coba, another Mayan ruin that was less developed than Chichen Itza and, only 60 miles away. It didn't take us many miles off the main road to get a glimpse of the lower Yucatan, away from the tourism centers. Venturing relatively blindly over the narrow, two-lane road through the otherwise impenetrable scrubland revealed little development between the poor, tiny settlements.

Coba was a huge Mayan metropolis; its remaining ruins are scattered over 20 square miles of tropical jungle. Well-worn paths wend through the low woods to significant sites, and bicycles and pedicabs are for rent for visitors who don't care to walk. There were plenty of people on the day we went, but nothing like the crowds said to swarm over Chichen Itza. Our final outing was the least ambitious, a quick hop down Highway 307 to explore the cenote Dos Ojos. The eastern Yucatan is largely drained by subterranean streams carved by time through the limestone. Cenotes, or sink holes, are places where the surface has collapsed, providing access to these watery labyrinths. Rich with Mayan myth and natural beauty, cenotes are also the source of much of the modern Yucatan's fresh water.

Situated 2 miles along a rutty track worn off the highway, Dos Ojos, or two eyes, is a double opening punched in the hard-packed terrain, two rubble-filled doughnuts of water maybe 75 yards in diameter. With our masks and snorkels, we paddled around near the surface around the perimeters of the dark but glass-clear cave pools, watching the eerie glow of scuba diver's lamps emanating from the deeper caves and passages. It was a pretty cool way to spend an hour, but all of us could still hear the call of a pristine beach and poolside drinks.

When all was said and done, our all-inclusive Yucatan experience proved to also be all-enticing.

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