To the south of Cancún is the popular tourist destination Riviera Maya, including the famous cities of Playa del Carmen and Tulum, as well as the much-visited island paradise of Cozumel. It's in this area that you'll find dozens, actually hundreds, of luxury hotel resorts where you can lounge on a private beach and sip margaritas. And this is also where the vast majority of tourists flying into the Yucatán Peninsula, Cancún, stay.

To be honest, I tried to minimize my time in the Riviera Maya and in retrospect I am very glad I did. Of course, we all have this set up a little differently. I'm sure beach and swimming lovers will find a lot to like here, then also those who want to have fun and visit different bars or discos. Last but not least, people who are used to some service stay in Riviera Maya. In short, they have come here to relax, at most they plan to take a trip or two, which will be arranged by the helpful hotel staff. We don't quite fit into either category... Let me try to explain my point of view, you may not agree.

For me, the Riviera Maya is just a glitter for tourists, and it has little to do with Mexico as such. Really, everything here is tailored to tourists - restaurants, attractions, accommodations, tour organization and of course prices. Expect to pay quite a bit more on the Riviera than inland. But I wanted to experience the authentic Mexico, not settle into a hotel with regular switching between a beach lounger and the hotel restaurant, and consider a trip to the hotelier's zona hotelera for a flat white at a stopade the greatest experience. If I was worth something like that, I'd stay in Europe and not have to trek halfway across the world right. But something different suits everyone, and that's fine.

Riviera Maya accommodation

I didn't find anything interesting in Cancun that was worth attention, so apart from arrival/departure and picking up/returning the car, we didn't stick around at all. Playa del Carmen served as a sort of "recharging station" where we recharged our energy after the lengthy ordeal of cancelled flights. The very first place we entered into the navigation was Hotel 52 Playa del Carmen. Super location, modern rooms with huge beds and a rooftop pool, for €41/night really cool.

Another tips for accommodation in PDC:

cheap: Bed & Breakfast Casaejido - cabins in a tropical garden for approx. €32/night
medium: Hotel Los Itzaes - hotel in the most desirable location, approx. €64/night, or variously sized apartments in Suites Cielo y Mar with prices from €48 including breakfast and bike rental
luxury: Hotel La Semilla - a beautiful stylish hotel, or luxury suites in Maya Villa Condo

The second night on the Riviera I booked a hotel in Tulum, specifically Siente Tulum. It was a really nice accommodation that still smelled new. What's more, I booked it for a misleading price, because the night here cost us only €36 (on the spot they had completely different prices at the reception). There was again a swimming pool on the rooftop and several options for dinner/breakfast right next door. And the best part - the famous Tulum ruins can be reached on foot in 10 minutes from the hotel. Who wouldn't want to save money on parking fees, right?

Another tips for Tulum accommodation:

cheap: Los Arcos - private rooms in the city centre for about €40/night
medium: Turquoise Tulum Hotel - very nice accommodation for a very reasonable price, or different types of rooms/studios in Latino Hotel Boutique
Luxury: there are a huge number of beautiful stylish hotels in Tulum, you won't know which one to choose first. My tips are La Valise or KAN Tulum for example.

And what have we done in this area in such a short time?

1. Playa Punta Esmeralda (PDC)

From the name it is already obvious that it is a beach, but... not just any beach. It has an open cenote that flows into the sea here, so you can actually take a dip in both fresh and salt water. And the white, soft sand lined with coconut palms, as befits a riviera beach, is a matter of course.

The biggest advantage I see in the fact that the cenote has a very gradual entrance and overall it is quite shallow => a paddling pool for kids is ideal! But I mean, even adults were camping in the shallows as part of cooling down :) The wooden swings and of course the fact that there is no entrance fee may be a bonus for someone.

2. Coba ruins

Or our first Mayan ruins and our first woow. I will not dwell here on the description of the individual structures, let's go more on a practical level. In addition to the admission fee, expect to pay parking fees here, prices in 2022 as follows (both cash only):

parking - 60 MEX/car
entrance fee - 100 MEX/per.

Guides will offer their services right at the ticket office. I have no idea how much, though, because we've never hired a guide ourselves, let alone now with Kobliha :) One more irresistible offer awaits you a little further on - BIKE hire. They will tell you that the ruins are very far away and that you will walk a lot. They're right, but it's no big drama. However, enough people do rent bikes here, it was 65 or 75 MEX/bike/day. Definitely a cool option if you're in a bit of a hurry, but otherwise it's totally doable on foot. Oh, and if you don't feel like pedaling, you can hire a bike taxi (cost 100 MEX/one way). We walked, of course, and even with a carriage we covered all parts of Coba ruins in about 2,5 hours.

The advantage is that most of the local roads and paths lead through the jungle - i.e. in the shade, so you won't fry in the direct sun. I recommend keeping your eyes peeled for woodland, we saw snakes, lizards, giant butterflies and monkeys for example. See what you're lucky enough to see, there are also jaguars in Mexico! :)

Important: you may have read somewhere that the Mayan pyramids in Coba are one of the few that can be climbed. Please do NOT, this is outdated info!! It used to be really possible, but due to the ever increasing numbers of tourists it is now forbidden, so just don't attempt anything like that here.

3. Tulum ruins

For starters, let me make one recommendation - slip in here early in the morning. Reason number one: crowds of people... we don't like. Probably no one. Seriously, I've never seen so many people in the Yucatan as I have here... Reason number two is the fact that the Tulum ruins, unlike Coba, are not in the jungle. They are located on high cliffs above the sea, which looks great at first glance, but after a while you start to curse the location. You can expect to be swelteringly hot and almost no shade, so don't underestimate the preparation and definitely bring sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat/cap and plenty of water.

Before you even reach the entrance to the archaeological site, you will be approached by approximately 20-30 people. Of course, there are guides offering their services, but watch out, they're really good at it here - they're standing at stands with signs saying "official tourist info", wearing uniforms and very helpfully explaining how convenient it is to see the ruins from the boat. There are also cultural interludes in the form of various dances and performances, and I mustn't forget the photo opportunities - monkey photoshoot, snake photoshoot, photoshoot with a would-be native, etc. etc. Well, just a tourist place through and through.

The entrance fee to Tulum ruins is not expensive, in 2022 it is 85 MEX/person, I would just recommend to have this amount of money counted in advance (they don't take cards). In fact, they have a sign at the ticket office that they don't take change, and that visitors must have the exact amount. Once you've paid the entrance fee, it's up to you to tour the grounds. Be sure not to miss the views from the cliffs, where the local iguanas often bask. Other permanent fixtures here are the rhinos or coati (from the original Indian language).

4. Zona Hotelera Tulum

If you're into instagram posts, this will be heaven for you. Not so much for us, or rather the hotel zone is exactly the top of the imaginary tourist glitz I wrote about at the beginning of the article. Now what to imagine under it. It's actually a very long street full of hotel resorts, from which of course you will only see fences, entrances and gates, unless you are staying in them. And filling the space between these hotels are stylish bars, cafes, restaurants, boutiques and shops selling original handicrafts such as hammocks, dream catchers, wicker decorations, macramé, etc.

The most famous insta places:

"Follow that dream" sign
Daniel Popper's wooden statue "Ven a la Luz" - probably the most photographed object in Tulum
entrance to the Conestesia Beach Club - straw rabbit
entrance to Selina Tulum - wooden fan
entrance to the Vagalume Tulum Beach Club - a levitating hand
Matcha Mama - smoothie stand (yep you read that right :)
SFER IK gallery - really nice, many architecture fans will love this place (entrance fee 200 MEX and you have to take your shoes off)

TIP: Please note that you cannot park directly in the hotel zone! There are some private parking lots, but of course they are paid and not exactly cheap. If you're staying somewhere in Tulum, I'd recommend renting a bike instead - quite often they're available in hotels for free or for some small fee. A car is such an unnecessary burden here compared to a bike, especially if you want to browse the shops and just cruise around.

5. Muyil ruins (+ Sian Ka´an)

About a 20-minute drive from Tulum is this archaeological area, which is not very well known. We stopped here on our way to the Bacalar lagoon, but it can also be taken as a half-day trip from Tulum. Or if you add the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, even a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you've got a full day's program. Sian Ka'an is both on land and in the adjacent mangroves and swamps, plus the Mesoamerican Coral Reef (the 2nd largest in the world) stretches the entire length of the reserve. You must visit with a guide as the reserve is home to many rare animals: jaguars, pumas, ocelots, crocodiles, caracaras, warthogs, tapirs, anteaters, peccaries, flamingos, ibis and other species.

At Muyil you can park right outside the entrance, don't worry, there is no parking fee. The entrance fee to the archaeological zone will cost you 85 MEX (cash only) + you will definitely be offered a boat trip in Sian Ka'an, the lagoon is nearby and can be reached through the Muyil ruins. If you just want to get to the lagoon and the boats, without visiting the ruins, you can take the main road to the Oxxo shop. After a few dozen meters through the jungle, you will come across an entrance with a parking lot. Entrance to the reserve (this way) cost I think 20 MEX/person.

The Muyil ruins themselves are not very large, but I kind of liked them :) The absolute minimum of tourists, which we really appreciated after the overcrowded Tulum, the beautiful El Castillo pyramid and overall a very nice and peaceful walk through the jungle among interesting trees and plants.

In Riviera Maya you will also find a huge number of cenotes, unfortunately also a huge number of people, especially in the cenotes close to Tulum. For this reason, we decided to skip the cenotes in this area altogether and save the cave bathing for later... for cheaper and no people. And now you can go straight on to the next article with cool tips for activities at Laguna Bacalar.

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What's worth seeing on the Riviera Maya?