Yucatan

Traveling

A trip to the Yucatan is for many people only as a place for a nice vacation residence on the unspoiled beaches of the Caribbean. Most of these visitors are staying in the biggest bathing Mexican resort of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen and attends the ‚obligatory‘ visit to the spectacular Mayan ruins Chitzen Itza. But for travelers Yucatan offers much more!

On the Yucatan Peninsula are just three of the 32 Mexican federal states – Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Campeche. Immediately adjacent to two other Central American countries – Guatemala and Belize.

Visiting Yucatan is of course in most major itineraries of trips to Mexico. Travelers mostly come here from the „Indian“ state of Chiapas, where you will find the jungle, canyons and beautiful waterfalls along the sea route north of Villahermosa in Tabasco state, famous for the large olmec heads.

From Cancun head for the south to Isla Cozumel, which is after all just a little less busy than other Yucatan resorts for relaxation by the sea. Here is the best known beach Passion Island or go straight to Tulum, where you can combine swimming and exploring the Mayan port in one. From Tulum you can take a trip into the Sian Ka'an nature reserve with monkeys, crocodiles and birds. Before you arrive at Valladolid in which are nice to explore the cenotes (pricing is only dzitnup or X'Keken), stop at interesting ruins in Coba. Then follow the famous Mayan monuments Chitzen Itza. From there, head to colonial Merida. From Merida are two classic trips, partly to Celestun on the flamingos and then after another Mayan monuments, called Ruta Puuc. Attend one, just in case you are not a glut monuments. Following colonial Campeche with the fortified old town and pirate history. After that journey inland back to Cancun or the sequel to the neighboring state of Chiapas (1–2 weeks)

If you like quieter but still very interesting locations is good to expand classical tour of the Yucatan with visit of the many archaeological sites, where you will visit a fraction of the tourists. They are accessible by road connecting Chetumal with Escarcega. Here stands Becan. You can swim on the beaches of smaller centers (Puerto Morelos, Akumal), where not so many visitors. Most neglected and very interesting sight is the town of Izamal, where the monastery has the second largest atrium in the world.

• Big Circle of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize: Mexico (Pacific Coast) continue to Guatemala (Lake Atitlan volcano, the historic city of Antigua, Tikal ), where further short trip to Belize (snorkeling, diving) and from here to the Yucatán.
• A journey across Central America: Cancun can be a good starting point on the road throughout the whole of Central America to Panama.

Yucatan is a short stop in long journeys from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

Yucatan peninsula lies east of Isthmus of Tehuantepec, so it falls into Central America, although Mexico is generally held as the southernmost North American country. The population is mainly on the both coasts – eastern Caribbean is far more touristy – Western longer falls into the vast Gulf of Mexico. Inland is relatively little rugged and sparsely populated. The most beautiful part of this area is its famous coast.

There are a number of national parks and protected reserves in Yucatan.

• Banco Chinchorro: coral reef is made up of three islands: Cayo Norte, Cayo Central and Cayo Lobos. Ideal for monitoring marine life.
• Calakmul: large biosphere reserve with the appearance of the jaguar.
• Rio Celestun: birdwatching, especially flamingos
• Isla Contoy: turtles and beautiful beaches
• Pantanos de Centla: wetlands
• Rio Lagartos: birdwatching, especially flamingos
• Sian Ka'an: the largest reserve, birds, mangroves
• Xcalak: marine life

Most children will not enjoy viewing the sights, but in addition to swimming in the Yucatan, there are also several amusement parks. Mazi interesting parks where not only children enjoy definitely belong to Xel Ha. Here you can snorkel, explore the cave, rope center over the water, forest trails, tropical garden. It lies 9km north of Tulum. Other amusement parks are similar, such as Xplor and Xcaret