Ultimate Beach and Beyond in Cancún
Iconic Destination
Join travel writer, Tim Johnson, as he guides us through the highlights of Cancún and the surrounding area, painting a picture of this luxurious destination with words. Once you’ve added the city to your must-visit list, explore all you need to know about Kempinski Hotel Cancún, your ideal base while visiting.
Cancún travel guide and tips
Once, this site was a crossroads of an ancient world, linking land and sea, trade winds and river systems, channelling obsidian and incense and gold from the Yucatán Peninsula to major city states much further down the coast.
THE RUINS OF TULUM
Surrounded on three sides by intimidating walls, the Maya built Tulum as a trading post inside a fortress, and it enjoyed great power between the 13th and 15th centuries. Today, all that remains are its spectacular ruins, great temples and the pyramid of El Castillo rising from a sheer cliff that drops straight down to a sapphire sea, with hundreds of happy people frolicking in the waves below. And it’s all a little more than an hour south of Cancún.
Set upon limestone cliffs that contrast with the turquoise sea, the Tulum Ruins are a Maya must-see.
CANCÚN: ONE OF MEXICO’S PREMIER RESORT DESTINATIONS
Set on the best beach in the country – more than 400 km of it, stretching all the way down to the Riviera Maya – it’s not surprising that most people come here for the warm water, bright sun, sugary white sand, and little else. But this corner of the Yucatán Peninsula has so much more to offer, from ancient history to verdant jungles and true castaway islands.
Witness the Maya treasures firsthand with a stay at Kempinski Hotel Cancún
It’s also home to Kempinski Hotel Cancún, whose 363 rooms and suites sit just steps from a 400-metre stretch of beach. Plus, two swimming pools, a full-service spa, tennis courts and six different culinary experiences. It’s a classic dilemma for anyone taking a beach holiday: stay or go? Yes – definitely enjoy the beach. But make sure to go beyond, too.
Cancún’s hotels stretch out across a long, thin strip of land, with a lagoon on one side, and the Caribbean on the other. But head just inland, minutes away from this aquatic playground, and the landscape changes dramatically. Soon after leaving the coast, the deep rainforest canopy closes in.
Dotted along a narrow strip of land, Cancún's hotels look out onto the Caribbean Sea.
VISITING CANCÚN’S RAINFOREST
Spreading from here to Central America, this is one of the largest rainforests in the Americas, second in size only to the Amazon. Lush and mysterious, it bursts with life. Jaguars stalk at night, although humans rarely have the privilege of spotting these extremely elusive, nocturnal cats. Instead, snap photos of other rare and beautiful wildlife: flashing blue morpho butterflies, millions of birds (more than 400 species make this their home), and howler monkeys, whose exuberant, guttural cries echo at dawn and dusk, audible for several kilometres in all directions. (They’re recognised by the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ as the world’s loudest land mammal.)
It’s also an excellent place to take a swim, in a cenote (pronounced SEE-no-TAY). Cold, clean freshwater pools, these form naturally from collapsed limestone sinkholes, which then fill with groundwater. You’ll find several cenotes close to Cancún where you can take a dip, including about a dozen along the Ruta de Los Cenotes. Stretching along about 20 kms of road, you can rent a car and navigate here yourself, or take a tour and just ride along and relax. The cenotes along the route include pools formed inside caverns (complete with stalactites on the ceiling), as well as ones where you can swing in on a rope, or zoom into the water on a zip line. No matter how you get in, you’ll enjoy splashing around inside, soaking in the cool of the water amidst the humidity of the rainforest.
The rainforests are home to creatures great and small, including colourful keel-billed toucans.
Cenote Azul is a green paradise, with lush palm trees and spectacularly clear water.
Adventure seekers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to freedive in the heart of a cenote.
The lush rainforest is one of the largest in the Americas.
A DAY TRIP TO ISLA MUJERES
When you’re done with the jungle, enjoy a day trip to a castaway island. Isla Mujeres is just a short ferry ride to the north. Sit on the top deck of the boat, soak up the sun, and take in the views. Ahead, off the bow, swaying palms on the island, behind, off the stern, the glassy skyline of Cancún. If you’re lucky, a man in a glittering costume – like one part of a mariachi band – will serenade you with syrupy Mexican love songs from a small stage near the front.
Mujeres is an island where the pace is slow, a short ride across a narrow channel, but a million miles from the busyness and dynamism back on the mainland. People wander, taking their time browsing the shops along pedestrian streets. Walk along the beach for hundreds of metres, perhaps tarrying, once or twice, for a michelada or a margarita at one of the many thatch-roofed tiki bars. Swim, snorkel or even scuba dive on the coral reef, part of the largest reef system in the Western Hemisphere, stretching south for more than 800 km. Here, it’s home to colourful parrot fish, tiny angel fish and lumbering manatees, plus big barracuda, stingrays and even reef sharks. And the main form of land transport on the island? Golf cart. Take one for a spin, perhaps steering to the underwater museum, or the turtle sanctuary.
Taking in the detail at Punta Sur, an ecological park in the southern part of Isla Mujeres.
CLOSE TO THE HEART OF THE OLD MAYA EMPIRE
For hundreds of years before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, powerful Maya city states covered the Yucatán and modern-day Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. A visit to the ruins of Tulum, Chichén Itzá and Coba, all nearby, will still inspire awe today. Once lost, they are often covered in heavy jungle growth, with archaeological digs having revealed their wonders.
With a host of historical sites and fascinating ruins, a trip to Cancún will constantly have you reaching for your camera.
Marvel at the massive pyramids, which rise above the rainforest canopy. Stroll through temples, where leaders sometimes presented human sacrifices. And, a curious but abiding feature at these sites: sports courts. The Maya played a ball game called pok-ta-pok, but this sport wasn’t really about fun — teams challenged each other to prove their bravery and strength, and the losers paid with their lives. At seaside Tulum, you can finish your historical tour with a swim, with a big stretch of beach just below the ruins.
DISCOVERING THE ORIGINS OF CHOCOLATE
While they were clearly ruthless at times, the Maya nonetheless gave us a very special gift: chocolate. Harvesting pods from the cacao tree to extract the bean inside, they made a bittersweet drink from it. Tours can take you right onto the plantations, where you can walk into the forest and taste the bean raw – the flavour is rather tangy, although the texture is gooey. Then they’ll serve you sweet treats in their finished form: both dark and milk chocolate.
After all that exploration, you’ll need a little rest. A beach day, or two – or maybe, many. Head back to Kempinski Hotel Cancún, and indulge yourself, with a massage at the spa, and a big, fresh seafood dinner. And some quality cabana time, tequila and mescal, tropical breezes, all on your own little slice of the sand, nothing but aquamarine beyond your toes.
Yellow cocoa pods freshly harvested from the field, a gift from the Maya.
