Puerto Costa Maya City/Region: Yucatán Peninsula Mexico's newest port, Puerto Costa Maya, is the first port on Mexico's Caribbean Coast to have been built exclusively for cruise ships and cruise-based travelers. Situated on the Yucatan Peninsula near the fishing village of Majahual, Costa Maya is the fastest growing cruise port in the Caribbean that consists of three grand pavilions in the style of ancient Maya. The commercial, cultural and entertainment center offers dining, shopping and recreational facilities, a swimming pool and swim-up bar, local performances
in the amphitheater, as well as art and craft galleries showcasing the region's local artists and their art. The infrastructure has been carefully designed to meet the special needs of cruise ship passengers. Beyond the pavilions, Costa Maya provides access to undeveloped areas of coastline, colorful reefs and shipwrecks for diving and snorkeling, and exploration of ancient Mayan sites. Tour operators offer dune buggy tours, Mayan sites like Kohunlich and Dzibanche, and kayak adventures. Free shuttles transport passengers regularly between the pier complex and their ships. *Note: Costa Maya suffered severe damage by Hurricane Dean on 21 August 2007, and it is estimated that it will take at least six months before the port is operational again.
Tijuana City/Region: Baja California A typical border town, Tijuana is not suited to everyone's taste, with plenty of noise and frenetic activity. Its location on the American border and proximity to San Diego and other Californian cities ensures a steady stream of curious day-trippers and souvenir hunters from up north. Tijuana's notorious 'sin city' image of prostitution and sex shows has now taken a back seat; the sleazy element, the drugs and violence that seems to be the lot of a border town, is still there, but the focus has shifted in an effort to clean the town up a bit, and it has become something of a shopper's delight along with the intense nightlife and non-stop entertainment. This is the place to shop, drink and dance the night away; there are souvenir stalls, numerous duty-free shopping malls and markets selling goods from all over Mexico, and countless bars, restaurants and dance clubs. Tijuana has some traditional attractions as well, including bullfighting and Jai Alai (a Spanish ball court game), but this is not the classic Mexico that stories are made of. It does however make a good starting point for exploring the Baja California peninsula and the beaches and resorts to the south.
La Paz City/Region: Baja California La Paz is the laid back capital of Baja California Sur, known for its stunning sunsets and beaches. The city is a perfect base from which to explore the magical surrounding landscape. Although it has excellent beaches, it is not known specifically as a beach resort, but is a tranquil Mexican port with a colonial town atmosphere. It is a 'real' city where locals go about their daily business among the tourist shops, fancy restaurants and tour operators. The most romantic feature in the city is the waterfront promenade, or malecón, around which the city life revolves, which stretches for several kilometers along sandy beaches. Much of the dining and nightlife is along the walkway and it is the best place to catch one of the city's famously spectacular sunsets. It is the eco-tourism capital of the country, surrounded by desert and situated in a large bay on the Sea of Cortez, with a variety of outdoor tour guides offering excellent trips. The region has astonishing plant and animal life, varied geology of the inland deserts, mountains and oases, and the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve nearby. Beautiful unspoilt offshore islands offer naturalist hiking, as well as amazing diving and snorkeling from pristine beaches with hammerhead sharks, dolphins, sea lions and the gigantic whale sharks. The islands are the destination of kayakers, sailors and boat cruises, and the bay is a popular yachting stopover. La Paz is a fisherman's paradise and its international fishing competitions are world famous. To the north of the city, along the Pichilingue Peninsula, are some magnificent beaches, backed by mangroves and the cactus-studded mountains of the desert. Besides the eco-tourist activities on offer, the city boasts plentiful shopping, a varied nightlife, excellent fish and seafood, and comfortable accommodation, offering visitors everything they need for a relaxing and stimulating vacation.
Los Cabos City/Region: Baja California At the southern-most tip of the Baja California peninsula, where the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez collide with the wild Pacific, is an area of striking beauty and one of Mexico's top resort destinations. Surrounded by a vast cactus desert and ochre-colored mountains, the azure waters offer diving, sailing and swimming and the area is a world-renowned Mecca for sport fishing and surfing. Los Cabos is an area made up of the two resort towns of San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, sitting at either end of an 18-mile (29km) stretch of exquisite beaches sprinkled with exclusive luxury resorts and championship golf courses, known locally as the Resort Corridor. San José del Cabo is the older and more traditional of the two resorts with the unhurried pace of a colonial Mexican village. Cabo San Lucas started as a simple fishing village and is now one of the favorite beach resorts of the elite, international tourist offering high quality services and an energetic nightlife. The majority of visitors base themselves in San Lucas or the Resort Corridor. Just offshore is the area's landmark and an impressive natural wonder, Los Arcos (The Arches), a wave-sculpted rock formation.
Mazatlan City/Region: Pacific Coast Mazatlán is the most important port on the Pacific coast of Mexico. It is also the shrimp capital of the world, with the largest fleet of commercial shrimp vessels in Latin America. This attractive city also has the reputation of being one of Mexico's premier beach resorts. The contrast between commercial port and tourist resort is extremely well balanced, combining world-renowned deep sea fishing, miles of beaches, excellent seafood, water activities and a choice of accommodation to suit all tastes. Fondly called the 'Pearl of the Pacific', Mazatlán boasts Mexico's longest and prettiest waterfront promenade, or malecon. This is the city's defining characteristic, and much of the city life can be viewed from here. The colonial old town center is the heart of Mazatlán, where the busy main plaza, alongside the 19th-century cathedral with its blue and gold motifs, and the open-air market are a hive of activity. The city emanates a combination of laid-back seaside charm and affordable luxury, its beaches lined with bars and outdoor cafes and the sky above filled with colorful parasails. Sunbathers and hawkers compete for space on the city beaches, and fishing vessels and jet skis circulate in the bay.
Acapulco City/Region: Pacific Coast Situated on one of the loveliest bays on the coast, backed by the evergreen vegetation of the Sierra foothills, Acapulco offers anything and everything to the holidaymaker, but this is not the place to seek a peaceful escape from it all. It is the Queen of Mexican beach resorts, the loudest and most famous in the country with non-stop energy, high-rise hotels, a glittering nightlife, white beaches and an enormous range of activities. The main attraction is the string of beaches that sweep around the bay, each offering a different atmosphere and ample opportunities for water sports, with calm waters, sun bathing, and seafront dining of international quality. The downside of the city is the shabby, polluted and overcrowded old town area, but it is easy enough to ignore this side of Acapulco with plenty to keep visitors happy along the glitzy resort strip among shopping plazas, restaurants and beaches. A famous Acapulco institution since the 1930s are the Quebrada cliff divers, who pitch themselves gracefully from a height of 148ft (45m) into the seemingly shallow water of a narrow chasm in the ocean below after praying at the small rock shrine for safety.
Puerto Vallarta City/Region: Pacific Coast Puerto Vallarta is situated in the Bahia de Banderas, a 14-mile (22km) long bay lined with long stretches of sandy beaches. It is the second largest resort on the Pacific coast after Acapulco, but despite its resort status it has managed to maintain its own character. Its charm is due to a comfortable blend of cosmopolitan first worldliness and the colonial features of its historic old town. The graceful center is embellished with quaint cobblestone streets that are lined with delightful white adobe houses, flower-filled wrought-iron balconies and red tiled roofs, making this one of Mexico's most picturesque coastal cities. Luxury hotels, restaurants, bars, and shopping centers have spread out along the coast on either side of the original town, allowing Puerto Vallarta to grow without sacrificing its colonial charms. It is unrivalled as a city boasting the services offered by a cosmopolitan hub alongside the simpler pleasures of a Mexican village. Outdoor recreation is limitless, especially the diversity of water sports available, including diving and snorkeling, while whales and dolphins inhabit the bay and can often be seen on organized boat trips.
Cancun City/Region: Yucatán Peninsula Once a small, unremarkable fishing village, the resort of Cancun is today the reason most people visit Mexico. It is made up of two parts: the glitzy hotel zone dedicated to tourism, and the downtown area inhabited by the permanent residents. A different atmosphere prevails in each, with a dramatic contrast between the air-conditioned shopping malls, chic restaurant dining, and wealthy pleasure-seeking tourists in one; and bustling market street stalls, noisy vendors, and the daily grind of people at work in the other. The hotel zone, situated on a thin strip of land (Isla Cancun) in the shape of a figure '7', is what people imagine when they talk about Cancun. It is a vision of Caribbean paradise with soft white sand beaches and clear blue-green waters. There is plenty of high quality accommodation available, a wide choice of restaurants and shops, a notoriously energetic nightlife, and an array of activities, including both land and water sports. The city is also a good base from which to explore some of the nearby attractions, particularly the ancient Mayan site of Chichén Itzá on the mainland, which is the best restored and most famous of the archaeological sites on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Cozumel City/Region: Yucatán Peninsula The island of Cozumel is Mexico's largest island, and is located 12 miles (19km) off the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, opposite the resort Playa del Carmen. It has exceptional coral gardens and spectacular reef drop-offs offering legendary snorkeling and the best diving in Mexico, ranking as one of the top five dive destinations in the world. The west coast of the island is where the majority of development has taken place and is where the town of San Miguel is situated. Due to the island's popularity with wealthy day visitors from the passing cruise ships, the town is packed with pricey shops, restaurants and bars, as well as the dozens of dive shops. Cozumel is a favorite destination for divers and non-divers alike, offering some good beaches, crystal clear water and plenty of sunshine. Its ease of access to the mainland also makes day excursions to some of the popular Mayan sites, like Chichén Itzá, possible.
Playa del Carmen City/Region: Yucatán Peninsula Playa del Carmen boasts one of the prettiest beaches on the coast and despite its growing tourism, it has a small-town, laid-back feel to it. The offshore reef offers some spectacular diving, and less than an hour away by boat is the island of Cozumel, with some of the best diving in Mexico. There are numerous dive centers offering reef and cave diving in the limestone caverns along the coast. The small commercial town center is packed with souvenir shops, trendy bars and cafes, restaurants, designer clothes shops and hotels, and has a vibrant nightlife that caters for the smaller beach settlements nearby. It can get very overcrowded with day-trippers from Cancun, as well as cruise ship passengers. South of town, the expanding Playacar development caters mainly for package tourists, its beach packed with sunbathers and deckchairs, and lined with hotel complexes; there is also an 18-hole golf course.
Ensenada City/Region: Baja California Just 'south of the border, down Mexico way' on the Baja Peninsula lies the flourishing, friendly port of Ensenada, a 90-minute drive south of San Diego, joined to Tijuana by the spectacular tolled Trans-Peninsula Highway, with its breathtaking ocean views. The first visitor to this beautiful bay was Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino, who set ashore in 1602 and named the spot Ensenada de Todos los Santos,which means 'inlet of all the saints'. The saints have indeed been kind to Ensenada, which today has progressed from a Spanish mission station through fishing village status to become Mexico's second-most visited port of call for cruise liners and yachts, an extremely popular holiday destination for land-based tourists, and a leading convention center. The secret of Ensenada's success as a tourist magnet is simple: the resort town basically has it all, especially bright, sunny weather throughout the year and magnificent Pacific beaches. These basic ingredients have been enhanced by some wonderful natural and man-made attractions, great restaurants serving up fresh seafood and local wines, and amiable local operators providing a huge array of outdoor recreational activities and excursions. Even the town's industry, which consists mainly of fishing, winemaking and canning, has become a lure for visitors who can visit factories and wineries and liberally sample the delicious wares.
