Best places to stay:
The Banyan Tree offers high-end Asian-style luxury on a Mayan Riviera white sand beach: with a superb Thai restaurant and a multi-award-winning spa offering some of the best pampering in Mexico.
The huge range of bright, contemporary villas (with warm woods, polished concretes and neutral tones) are walled entirely with glass allowing light to flood in.
Some sit secluded for honeymoon intimacy in their own little gardens; those by the beach have gorgeous ocean views from the foot of the bed. Bathrooms have al fresco baths (walled for privacy) and his and hers basins. All have their own plunge pools and decks.
The Banyan shares Mayakoba village – a purpose-built resort complex with three other luxury chains, including the Hyatt Andaz.
This purpose-built, gated resort village has its own woodlands (cut by cycle paths), mangroves, lagoons and an 18-hole, Greg Norman-designed PGA Golf Course.
The Banyan Tree sits in the quietest, lushest spot, surrounded by forest and lagoons and right next to the PGA golf course. While it has seven restaurants (and in-villa dining), there are more a stroll away. The beach right in front of the villas is long, white, broad and powder-white and the resort runs a beach club.
The party town of Playa del Carmen is a 15-minute cycle ride along the sand.
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Bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[7.2 miles]
An adrenaline-pumping close encounter with this top of the food chain predator, in glassy-clear water.
Best for ages: 16+ | £150 | 6-8 hours
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A stunning cenote with spectacular cave formations and glassy water, passing through caverns encrusted with stalactites. Mind-bogglingly beautiful for both snorkellers and PADI divers.
Best for ages: 8+ | £12
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Lily-covered, glassy-clear and filled with terrapins and tropical fish, this cenote near Tulum is easy to reach and fabulous to swim in. Big caverns make for spectacular cave diving.
Best for ages: 6+ | £7
Quintana Roo, Mexico
An authentic, atmospheric and less-visited Mayan site, set in lush, wildlife-rich forest. Climb to the summit of the 126ft-high Nohoc Mul pyramid – the tallest on the Mayan Riviera.
Best for ages: 13+ | £5
Other worthwhile experiences in this destination if you have the time or the interest, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[0.8 miles]
Designed by Greg Norman, the course weaves its way through dense jungle, beautiful stretches of white sand and mangrove forests, with cenotes – natural sink holes – providing natural hazards.
Best for ages: 13+ | £125
Playa del Carmen, Mexico[14.8 miles]
With glassy pools and shallow lagoons offering dolphin, nurse-shark and manatee swimming, tame jungles, and spectacular Mayan dance shows, this huge eco-theme park is a Maya World, and a snorkel-friendly Disneyland.
Best for ages: 4+ | £80
Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A simple nature-based theme park with a safari-park zoo, a cenote for swimming, a spectacular cave and a rainforest canopy zip-line adventure.
Best for ages: 4+ | £30
Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
British artist Jason Decaires Taylor’s underwater art gallery feels like a latter-day Atlantis – with statues covered with wispy sea weeds and baby coral, fish swimming all around sitting on the sand in vodka-clear water off Isla Mujeres.
Best for ages: 18+ | Free
Destination guides including or relevant to this place to stay
Mexico
Talc-white beaches, reefs teeming with life, ruined temples in misty rainforests – the Riviera Maya offers a family or romantic beach holiday with a dash of Indian Jones adventure.
![Cenote Dos Ojos [swimming, snorkelling & scuba diving]](https://familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Yucatan-Cancun-and-Tulum-Cenotes-Dos-Ojos3-SH.jpg)
