Best places to stay:
The longest-established hotel in the ultra-luxurious, gated Mayakoba beach complex a few kilometres north of Playa del Carmen, the Fairmont is super-sized, beachside and offers back-to-nature stays with full urban comfort.
Stays are all about secluded setting and upmarket amenities. Rooms and villas are dotted around 45 acres of jungle, lagoon and beach.
Villas come in all shapes and one size – huge; from the super-luxurious (with butlers and a rooftop pool) to jungle villas nestled in the trees. All are well-appointed, decorated in modern creams, offset with blocks of warm Mexican colour and have en-suites with vast mirrors and his-and-hers granite basins.
There’s a PGA Greg Norman-designed 18-hole golf course, kayak lagoons, a plush spa and a suite of restaurants. It’s nearly two kilometres from the main reception building to the shore, but complimentary golf carts whisk guests everywhere in a wink.
Should you wish to leave, Playa del Carmen’s bars are a ten-minute cab ride.
With golf courses, lagoons, miles of beach, spas, suites of restaurants and a purpose-built tourist village, Mayakoba aims to give guests at the Fairmont and its four neighbouring luxury resorts, no reason to leave.
But with Playa del Carmen within cycling distance along the sand, it’s easy to dip into the town’s nightlife or restaurant scene should you choose, or book a cheaper but identical reef, ruins or jungle tour to those sold at the hotel, with one of the local tour operators.
Playa del Carmen itself, with pristine beaches to the north and south and a lively urban centre, offers the intimate back-to-nature feel of Tulum and Puerto Morelos and Cancun’s urban amenities and nightlife – albeit on a smaller scale. The town is close to Cozumel island (for reef dives) and the big Xcaret and Xel-Ha adventure parks.
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Bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[7.6 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[0.5 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[15.2 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)
