Above all else, beaches are what define the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula — soft, blinding white strands of sand embracing clear turquoise waters; shores that curve into calm lagoons, coves, and inlets; waves that crash against cliffs. Coastal destinations are varied and eccentric. Puerto Morelos has the relaxed atmosphere of a Mexican fishing village. Playa del Carmen is filled with resorts — some of them all-inclusive — that are as glitzy and hectic as those in Cancún and Cozumel. The beaches here, from Punta Tanchacté to Tulum, are beloved by scuba divers, snorkelers, bird-watchers, and beachcombers.

A long, thin stretch of beach with a lagoon on one side and the blue Caribbean on the other is everyone’s idea of perfect. The sand is very white and soft, and the water is always warm.The first known settlers of the area, the Mayans arrived in what is now Cancún centuries ago, and their ancestors remain in the area to this day. During the golden age of the Mayan civilization (also referred to as the classic period), when other areas on the peninsula were developing trade routes and building enormous temples and pyramids, this part of the coast remained sparsely populated. Consequently Cancún never developed into a major Mayan center; excavations have been done at the El Rey ruins (in what is now the Zona Hotelera), showing that the Mayan communities that lived here around AD 1200 simply used this area for burial sites. Even the name given to the area was not inspiring: In Mayan, Cancún means nest of snakes.