Beaches in the Riviera Maya

The Mexican Caribbean from Cancún south towards Tulum, with a barrier reef offshore for its whole length. That reef is why the water is calm and pale, and it also sets the coast's problems: sargassum arrives in quantity between roughly April and August, and how any given beach handles it varies enormously. The coast runs from a state-planned resort city at its northern end to a road of generator-powered beach hotels at its southern one, with cenotes and Maya sites inland. Every beach here is federal property and legally public, though access from the road is mostly through hotels. The practical geography is worth knowing before booking. Cancún's hotel zone is a sandbar with ocean-facing beaches and a shore break; Puerto Morelos and Akumal have reef close in and calm water; Playa del Carmen is a walkable town; and Tulum is a road of beach hotels with prices to match. Cenotes — flooded limestone sinkholes — run inland the whole length and are the alternative when sargassum makes the sea unappealing.

Each is a different kind: four shores across four beach worlds. The sand is coral sand throughout. Together they account for 33 km of shore. · computed from the 4 records below