Moon Cancun & Cozumel: Including Playa del Carmen, Tulum & the Riviera Maya

by Gary Chandler, Liza Prado

Overview

White sands and turquoise seas, cenotes and ruins, relaxation and adventure: dive in with Moon Cancún & Cozumel. Inside you'll find:

• Strategic itineraries from a Cozumel getaway to a week touring the length of the Riviera Maya, designed for families, honeymooners, ecotourists, history buffs, and adventurers
• The top attractions and unique experiences: Wander the ancient ruins of Chichén Itzá or climb the second-highest Maya pyramid at Cobá. Kayak through mangrove forests, snorkel with whale sharks, and dive into pristine coral reefs full of sea life. Sunbathe on the best beaches of Cancún with a margarita, indulge in a picnic of tacos and empanadas, or dance the night away in a vibrant club
• The best spots for sports and recreation, including sailing, fishing, kayaking, mountain biking, kiteboarding, and diving or snorkeling in reefs and in eerily beautiful underground cenotes
• Honest advice from seasoned adventurers Gary Chandler and Liz Prado on when to go, how to get around, and where to stay, from backpacker hostels and beachy bungalows to high-end luxury resorts
• Detailed maps and full-color photos throughout
• Thorough information on the landscape, climate, wildlife, and local culture, including a Spanish phrasebook
• Full coverage of Cancún, Isla Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya, Tulum and the Costa Maya, and Chichén Itzá

With Moon Cancún & Cozumel's practical tips and local insight, you can plan your trip your way.

Expanding your trip? Check out Moon Yucatán Peninsula or Moon Belize.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631211379
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Series:	Moon Handbooks Travel Series
Edition description:	12th Edition
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,108,481
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gary Chandler grew up in a small ski town south of Lake Tahoe, California. He earned his bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, and also studied abroad in Mexico City and Oaxaca. After graduation, Gary backpacked through much of Mexico and Central America, and later Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. His first guidebook assignment was covering the highlands of Guatemala, which was followed by assignments in El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere.

Gary has contributed to almost 30 guidebooks, many coauthored with wife and fellow travel writer/photographer Liza Prado. Between assignments, Gary earned a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University, worked as a news reporter and criminal investigator, and published numerous articles and blogs about travel in Latin America. He and Liza have two children and live in Colorado.

Liza Prado was working as a corporate attorney in San Francisco when she decided to take a leap of faith and try travel writing and photography. Ten years later, she has coauthored 20 guidebooks and written dozens of feature articles and travel blogs to destinations throughout the Americas. Her photographs have been published by Moon Travel Guides and websites like Gogobot and Away.com.

Since her first visit to the region in the early 2000s, the Riviera Maya has remained one of Liza's favorite places to travel. For this assignment, she dived on coral reefs and snorkeled through cenotes, climbed Maya ruins and toured monkey reserves, explored beach towns and fishing villages, caught a few local bands and listened to rock-star DJs—all with two kids in tow (well, at least part of the time).

A graduate of Brown University and Stanford Law School, Liza lives in Denver, Colorado, with husband and coauthor Gary Chandler and their children, Eva and Leo.

Read an Excerpt

Cancún and Cozumel are places that deserve—and defy—the myriad descriptions given them. The name Cancún evokes images of white-sand beaches, turquoise seas, and raucous nightclubs. Isla Cozumel is no less mythical, at least among divers, with its pristine coral reef and abundant sealife. The secret is definitely out on the Riviera Maya, the long coastline south of Cancún, with resorts of all sizes and favorite getaways like Tulum and Playa del Carmen. But farther south, the Costa Maya remains relatively undeveloped, while the inland archaeological sites, which range from packed to practically empty, never fail to impress.

Some people dismiss Cancún and Cozumel for being overcommercialized and “Americanized.” True, there are places saturated with American stores and chain restaurants (and actual Americans), where you hear as much English as Spanish. But you may be surprised to learn how culturally rich those cities, and the whole region, really are. Just minutes from Cancún’s famous hotel zone is the lively downtown area, where you can sip pinot grigio at a wine bar, listen to live music, or eat tacos in a park without another tourist in sight. Likewise, just a couple of blocks from Cozumel’s touristy main drag is a friendly island community where kids play soccer in the street and old men play dominoes in the afternoon sun. There are large parts of Cozumel that have no roads or power lines, with miles of deserted beach where you hear nothing but the
birds and the surf.

Equally unexpected are the area’s numerous natural and ecological attractions. You can dive and snorkel in the longest underground river system in the world, kayak through mangrove forests and freshwater lagoons, and even go snorkeling with whale sharks, 10-ton behemoths that congregate near Isla Holbox every summer. At Cobá archaeological site, you can climb the second-highest Maya pyramid, and see parrots and toucans, and bike from temple to temple on wide forest paths, all in the same visit.

So what sort of trip will it be? Sunbathing by the pool, diving the coral reefs, snorkeling with whale sharks, or exploring the Maya ruins? With luck, you’ll do a little of each, and more. In the process, you may discover that Cancún, Cozumel, and the Riviera Maya are much more than they seem. They are places to love, laugh at, be surprised by, and above all, to experience and explore.