Holiday Systems International User Group
Cancun:
If you get a member calling about this destination, consider yourself lucky because this is a slam dunk booking! Whether they are looking for relaxation, world class nightlife or ancient ruins...Cancun offers something for everyone. Most resorts, hotels, and condominiums are located in the Hotel Zone, as this long strip of island is known.It is the area where it all comes together for most visitors. Kukulcan Boulevard is the main and only thoroughfare. On the west side of the island is Laguna Nichupte, a vast lagoon home to hundreds of marinas, waterfront restaurants, shopping malls, a couple of golf courses, a few islands and inlets, and the fantastic sunsets you'll see during your Cancun vacation. The island's energized atmosphere emanates from the middle, its heartbeat, an area known as the Party Zone featuring the best nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and shopping malls.
Cancun Centro (downtown) offers an alternative to all the glitz and hype of the Hotel Zone with some great restaurants, bars, and shopping arcades. The atmosphere becomes more family-friendly as all the people who make this paradise work live here.They are the target market and the ambience not only becomes Latin, but prices go down significantly. Your wallet will appreciate very much your visit to downtown, as the money it contains will certainly go farther there during your Cancun vacation.
Top 5 ancient sites one can visit:
1. Chichén Itzá
The most dramatic of the Mayan cities has gigantic buildings, including the great pyramid that has become a symbol of the Yucatán.
2. Tulum
A small city from the last decades of Mayan civilization, Tulum is spectacular as the only Mayan city built above a beach.
3. Cobá
The largest and most powerful city in northern Yucatán before the rise of Chichén Itzá. Buildings are spread over a huge area of dense forest and lakes (bikes can be rented). The Nohoch Mul, at 42 m (138 ft), is the highest pyramid in the Yucatán.
4. Ek-Balam
This compact city was little known until recently. Excavations of its largest temple-mound in 1998 revealed spectacular carvings, especially at El Trono (“The Throne”), the largest and most extravagant of Mayan monstermouth temples. Other unique buildings include an almost spiral-shaped tower, La Redonda, the design of which is a mystery.
5. Dzibilchaltún
Just north of Mérida, this site was occupied for over 2,000 years. At dawn on spring and summer equinoxes, the sun strikes straight through the open doorways of the Temple of the Seven Dolls and along a road. There’s also a great swimming cenote here.
1. Chichén Itzá
The most dramatic of the Mayan cities has gigantic buildings, including the great pyramid that has become a symbol of the Yucatán.
2. Tulum
A small city from the last decades of Mayan civilization, Tulum is spectacular as the only Mayan city built above a beach.
3. Cobá
The largest and most powerful city in northern Yucatán before the rise of Chichén Itzá. Buildings are spread over a huge area of dense forest and lakes (bikes can be rented). The Nohoch Mul, at 42 m (138 ft), is the highest pyramid in the Yucatán.
4. Ek-Balam
This compact city was little known until recently. Excavations of its largest temple-mound in 1998 revealed spectacular carvings, especially at El Trono (“The Throne”), the largest and most extravagant of Mayan monstermouth temples. Other unique buildings include an almost spiral-shaped tower, La Redonda, the design of which is a mystery.
5. Dzibilchaltún
Just north of Mérida, this site was occupied for over 2,000 years. At dawn on spring and summer equinoxes, the sun strikes straight through the open doorways of the Temple of the Seven Dolls and along a road. There’s also a great swimming cenote here.
