THE YUCATAN:
Offers a breathtaking diversity of charms. Blinding white strands of sand embrace clear turquoise waters, shorelines curve into calm lagoons and Mangrove swamps where wildlife drink from freshwater cenotes (sinkholes). Scuba diving (in cenotes and barrier reefs), snorkeling, deep-sea fishing, and other water sports are plentiful.

BRIEF MAYAN HISTORY:
Deep within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala lie magical Mayan temples and palaces. While Europe slumbered in the Dark Ages, these innovative people charted the heavens, developed the only true writing system native to the Americas and were masters of mathematics and calendrics. Without the advantage of metal tools, beasts of burden, or the wheel they were able to construct vast cities with an astonishing degree of architectural perfection and variety. The Maya are probably the best known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating around 2600 BC, they rose to prominence around 250 AD in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. The Yucatan Maya reached their height 800-1200 AD, then they too started to abandon their cities. There are many theories as to why this happened, among them draught, social uproar, warfare and disease. A few cities were still inhabited when the Spaniards arrived but most were already covered with dense jungle vegetation. Though the structured civilization of the Maya collapsed, the cornerstones live on, many still speak Maya and practice old religious traditions. Today around seven million Maya still live in Mexico and Guatemala. The Yucatan peninsula has thousands of Mayan ruins, most are still covered with jungle vegetation, but many of the most interesting sites have been excavated. Some are very close to Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Chichen Itza, Coba and Ek Balam are a few of the better known sites.

Read more about the Maya and the different ruins in PlayaInfo's Mundo Maya section. The Maya were noted for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temples, pyramids, palaces and observatories. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and building sizable underground reservoirs for rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and traded extensively throughout what is today Mexico and Central America. One of the most amazing Maya feats was the system of roads connecting the more important centers and trade posts. Sacbe means white road in Mayan.The roads were built up on platforms, paved with white stones and could be up to 30 ft wide. They were built in perfectly straight lines between cities - an amazing accomplishment thorough this dense jungle. The longest sacbe known to modern man connectes Coba and Yaxuna, a distance of 100 km (61 miles).

Cenotes, plentiful throughout the Yucatan, were sacred to the Mayans. The main source of fresh water, cenotes were also considered to be the connection between this world and the underworld.