With a large percentage of all inclusive resorts, Cancun has gained the reputation of ‘Spring Break Haven’ where college kids party during the winter months.The ‘bubble’ is what Cancun staff support when getting people out and about. Very few visitors dive into downtown Cancun to experience the local authenticity of Cancun residential neighborhoods and markets. When visitors choose to leave their resort or large hotel, they are shuffled to more tourism hot spots in the hotel zone.Though not impossible, it makes exploring a challenge or a tad bit intimidating to the first time visitor. A taxi, public bus or private driver is a must if you wish to explore outside the hotel zone. The sheer size of Cancun makes it difficult to navigate not only for regional day trips but urban exploring.It also separates residents from visitors. This separates every day life from vacation life. But Cancun the city is different from Riviera Maya cities.Ĭancun as a Destination – How it Works and What to ExpectĬancun has a national population in its core city with 90% of its tourism happening in a designated beachfront area of the city. These geographical differences, and the fact that people compare a city to a region, make both of these areas very, very different. Other cities are small in comparison with populations well under 20,000 people. Tulum is the second largest city with a population of just under 100,000 people. The largest city is Playa del Carmen with 250,000 residents. The Riviera Maya region includes the following popular cities – Puerto Morelos,Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Xpu-Ha, Akumal, Soliman’s Bay, Tank Ha Bay, Tulum, and the Sian Ka’an located on over 133 kms/88miles of beach coastline. Though there are small hotels and vacation rentals in the city center, tourism resides in this area, away from the residential neighborhoods. The tourism zone, where hotels and entertainment businesses are highly concentrated, is outside the main city center on a small peninsula that surrounds a natural lagoon. Cancun is a large metropolitan city with a residential population reaching almost one million. When people inform me they thought they were the same, my reply is this “Is Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore the same?” This analogy seems to clear up whatever was unclear. In some ways we are comparing apples and oranges – city verses region – but Cancun and the Riviera Maya are compared all the time, if not thought to be the same. The Riviera Maya is a region to the south of Cancun that starts at Puerto Morelos and ends at the Sian Ka’an Biosphere. It was the very first tourism specific destination built in the early 70’s. What is Cancun and What is the Riviera Maya?Ĭancun is a large city located at the northeast tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. This article digs into the variations of each destination and highlights the not so obvious differences. In some ways it is hard to believe that they are neighbors except the blue of the Caribbean gives it away. VACATION VILLAS, TULUM BEACH HOUSES, AKUMAL RENTALS & CONDOSīesides the mere location differences between these two popular vacation spots, Cancun and the cities located in the Riviera Maya are different.
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