Quintana Roo

Introducing Quintana Roo

You’d think that as one of Mexico’s most visited states, it’d be impossible to find a bit of solitude in Quintana Roo (pronounced kin-tah-nah roh). But beyond the ‘hit me baby one more time’ clubs of Cancún and ‘McMaya’ theme parks of the Riviera Maya, you might just find your own quiet sliver of paradise.

There are talcum-powder beaches stretching all the way from Cancún to the Belizean border, unassuming Caribbean islands protected by the world’s second-largest barrier reef, and impressive Maya sites throughout this long-arching sliver of limestone, salt and sea.

It’s the peninsula’s super state, highly developed, heavily touristed, easy to get around, and chock-full of adventure opportunities – from exploring the mysterious depths of the region’s numerous cenotes (limestone sinkholes filled with fresh water) and world-class dive sites to beating your own path to seldom visited ruins like Dzinbanché and Kohunlich in the Maya heartland.

Most trips to Quintana Roo will begin and end in Cancún. Chicer-than-thou Playa del Carmen, Cozumel (truly a diver’s delight), and Isla Mujeres round out the overly touristed (but still pretty damned good places to spend your vacation) fairylands of Quintana Roo.

Several hurricanes ­– Wilma, Emily and Dean to name just the biggies – have slammed into the region in recent years. But Quintana Roo is too big now to be knocked out by mere hurricane winds. It’ll take at least a dozen greedy real-estate developers, a ball of twine and a couple million more complacent visitors to signal the death knell.

The high season for Quintana Roo is July and August, mid-December to mid-January and late February to early March (the US spring break). A week on either side of Easter is also high season, but generally coincides with spring break.

Last updated: Oct 20, 2009