The town of Tulum, roughly 81 miles south of the resort area of Cancun, offers a chance to explore Mayan ruins as well as to enjoy some sun on laid-back Caribbean beaches. Boca Paila Beach and Tulum Beach are far from the tourist crowds. The town sits inland, leaving the coastline in its wild, natural state. Boca Paila does offer a few cabanas for rent, and there are a few casual barbecue and drink vendors nearby. Hotels are available, but they are small.
Playa del Carmen offers a laid-back lifestyle, enough creature comforts and good restaurants to keep you happy and still has silky blue waters fronted by white sands that give you room to stretch out. This beach town is a 35-mile drive south of Cancun or a 45-minute ferry ride from Cozumel. Tickets for the ferry can be purchased at the ferry landing in either Cozumel or Playa del Carmen. The further you walk north or south along the shoreline from the ferry landing, the more remote the beach. Most of the coastline is covered in white sand, and the remotest beaches have jungle vegetation framing that sand. Visitors looking for a little bit of nightlife can find accommodations near the ferry landing, which is the area's hotel zone. Campers can rent cabanas just outside the zone, and those traveling with a camper will find a beachfront RV park 10 miles south of the ferry landing. The RV park also has cabanas for rent.
Paa Mul Camping on the Caribbean
Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo
011-52 (984) 876-2691
ontheroadin.com/yucatan/rvparkpaamul.htm
(To call Mexico from the United States dial 011 (U.S. exit code) 52 (Mexico country code) then the area code and number.)
The laid-back town of Mulege is 85 miles north of the Lareto International Airport and reachable via the Carretera Transpeninsular (Highway 1). The remote Bahia Santa Inez Beach, home to sun, sand, surf and seabirds and not much more, sits on the Sea of Cortez some 30 miles northeast of Mulege. To reach it, take Highway 1 to marker Km 151 (this is how the marker reads; they use kilometers in Mexico) then turn onto a 3-mile-long sandy road leading to the beach. Self-contained camping is allowed on the beach. Bahia Santa Inez is an easy day trip from Mulege, and visitors have the option of staying in moderately priced hotels in this quaint fishing village. Beach camping is also available in Bahia Concepcion, 16 miles south of Mulege. This area tends to be a bit more crowded, but there are more than 50 miles worth of sandy beaches to explore, including Los Cocos, Concepcion, El Coyote and El Burro.
