Mexico
Mexico is a traveller's paradise, crammed with a multitude of opposing identities: desert landscapes, snow-capped volcanoes, ancient ruins, teeming industrialised cities, time-warped colonial towns, glitzy resorts, lonely beaches and a world-beating collection of flora and fauna. The bursting megalopolis of Mexico City is a one-hour flight from the tropical rainforests and Mayan villages of Chiapas. Up along the northern border, Mexico's tumult of heritages merge with the air-conditioned cultures of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Mexico's profusion of people and landscapes reflects the country's extraordinary history - part Amerindian, part Spanish. One look at this country is enough to remind visitors that there is nothing new about the so-called New World. Despite the considerable colonial legacy and rampant modernization, almost 60 distinct indigenous peoples survive, largely thanks to their rural isolation. This mix of modern and traditional, the clichéd and the surreal, is the key to Mexico's immense popularity as a travel destination, whether your passion is throwing back margaritas, listening to howler monkeys, surfing the Mexican Pipeline, scrambling over Mayan ruins or expanding your Day of the Dead collection of posable skeletons.
Mexico is enjoyable year-round, but October to May is generally the most pleasant time to visit. The May-September period can be hot and humid, particularly in the south, and inland temperatures can approach freezing during December-February. Facilities are often heavily booked during Semana Santa (the week before Easter) and Christmas/New Year, the peak domestic travel periods.
Mexico's climate has something for everyone: it's hot and humid along the coastal plains, and drier and more temperate at higher elevations inland (Guadalajara or Mexico City, for example). Try to avoid Mexico's southern coast between July and September - the resorts are decidedly soggy and jam-packed, as July-August is also the peak holiday period for foreign visitors
Mexico, particularly certain parts of the Caribbean and Pacific, is a paradise for divers and presents many different faces. In the far east of the country, along the Caribbean coast, the waters are transparent and the richness of the Mayan Coral Reef, the second longest in the world, lets divers explore an endlessly fascinating landscape. Major scuba diving sites include Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Punta Allen, Banco Chinchorro, Akumal, Puerto Morelos and Paamual. The main snorkeling sites are Xel-Ha, Cozumel and X-Caret. There are also opportunities to dive the cenote sites of the Yucatan.
In the Pacific Ocean, there are excellent scuba diving conditions in Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Huatulco, as well as in Mulegé, Cabo San Lucas in the Baja California peninsula and the Sea of Cortez.
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reality check
Wonderful, diverse country, well worth visiting. If you move outside of the tourist resorts, you will come face to face with third world poverty. Crime levels in cities, particularly Mexico City has now reached record levels, so exercise caution. Living expenses are extremely cheap once you are there. Fantastic food but exercise caution with water.
Club Cantamar
Whaling Away in Margaritaville! Sea of Cortez by Alison Boler
Diving Cabo San Lucas by Alison Boler
Cozumel by Trevor Thorpe
Topes and Cenotes, Yucatan Peninsula by Emma Faid
Mayan Riviera, Cozumel and Cenotes by John Kirk
Cancun, Mexican Wave Diving, Easter 2007 by Andy & Fiona Boorer
Puerto Vallarta by Trevor Thorpe
Mexico's Caribbean Resorts
Baja and the Sea of Cortez
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