In the 1970s Mexico's ambitious
tourism planners decided to outdo Acapulco with a brand new, world-class resort
in the Yucatán Peninsula. The place they chose was a deserted sand spit offshore
from the little fishing village of Puerto Juárez. Its name was Cancún. In the
last two decades Cancún has grown from a tiny jungle village into one of the
world's best-known holiday resorts. The Mexican government sunk vast sums into
landscaping and infrastructure, yielding straight, well-paved roads, drinkable
tap water and great swathes of sandy beach.
The average temperature in Cancún is 27° C (80° F ) with more than 240 days of sunshine, and rain is rare, with late August through early October being the rainy season. The beaches are almost 100 percent limestone; the porous quality of the limestone makes for cool sand even under the intense tropical sun.