Cancun

Map of Cancun

In my Readers Digest Atlas from 1971 Cancun does not even exist and now it is a very vibrant growing and happening place. According to our tour guide Gigio, in 1974 there were less than 100 people living in the area and now we are approaching 1 million. The word Cancun means 'nest of snakes'.

Club Med was the chain that got the whole thing going. Club Med Cancun is at Punta Nizuc at the Southeastern end of the Hotel Zone (bottom right on the map to the right).

The Hotel Zone is what was originally an island in the shape of the number 7. Today this 22km long stretch is no longer an island as it is connected by bridges at both ends to the mainland and the Nichupte Lagoon. There is no swimming in the lagoon, there are crocodiles in there and all the hotels are facing the sea.

The main road through the Hotel Zone is called Kukulcan Blvd. Kukulcan is a Mayan God, for more info check out this site about Chichen-Itza. Hotel addresses are not street numbers the way we are used to, rather they are the kilometer marker of the 22km long Hotel Zone. I just picked one hotel as an example, the address of the Sheraton Hotel is Paseo Kukulkán, Kilómetro 13.5 Zona hotelera, Cancún,Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Hotel Zone has just under 100 hotels in an area that is only 22 km long.

The pictures below were taken from the scenic tower at the northern end of the Hotel Zone right next to the bridge that connects it to the mainland. Next to our hotel at Xcaret Park there was another scenic tower.