Mexico

Designed in the Mayan temple style of architecture, the Gran Melia Cancun is located on one of the largest beaches in Cancun, and it offers one of the largest marina’s in the area. The Gran Melia Cancun compares with the most prestigious and exclusive hotels in the world offering guests outstanding service, beauty, and elegance.

The Gran Melia Cancun Hotel boasts 794 guest rooms with private terraces that provide breathtaking views of the Caribbean Sea and the Nichupte Lagoon. The hotel has a time sharing vacation club for which it keeps over 100 of it’s rooms reserved. Junior Suites, a Governors Suite and a Presidential Suite are available as well. The hotel reserves a special Royal Service floor, which offers Executive guests special services including express check in, butler services, and more.

Catering to families, the Gran Melia Cancun Hotel has an activities program for children as well as adults. There is a nine-hole, par 3 golf course on the grounds as well as a tennis court, unique swimming pools, and a shopping area. The hotel features five restaurants and five bars as well. The Gran Melia offers all inclusive vacation plans that will suit your needs and also caters to ‘room only’ guests as well. [Read more…] about Gran Melia Cancun Hotel

Many people were concerned about Hurricane Ike and whether it would cause a problem for people going on holidays this fall.

Well good news, there are no problems as far as the weather is concerned. No hurricane Ike problems in the Cancun or Mayan Riviera areas of the east coast of Mexico. Many people were concerned about the effect of Hurricane Ike as you may or may not be aware there have been some tough times in Mexico as far as past hurricanes were concerned. As you may or may not know Cancun can expect to get hit by a major hurricane once every 10 years and a smaller one a bit more often. In fact back in 2005 Hurricane Wilma hit and destroyed the beaches of Cancun but they have been built up since.

So what was the effect of Hurricane Ike this week? Well the peak winds only hit 20 miles per hour at the peak of the hurricane and the temperatures were in the 80’s as usual.

Cancun and the Mayan Riviera are my favorite areas of Mexico to travel and with a plan to hopefully visit there this Winter I was really nervous about ths big hurricane ruining such a beautiful area.

Great to see that Hurricane Ike was a non event in Mexico this week!

Everyone ends up in LA PAZ eventually, if only to get the ferry out, and it seems that most of the population of Baja California Sur is gravitating here, too. The outskirts are an ugly sprawl, their development outpacing the spread of paved roads and facilities. But the town centre, modernized as it is, has managed to preserve something of its quiet colonial atmosphere. You can stroll along the waterfront malecón, and for once the beach in town looks inviting enough to swim from – though there are no guarantees on the cleanliness of the water.

The Bay of La Paz was explored by Cortes himself in the first years after the Conquest – drawn, as always, by tales of great wealth – but he found little to interest him and, despite successive expeditions, at first merely rapacious, later missionary, La Paz wasn’t permanently settled until the end of the eighteenth century. It grew rapidly, however, thanks to the riches of the surrounding sea, and above all as a pearl-fishing centre. American troops occupied the town during the Texan war, and six years later it was again invaded, by William Walker in one of his many attempts to carve himself out a Central American kingdom; by this time it was already capital of the territory of California. The pearl trade has pretty much dried up – a mystery disease wiped out most of the oysters – but since the 1960s La Paz has continued to boom, buoyed up by tourists at first flown in, then boosted by the growing ferry service, and now supplemented by the hordes pouring down Hwy-1.

Read more at the La Paz Visitors Guide

ARRIAGA , the first town on the Chiapas coast road, is a dusty, uninteresting place, but its location at the junction of Hwy-195 (the road over the mountains to Tuxtla) means you may have to change buses here. The Central de Autobuses , with plenty of first- and second-class connections, is just off the main road, six blocks from the zócalo. All southbound buses will also stop at Tonalá , a slightly better option if you have to spend the night.

Larger and marginally more inviting than Arriaga, TONALÁ is just a thirty-minute bus ride away down Hwy-200, which, as Av Hidalgo, forms the town’s main street. All the bus companies terminate along Hidalgo: the main first-class companies pull in about 1km west of the zócalo; second-class to the east.

Everything you need in Tonalá (including banks ) is either on the zócalo – Parque Esperanza – or within a couple of blocks of it. The central feature of the park is the Estela de Tlaloc , a large, standing stone carved by the Olmecs, depicting the rain god Tlaloc. If you’re stuck for something to do, you could always visit what’s termed the Museo Arqueológico (open until late evening: free) in the Casa de Cultura, on Hidalgo across from the Hotel Tonalá , though the Olmec and Maya exhibits here appear to have been abandoned.

Read more at the ARRIAGA AND TONALA Visitor Guide