The Maya Riviera, the stretch of coastline along the Yucatan’s Caribbean side, contains most of the area’s well-known destinations for beach fun: Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel and Tulum to name a few. Head inland from the coast and the scenery changes dramatically and the crowds thin considerably. We left the beaches behind at Mahahual and headed into the heart of Mayan country. The shimmering blue of the Caribbean Sea would be replaced by the . . . shimmering blue of an inland lagoon? Not just any old shimmering blue – Laguna Bacalar is also known as the Lagoon of Seven Colors (spoiler alert – the colors are all shades of blue). It’s hard to imagine an inland body of water that contains the lightest shade of blue where it lies over a shallow limestone bottom to the deepest blue of the nearly bottomless cenotes, of which there are four in or around the lagoon. The best way to experience the lagoon and the amazing colors of its water is by boat. Almost anywhere along the shore boats are available for hire, offering a fairly standard trip of a couple hours, allowing for plenty of swim time in the shallower sections. The boat captains are also more than happy to provide a cooler and ice if you decide to bring along some beer (spoiler alert – we did). If you prefer to stay on land while enjoying the water, there are two other options – Sac Ha offers access to a shallow bay (with that light blue water and limestone bottom) and a number of palapas for a shady spot to spend the afternoon; Los Rapidos is sited along a narrow channel where you can float the current, then sip margaritas and munch on chips and guacamole while watching others enjoying their float. When we’d had enough time on, and in, the water, we spent our evenings exploring the eateries in town. Our favorite meals ranged from the simple, traditional chicken roasted over charcoal, served with tortillas, rice and salsa at Pollo Asadero Sinaloa to the upscale offerings at Nixtamal, including wood-fire grilled tuna with coconut butter, passion-fruit aioli and a variety of grilled vegetables. The fiery salsa served with tortilla chips before our meals were washed down with mezcal – guava mojitos (so good I just had to mention them).

Acting on a tip from our host back in Puerto Morelos, we made a visit to the Mayan ruins at Calakmul our next stop. The ruins, located deep in the jungle amidst the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve just thirty miles from the Guatemalan border, required a two-night stay in the small market town of Ixpujil. To the tourist, Ixpujil doesn’t offer much, other than a place to sleep, and, as it turned out, decent pizza and cheap beer. But it still lies two hours away from the ruins, so we got an early start the next morning, fueled up on a delicious fruit, granola and yogurt breakfast, and made the drive to the ruins. The main attraction at Calakmul are the two towering pyramids which peak out of the jungle, offering panoramic views of the surrounding landscape, as well as the site below.

Following our jungle experience at Calakmul, we traveled four hours west to the Yucatan coast, this time on the Gulf of Mexico. We arrived in the small city of Campeche, capital of the state of the same name and second largest city (after Merida) on the peninsula. We were immediately taken by this little charmer – pastel-colored buildings, a lovely main plaza with a beautiful church and a seemingly never-ending malecon along the waterfront. We were most impressed by how clean this city was – not a scrap of trash to be seen on any of its streets. We wandered through the sprawling central market, a vast covered area with dozens of stalls offering every type of fresh fruit, vegetable, fish and meat, along with clothes, footwear and jewelry. The malecon was a great spot to watch the sunset before heading back into the historic town center for a meal and to view the plaza and cathedral lit up for the evening.

A popular pedestrian street in Campeche getting ready for the dinner hour

Eight days took us from coast to coast – from a lagoon to Mayan ruins deep in the jungle, to the beautiful colonial city of Campeche. The next week would see us venture back into another Biosphere Reserve for more Mayan ruins, back out to the Gulf coast for flamingo spotting and some time in the Yucatan’s largest city.