Here’s our monthly gallery showcasing some of the region’s many natural and historical attractions. How many have you visited? Which ones would you like to explore on future trips to Royal Resorts?
Cancun Underwater Sculpture Museum (MUSA)
The Cancun-Isla Mujeres National Marine Park has an iconic attraction to offer snorkelers, the Underwater Sculpture Museum (MUSA). Over the years, over 500 statues by British sculptor Jason deCaires-Taylor and other artists from Cancun, have been submerged in “galleries” at Punta Nizuc, Manchones Reef and El Meco in Mujeres Bay. Corals, algae and brightly colored sponges are colonizing them, completely transforming them into living art and the oldest sculptures are now a habitat for lobsters, octopus and a variety of fish including sergeant majors, butterfly and damsel fish, blue tangs and angel fish.
Cancun Maya Museum
If you are interested in the history of the Maya and the Yucatan, the Cancun Maya Museum offers an interesting overview of the ancient Maya civilization. There are exhibits of ceramics and other artifacts discovered during excavations at archaeological sites in the Cancun area, Tulum, Coba and southern Quintana Roo, the neighboring state of Yucatan and further afield in southeast Mexico.
Archaeologists have discovered that the Cancun area was first inhabited in the Late Pre-Classic period, 300 B.C. to A.D. 100. During the Post Classic period from 900 to 1520, it was a port of call on the Mayan trade route through the Caribbean. The admission to the Museum includes a visit to the adjacent San Miguelito archaeological site.
Cancun Maya Museum is closed on Mondays.
El Rey
Located on the shores of Nichupte lagoon, across from Playa Delfines, El Rey is the largest of the archaeological sites in Cancun Hotel Zone. It was the ceremonial center for a chain of smaller settlements on the island and mainland that earned their livelihood from fishing, agriculture, bee keeping and trade and it reached its peak between AD 1200 and 1350.
There are 16 buildings at the site, of which Structure 38 is the best preserved, two plazas and two sacbes or Maya causeways. The name “El Rey” refers to a stone and stucco head found in a tomb at the site, which is thought to be that of an ancient leader or priest.
Aktun Chen Park
The Aktun Chen cave system lies in the jungle just south of Akumal. There are three galleries, one of which is illuminated to show the turquoise waters of a cenote and the delicate beauty of the stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones sculpted by water and calcite over millions of years.
Zip lining, swimming in cenotes and wildlife watching are the activities you can enjoy in Aktun Chen park. Keep a look out for spider monkeys, toucans and coatimundis in the jungle.
Explore the Yucatan
Thomas More Travel can help you arrange trips to these spots and to all the natural and historical wonders in the Mexican Caribbean and Yucatan. Visit the website or the travel desk in the lobby of your resort.
