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Cancun: Think Disney World, la Maya

Author: Bob Morris
Hearing that I planned to visit Cancun for the first time, a friend offered this perspective: "If you like Disney World, you'll love Cancun." While my friend might have meant it as a backhanded compliment, it could just as easily be taken as a ringing endorsement. Cancun matches up with Disney on many fronts - no Cinderella's castle perhaps, but a regal array of fine resorts and an almost flawless level of service. And with its primo location on Mexico's Caribbean coast, served by a fine airport and an abundance of direct flights from major North American cities, Cancun has created a well-oiled tourist machine for the happy masses. Other similarities between Walt Disney World and Cancun abound. Both are the brainchildren of world-class visionaries - in Cancun's case, a Mexican government think tank that meticulously researched the ideal location for a made-from-scratch resort city which could fuel an emerging tourism economy. Both sprouted in the 1970s on vast tracts of land with buffer zones to separate paying customers from the people who actually live and work there. And both have enjoyed the sort of spectacular success that turns other destinations murderous with envy - and makes Cancun and Disney World easy targets for detractors. With 26,000 hotel rooms and more on the way, Cancun lures more than 2 million visitors a year. Thanks to high-gloss marketing, its very name conjures a notion of grandeur, even though it was derived from the Mayan word, which translates as "rat's nest," yet another eerie parallel to Mickey's empire. In just three decades, the city has supplanted flatland forests to make room for 600,000 residents, but its most public face is tidy and polished. You can't swing your sombrero around here without hitting someone who is sweeping, trimming or otherwise sprucing up things. Other attributes are equally Disneyesque. The frontline staff of Cancun's hospitality industry - from rental-car agents to hotel groundskeepers and just about everyone else - are unfailingly attentive and quick with a smile. The hotels, while often preposterously out of proportion to the landscape, are dazzling nonetheless, even those that go over the top with architectural tributes to Mayan temples. And the diversions, while occasionally hokey, are endless. You could spend an entire week on the water - taking excursions to nearby theme parks, such as Xcaret, snorkeling in cenotes and swimming with dolphins; climbing aboard a personal watercraft at Aqua World to explore the Cancun lagoon; heading out for a day of sport fishing; or making a quick hop over to Isla Mujeres, just five miles offshore, where the mellow, fishing-village pace offers respite from mainland kinetics. But what really enhances Cancun's broad appeal is the way it parts paths with the Disney method. While Disney had to dredge lakes, the Mexican Caribbean could hardly be improved upon. The beaches are fairly broad and seldom rocky, offering plenty of public access and decent snorkeling in shallow water. Where Disney had to import history, the Mayan legacy is ingrained in Cancun. Sure, you can join the daily pilgrimages south to see the ruins at Tulum, but if you're lazy - the Yucatán Peninsula naturally promotes indolence - then look no farther than the beach at the Sheraton Cancun Resort, where the building blocks of ancient temples jut out alongside your blanket in the sand. And then there's the food. I'm convinced when it comes to general, all-around kitchen mastery - the ability to cook every kind of cuisine with skill and flare - Mexican chefs are the best in the world. Which explains why it's almost impossible to get a bad meal in Cancun (U.S. franchise joints, of which there are many, not included). Even the tiniest, dumpiest-looking places perform magic with local seafood. At Punta Zuc, I lunched on Mayan-style barracuda, baked in a corn shuck, for US$10, which included a cold bottle of Sol. For a big night out, I try La Joya at Fiesta Americana Coral Beach Cancun, where chef Berthold Dettweiler's Carib-Mex creations proves deserving of the AAA 5-Diamond rating the restaurant won. Those so inclined can find ample opportunity to indulge in late-night shenanigans - yes, tequila plays a major role here - to a level that would cause lifelong banishment from Disney property. The tourist zone is flush with the de rigueur Planet Hollywood and Carlos 'N' Charleys, but homegrown joints still hold their ground. The 10-piece Cuban band at Azucar draws the most exuberant late-night dance crowds. And Le Destilerie offers the chance to enjoy fine food and loud music in surroundings made to resemble a tequila distillery. Cancun's reputation as a destination of choice for spring-break debauchery, which hoteliers are trying desperately to tone down, contrasts with its growing appeal for family vacationers. With nearly 3,000 units in five adjacent complexes, the Royal Resorts time-share offers weekly rentals in its fully equipped condos. "It was the perfect spot for our family reunion," said a man I met, who, as it happened, had decided against holding the get-together at Disney World. "The guys could golf, the women could shop, the kids could splash around in the water, we could all get together at mealtime ... and we were in the Caribbean." The upscale crowd is well-served by Le Meridien, a Ritz-Carlton and a new 450-room JW Marriott/Cancun, the chain's tony offshoot brand, scheduled to open by year's end. While taxis are fairly cheap and plentiful, don't hesitate to rent a car and roam outside the tourist zone, which is called exactly that on easy-to-read road markers that direct you back to Hotel World. Just barely 30, Cancun is a mere babe by city-years, so you won't stumble across the splendid old cathedrals and 16th-century palazzios that mark the era of Spanish conquest elsewhere in Mexico. What you will find, though, is a city with a warm heart, where streets are lined with shade trees and the cafe culture is surprisingly lively. The best place to hang out in downtown Cancun is El Cafe on Nader Avenida near Municipal Plaza. A local radio show broadcasts live from its terrace two mornings a week, making it a gathering spot for local movers and shakers and others who come to enjoy the perpetual buzz. A good cup of coffee is curiously hard to come by in Cancun, which makes El Cafe's cafe lechero all the more treasured - the steamed milk is served with great flourish by your waiter from a long-spouted pewter pitcher. Breakfasts are gut-busters. Try the huevos divorcades ("divorced eggs") - one fried egg topped with green salsa, the other with red. "Then we separate them with a big mountain of refried beans," explained my waiter. "Because they do not get along." Pop back into El Cafe around 1 p.m., when the aroma of volvoranes wafts out of the kitchen. Those in the know order platefuls of this local specialty, a dish that has no comparison anywhere. It's a sort of tuna fish croquette laden with chipotle pepper sauce - just listing the ingredients doesn't begin to describe how great they are going down. All I can ask is that if Disney World ever starts serving such delights then please, someone let me know.

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