A minor site, actually, but if you’re staying in Cancún and are really lazy, on the road between the hotel zone and the airport. Dating to around 300 BC and now open daily during daylight hours, this little complex seems to have had a focus mixing fishing, coastal commerce, and astronomy, as well as served as a royal burial ground. There are two main avenues and two main plazas with 47 structures, and it’s actually pretty cool – I see echoes of many other Mayan sites I’ve visited – except that instead of a heart-thumper of a workout by climbing a few stories up a pyramid in the Yucatan’s sultry heat, there’s pretty much nothing here that’s higher than two stories. What’s more, whenever I’ve visited the place has always been delightfully peaceful; you may very well find yourselves literally the only visitors. More information: Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatan.

Read more in my post 12 of the Top Archaeological Sites on Mexico´s Yucatan Peninsula.

David Paul Appell