What is the history of Yucatan: Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida, etc.?

Yucatan has been an independent country outside of Mexico three times and was the seat of the Mayan Empire before the Spanish came to Merida.  The local Mayans weren’t really pacified until the 1940s. So for many, many years in the 20^th century there were still Mayan rebels fighting for independence. 

 

The state of Yucatan is one of three states in the Yucatan Peninsula.  The others are Campeche (where there are very few...

Yucatan has been an independent country outside of Mexico three times and was the seat of the Mayan Empire before the Spanish came to Merida.  The local Mayans weren’t really pacified until the 1940s. So for many, many years in the 20^th century there were still Mayan rebels fighting for independence. 

 

The state of Yucatan is one of three states in the Yucatan Peninsula.  The others are Campeche (where there are very few expats) and Quintana Roo (which is quite famous for tourists and expats and has within it Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum; comprising the Riviera Maya).  Yucatan has the colonial city of Merida and lots of nice beaches in relatively small fishing villages. 

 

The city of Merida is around 500 years old. It’s probably one of the first inhabited Spanish cities in Mexico. Merida is not only the capital of Yucatan but it is the capital of Southern Mexico. It is the technological and medical center of the peninsula. All the medical specialists are here in Merida and there are many universities here.  I just saw the new statistics, which said there are over 114 universities in Merida alone.  

 

When the Spanish came, Merida was a very active Mayan city, which is why the city continued here.  It has the existing infrastructure of the Mayan civilization, which was actually still very active in Merida.  At that time, Merida was known as “Tho.” I’m assuming that’s why the city continued in the same location, whereas where some of the other well-known ruins such as Chinchen Itza and Ushmal were already abandoned by the time the Spanish came.  Many other locations such as Valladolid and Izamal were still active Mayan cities when the Spanish came in, so they just continued on and basically built over the Mayan ruins. 

 

In the early 20^th century, before the invention of polyester, there was more millionaires in Merida, Yucatan than in any other city in the world. They prospered and made their money out of Henequen (which in English is “sisal”) and from which they made rope, canvass, and fibers. 

 

Quintana Roo didn’t exist until the 1970s. It was a territory. It was part of the Yucatan Peninsula, part of the independent nation of Yucatan and then when Yucatan joined the Mexican Union, it was part of the Mexican Republic, Lopez Portillo, started and created Cancun. So the Riviera Maya has only been around for 25 years.  

 

Fonatur, which is the trust for tourism, is the agency that developed and started marketing the area of Cancun, so Cancun was created by the federal government.  Now, Cancun is one of the most sought after and popular tourist destinations in the world. We’ve got tourists from all over the world. Not only is Cancun a famous destination worldwide, but it’s one of the Mexican nationals favorite areas to vacation. 

 

Playa del Carmen was probably two blocks, and known as where you took the ferry to get to the island of Cozumel.  Now, it has grown very rapidly.  During the last 7 years Playa del Carmen was the fastest growing city in Mexico.  It’s now a good-sized city of about 300,000 people. Playa del Carmen is quite a nice place to live, and a lot of fun to visit.  It’s also an extremely popular tourist destination. The cruise ships stop in Cozumel or Playa del Carmen and many walk what is known as Fifth Avenue, which has many shops, restaurants, and lots of entertainment.  There’s lots to do in Playa del Carmen. It’s a younger crowd. Playa del Carmen is on the Caribbean so there’s different colors in the ocean. The speed is a little bit faster than what you would find on the other side of the peninsula.  

 

Playa del Carmen is not just very popular vacation destination but there’s a worldwide expat community in Playa del Carmen. You have Italians, Brazilians, French, English, lately a lot of Russians have been moving there, Americans, and Canadians.  Playa del Carmen is a very unique melting pot in Mexico. People from around the world live there. 

 

Further south from Playa del Carmen one of the better-known areas is Tulum. There are many other little communities in between that are also expat destinations. Tulum is known for their Mayan ruins right on the beach Tulu, and they are getting world recognition for their beaches.  They’ve come up with a beautiful master plan. It’s probably the first city in Mexico that has, from the ground up, developed a master plan on how the growth of the city is going to be developed. 

 

Tulum is a very interesting destination mixed with ancient Mayan ruins, beaches, and planned growth. It’s becoming a hotspot. There are a lot of people buying there and investing in the area because you don’t have to worry that if you buy a house, there’s going to be a gasoline station or a tire shop next door. It is planned and you know what you’re getting into. And certainly, you’re on the Caribbean, so it has that to offer.  

 

Some of the best areas yet to be developed in the Yucatan Peninsula are in the state of Yucatan. The state of Yucatan has great fishing communities that you can very much compare to what Playa del Carmen and Tulum used to be. My opinion is that buying in Celestún or in Sisal, basically anywhere in the Yucatan coast, is going to be your best investment. Imagine if you knew what Cancun and Playa del Carmen or Tulum were going to turn into? Would you like to have bought there before the 1,000%-plus increase in real estate prices? That’s what’s going on in the state of Yucatan and its beach coast.  You can get in right now and buy these small fishing communities. 

 

I particularly like Celestún, Sisal, and Telchac because they’re all surrounded by the federal and state natural parks and reserves, so growth is going to be limited. You’re never going to see high rises like you would in Cancun. There are density and height restrictions so anybody that gets into any of these beach areas will always be comforted with the idea that it’s not going to turn into a massive city, not only because there’s nowhere to go because it’s surrounded by reserves and nature parks. 

 

(Sisal fields in the Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)

The Yucatan Peninsula is divided into three states: Campeche (which is fairly uninhabited); Yucatan (which has the city Merida, with about a million inhabitants, and related beach areas; and Quintana Roo (which has the more famous tourist and expat destinations of Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which are all part of the Riviera Maya).  The state of Yucatan has residents going back for a very long time, and the city of Merida is about 500 years old.  In...

The Yucatan Peninsula is divided into three states: Campeche (which is fairly uninhabited); Yucatan (which has the city Merida, with about a million inhabitants, and related beach areas; and Quintana Roo (which has the more famous tourist and expat destinations of Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which are all part of the Riviera Maya).  The state of Yucatan has residents going back for a very long time, and the city of Merida is about 500 years old.  In contrast, the people who live in Quintana Roo almost all migrated there recently.

 

The State of Quintana Roo, in the Yucatan Peninsula

 

Twenty-five years ago, Cancun was close to nothing.  The entire area (which is not actually an island, but it is close to being an island) was man-made.  I used to live on the island of Cozumel, which is just off the coast of Cancun.  The saying then was “Man made Cancun, but God made Cozumel.”

 

Cancun has now developed into a world-class tourist destination that’s rated as one of the top five tourist destinations in the world.  Cancun is for party people and Spring Breaker; the number one choice is to go to Cancun for Spring Break. They’ve got all of the night clubs. They have Hooters. They have Carlos and Charlie’s. You can party all night, every night and just go from bar to bar to bar. Everything there is geared for the tourist.

 

About an hour south from Cancun is Playa del Carmen.  Once Cancun got rolling and they saw what was happening there, investors started buying property in Playa del Carmen. To give you an example, when I first moved to Playa del Carmen in 2002,  I could have bought a pretty decent little lot for less than US $100,000 USD. Today if I went to go buy the same lot, it would be close to US $400,000. 

 

Further south, is Tulum, which as I’m writing this is in the process of turning into a Playa del Carmen. It used to be a lovely place to visit, and I went there many times.  I would go to a Mayan ruin and at the end of the ruins, there’s a little beach cove area where you could go swimming. It was just a great place to go for the day but things have changed over the last five or six years. For me, it’s no longer any fun. There are just way too many people, way too many vendors selling stuff and taking you on tours. Just the whole tourist trap thing, in my opinion, has made it less desirable.  

 

Further down the coast, Mahahual is still very quiet and laid back, but the problem is that Mahahual is too far off the beaten path.  To go to Mahahual from Playa del Carmen takes about 3 ½ hours. Once you get off of the main road to go to Mahahual, there’s only one road in.  It’s a forty-minute drive down the winding road. There are no stores, and no gas stations. So when you’re in Mahahual, you’re very limited on grocery stores or pretty much anything. For major shopping, you would have to drive two hours to the city of Chetumal. 

 

The State of Yucatan, in the Yucatan Peninsula

 

Merida is by far the largest city in the state of Yucatan.  Merida is an amazing, colonial city that goes back to the 1500s. The last that I read, it has about 1.4 million people. The architecture in Merida originated from Europe because back in the day Merida was the richest city in the world.  The reason is that Merida became a center for Henequen, which was used to manufacture rope.  Henequen is very spiky plant that grows gigantic spiky leaves and the fiber from those leaves is what they process into rope. Business people became millionaires overnight, so when they started building magnificent homes, a lot of the owners would have marble and different stones imported in Europe and brought here for their construction.  

 

Merida is a big city. If you are a city person, it would be an ideal place to live. They’ve got 5-star restaurants, and there are Porsche dealers and Mercedes dealers. There are gigantic malls.  Anything that you can imagine is in Merida. But most of the people that I know who are at retirement age, aren’t looking for the city life. They’re looking for the laidback life of the beach. So a lot of people choose to live at the beaches closest to Merida.  That way, they can run to Merida, do the opera, whatever, and in 30 minutes be back in their fishing village where everything’s relaxed.  

 

(Cozumel, Mexico, pictured.)

I live in a hacienda in Merida in the state of Yucatan that is 400 years old.  At one time the king of Spain would have given a conquistador or a noble this piece of land, who may have come here and created this beautiful setting, and then the village grew around them. The reason they call them haciendas is because “hacienda” is the word for maker, and haciendas made things – they made their own furniture, grew their own crops, had their own cattle, and did...

I live in a hacienda in Merida in the state of Yucatan that is 400 years old.  At one time the king of Spain would have given a conquistador or a noble this piece of land, who may have come here and created this beautiful setting, and then the village grew around them. The reason they call them haciendas is because “hacienda” is the word for maker, and haciendas made things – they made their own furniture, grew their own crops, had their own cattle, and did their own ironworks. Haciendas were totally self-contained, and all the Mayan people worked for them. 

 

Henequen, a fibrous plant that grows in very dry conditions, was big. At one time there was a lot of trade between Spain, Mexico and other countries. The Spanish came to Yucatan, and grew and harvested henequen. That was a big part of hacienda life because henequen was a very big crop that endured very well. The local people knew how to work with henequen.

 

But once the plastic was invented, the need for henequen fell away because ships’ sails were then made of plastic. At one time, Merida was supposedly one of the wealthiest cities in the world, but with the advent of alternatives, that was the end of it.

 

There’s still a lot of wealth here in Merida- it’s still a big center of economic power and affluence for the whole area. There are still lots of wealthy Yucatecans.

 

(Pictured: Hacienda San Pedro Nohpat, Merida, Mexico.)