The coastal state of Quintana Roo was a forgotten
frontier for most of modern Mexican history - its lush tropical
forests exploited for their mahogany and chicle (from which
chewing gum is made), but otherwise unsettled, a haven for outlaws
and pirates, and for Maya living beyond the reach of central
government. In the 1970s, however, the stunning palm-fringed
white-sand beaches of the Caribbean coast and its
magnificent offshore coral reefs began to attract
tourists : the first highways were built, new townships
settled, and the place finally became a full state (as opposed to
an externally administered Federal Territory) in 1974.
The stretch of coast between Cancún and Tulum is
the most heavily visited - and the focus of much recent, rapid
hotel construction. Modern development is centred on the resorts of
Cancún and Playa del Carmen , along with the islands
of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel , which have become some
of the world's most desirable package tour destinations and
increasingly overdeveloped as a result. You'll see images of the
Maya everywhere here, but while their culture is shamelessly used
to promote tourism, little of this money ever reaches the Maya
themselves, and where they haven't been forced out by developers,
they continue to live in poverty in small communal villages in the
scrub forest, growing maize and carving or weaving a few trinkets
for tourists.
Further south things get quieter: the beaches within the Sian
Ka'an Biosphere Reserve are nesting sites for turtles, and
behind them are areas of mangrove swamp, home to numerous animals
including jaguar and even manatee. The vast and beautiful Laguna
de Bacalar was an important stop on the Maya's pre-Columbian
trade routes and was later used as an outpost for arms shipment
from Belize during the Caste Wars. Chetumal , the state
capital but otherwise a dull, duty-free border town, is of chief
importance as a gateway to and from Belize. The southern coast,
while rewarding for naturalists and adventurers, is difficult to
visit: only a couple of roads offer access, and public transport is
minimal.
Inland , Quintana Roo is little visited. There are some
spectacular Maya sites here, though they are not as
accessible or as well restored as the pristine open-air museums of
Yucatán. Cobá , a lakeside Maya city just off the road to
Valladolid, has some of the Maya world's tallest temples, but is
only partially excavated, hidden in jungle swarming with
mosquitoes. The early Classic site of Kohunlich , famous for
its giant sculpted faces of the Maya sun god, lies in the heart of
the Petén jungle that stretches into Guatemala and Belize; even
more remote are the ruins of Kinichna, Chacchoben and
Dzibanche .