PLACES
A detailed guide to the whole of Central America, including southern Mexico, with principal sites clearly cross-referenced by number to the maps.
Despite Central America’s small size, the array of sights and adventure activities is substantial. Exploring Mayan ruins lost within the jungle, seeking out resplendent quetzals in the cloud forest, and kicking back on unspoiled beaches are all on offer here. On a short visit, it’s best to confine yourself to a limited geographical area, although flights within countries can save you a significant amount of travel time.
The Maya region, encompassing Southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, is rife with history and diverse landscapes. Aside from the pleasures of some of the world’s top beaches at Cancún and along the Rivera Maya, Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is covered with thick jungle that contains Mayan cities like Chichén Itzá and dreamy cenotes (water-filled sink holes). Guatemala, home to the ruins of Tikal and the colonial city of Antigua, is more mountainous, with the tallest peaks in the region, which include active volcanoes. English-speaking Belize, with a Caribbean vibe and some of the world’s best diving on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, is also filled with archeological sites and adventure activities.
To the south, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are still being discovered by modern travelers, yet have no less to offer. The natural diversity here is astounding: mangroves, cloud forests, mountains, volcanoes, and lakes. Surfing on El Salvador’s Pacific coast and diving in the Bay Islands is as good and as inexpensive as anywhere in the region, if not the world. Upscale beach resorts and eco-lodges have established themselves in biodiversity hotspots like Pico Bonito National Park and Lake Nicaragua, while untamed regions like La Mosquitia are just as raw as they have always been.
Then there’s Costa Rica and Panama, which have the region’s most developed tourist infrastructure. Within minutes of bustling capitals like San José and Panama City, good highways and a network of short-range aircraft can drop travelers on remote tropical islands. While the Panama Canal crosses the Panamanian isthmus in dramatic fashion, both countries have Atlantic and Pacific coastlines with quaint beach towns.
Note: While the region of Central America is considered to cover the seven countries south of Mexico’s border, we have included the southern states of Mexico here as they often form part of a journey to the region.
THE MAYAN REGION
The magnificent architecture of the ancient Maya, legendary beaches, and renowned diving spots are attracting a growing tide of visitors.
With thousands of years of history and a glittering coastline, the Maya region of Central America is now a global travel destination, attracting visitors from every part of the world. This is where the rich Mayan culture had its center and where its remnants are still part of the landscape today. Away from the resorts, the interior has changed at a much slower pace, and many Maya continue to farm milpas (cornfields), planting the maize and beans that have been harvested here for perhaps five millennia under the relentless sun.
Temple V towers out of the jungle in Tikal, Guatemala.
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While the Maya influence cannot be denied, mainstream Latino (ladino) culture dominates the region, pushing farther and farther into the interior from the beaches of the Riviera Maya and sprawl of Guatemala City. In coastal Belize, the Caribbean influence is very evident, with thunderous reggae bass lines direct from Jamaica shaking the dancehall, while the inimitably reflective wit and harmonies of Trinidadian calypso fill the airwaves. In southern Belize and on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, there are several Garífuna communities.
The beaches around Cancún and along the Riviera Maya, lined with all-inclusive resorts and boutique eco hotels, are the biggest attraction in the entire region, luring cruise ships to Cozumel and hipsters to Tulum. Yet, just off the beach, thick jungle extends across the Yucatán, where the rich culture of Mayan villages and colonial cities like Mérida can be found. Extending across the border into Guatemala and Belize, one-time Mayan settlements form a loosely connected network of city-states centered around groups of awesome temple-pyramids, decorated with fine murals and carved stelae. The ruins at Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Palenque, Copán, Tikal, Calakmul, and El Mirador are some of the most impressive archeological remains in the Americas. There’s no shortage of adventure here, from diving the world’s second largest barrier reef to discovering the vast cave network that includes underground rivers and cenotes; climbing to the summit of active volcanoes; or paddling dugout canoes through mangrove forests.