Mexico's Mayan Riviera, with destinations like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, is one of the most visited regions in the country. During peak season there are approximately ten times more visitors in Cancun than there are residents. Mega hotels and resorts abound, offering all-inclusive services which often isolate visitors from the local life and culture and sometimes contribute to the damage done to natural resources and to inequality in local communities. However, beyond the overcrowded coast, in the interior of the peninsula, you'll have an amazing time exploring a beautiful destination: the Maya Ka'an. This destination brings together a group of tourism cooperatives from the Maya Zone, an area where descendants of the Maya continue to live following a more traditional way of life. Their villages are surrounded by tropical forests which connect with the large protected area of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve on the coast. The protection of these forests is of major importance for the migration paths of many mammals, including jaguars. Working together, the Maya cooperatives and the Amigos de Sian Ka’an organization have created the Maya Ka’an destination to insure the survival of the forests alongside with the preservation of the cultural identity of the communities by generating new economic opportunities through eco-tourism.
