Quintana Roo beaches: which one is worth it today?

About the coast of Quintana Roo

By Equipe editorial GTM Labs · Updated 10/08/2026

Quintana Roo occupies the eastern side of the Yucatán Peninsula, and its shoreline, on the Caribbean Sea, is made up mostly of sandy beaches, with a small stretch of rocky coast. Coral reefs of the Mesoamerican Reef System run along that coast. Since 2016, the Caribe Mexicano Biosphere Reserve has covered areas of eight coastal municipalities, from Isla Mujeres to Othón P. Blanco, with seagrass beds and coral reefs. On the eastern coast, the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site since 1987, protects shallow bays, such as the Bahía de la Ascensión, and part of the Mesoamerican Reef.

The Riviera Maya is the stretch of coast that runs from Puerto Morelos to Tulum. Cancún grew out of an integrated tourism development project that followed the tourism policy the Banco de México adopted in 1968. Off Playa del Carmen lies Cozumel, the largest island in the Mexican Caribbean. Tulum was a Maya trading port, built right on the coast. In the south, in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco, Mahahual is a fishing village near Banco Chinchorro, a coral atoll the state promotes as the largest in Mexico.

Sources: Wikipedia (es), Quintana Roo · Wikipedia (es), Sian Ka'an · DOF 07/12/2016, Decreto por el que se declara área natural protegida, con el carácter de reserva de la biosfera, la región conocida como Caribe Mexicano (copia en FAOLEX/FAO) · Wikipedia (es), Riviera Maya · INAH, minigúia de la Zona Arqueológica de Tulum · Wikipedia (en), Cozumel · Consejo de Promoción Turística de Quintana Roo, Caribe Mexicano (página de inicio, destinos) · Wikipedia (es), Mahahual · CONACyT y El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Diagnóstico estatal del sistema de ciencia, tecnología e innovación en Quintana Roo (2012), Descripción general del estado · INAH, Lugares INAH, Sian Ka'an (texto de la declaratoria de la UNESCO) · UICN, World Heritage Outlook, Sian Ka'an · Consejo de Promoción Turística de Quintana Roo, Caribe Mexicano, Riviera Maya · INAH, Lugares INAH, Playa del Carmen (Xamanhá) · Consejo de Promoción Turística de Quintana Roo, Caribe Mexicano, Cozumel