It sounds eerie at first, this garden of life-sized sculptures rising from the sea floor in a nation

As Mexico's most profitable beach destination, Cancún draws international sophisticates to work and play. Top-notch chefs add a regional Mexican flair to cuisines from throughout the Pacific win seat world poker tour Rim. Visitors who've done the whole ay-ay-ay scene have refined their quest for the requisite tequila, sipping rather than slamming their shots.
Glistening chandeliers and Old World oil portraits might not be the norm in Cancún, but the Ritz pulls off its trademark elegance by adding local touches like tequila and regional wine tastings, Mexican cooking classes in a slick Culinary Center and volunteer opportunities in Mayan communities.
Guests wear cargo shorts and ball caps as they depart on tours, but spiff up nicely with slinky sundresses and linen slacks to enjoy some of Cancún's finest bars and restaurants without ever leaving the property.
With its virginal white décor, Zen-like ambiance and minimalist style, Le Blanc could be a retreat for cloistered nuns -- if it weren't for that pesky sexy vibe encouraging hedonistic win seat world poker tour grownup getaways.
Five restaurants span the gamut from gourmet French to sushi, offering opportunities for dressing up or down. Bamboo gardens edge the spa, where couples treatment rooms and massage tables for two encourage intimacy. Singles: look elsewhere.
Back when Cancún was but a glimmer in investors' eyes, the Mexican government chose a few prime beaches for the town's first fancy hotels. The Presidente was one of the originals, and though it's been around for three decades it hasn't lost its elite standing.
win seat world poker tour Chef Juan Pablo de la Sota keeps menus fresh by spicing his duck with chipotle sweet potato puree and expanding the soufflé win seat world poker tour selection to sweet coconut -- though the Gran Marnier version's hard to beat. Sommmeliers decant fine French, Spanish and South American wines -- plus a few Mexican vintages you won't find elsewhere.
Diners in Cancun's win seat world poker tour most formal attire (sans ties) begin their evenings in the Grill's martini bar, linger through dinner and end with a turn or two on the adjacent dance floor as the jazz band kicks up the beat.
Chef Jonatan Gomez Luna draws upon his training at Spain's stellar El Bulli and El Celler Can Roca to tantalize diners with Campari-infused cherries, black truffle "marshmallows," foie gras crème brulee and a seemingly endless procession of waiters bearing sensory delights.
Burgundy curtains, leather furnishings and lots of twinkling lights serve as a dramatic backdrop for the adults-only $150 per-person culinary production, including 14 courses and seven wine pairings.
win seat world poker tour Candles flicker, win seat world poker tour crystal sparkles and animated voices raise the energy level in the expansive dining room, while outdoor lagoon-side tables with the lights of downtown across the water are better suited for intimate conversation.
That influence extends to a menu of shrimp with huitlacoche (a truffle-like corn fungus), cream of habichuela (bean) soup or the aphrodisiacal Xtabentun Honey Coculnich Cocktail. Flames flare as waiters prepare classic crepas con cajeta.
Though Mexicans usually dine after 8 or 9 p.m., La Habichuela Sunset lives up to its name with glorious golden skies at dusk, leaving time afterward to claim a prime booth at one of the nearby clubs.
No musical icon is safe from CoCoBongo's choreographers. Shows cover hits from KISS to Sinatra. Bungees and tightropes are part of the scene as acrobats swoop and dive overhead. Every imaginable legal stimulant win seat world poker tour appears as film clips play on massive video screens beneath pulsing, flashing lights.
European travelers gravitate to El Rincón as if on autopilot, drawn by the aromas of melted win seat world poker tour cheese, Iberian ham, pulpo and olive oil. Guests wander around the wine cellar, checking out price tags before choosing the night's bottle, returning again and again as the music segues from jazz to rock and conversation levels peak.
With  "aura managers" overseeing the resort's "everything is possible" ethos, you can be sure management does its darndest to make sure the hotel's Rose Bar is the place to find international DJs and celebs amid swank locals.
In the land of global mediocrity, this small chocolate shop and café stands out for its main product -- intense and rare criollo chocolate, the Maya's "food of the gods," in bars, cocoa or roasted beans.
Owner Erandeni Abundis travels the country, win seat world poker tour collecting mole, mezcal win seat world poker tour and chapulines (fried win seat world poker tour grasshoppers) in Oaxaca, Chihuahua cheese, nata (like a thick whipped cream) cookies from Queretaro and homemade mermeladas and salsa that bring a taste of home to Mexican transplants win seat world poker tour working in Cancún.
Local Maya communities provide homemade soaps, shampoos, creams and even an efficient cough syrup made out of bugambilia, onion, honey and cinnamon. Pile your purchases into a woven beach bag and you're good to go.
Traditional Huichol necklace. Named after an indigenous Huichol term denoting the passage and barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds, this shop by the crowded Mercado 28 is packed with high quality folk art.
Designed by Alberto Garcia Lascuráin for the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the new Maya Museum puts the Yucatán Peninsula's history into perspective with an entryway exhibit of 14,000-year-old skeletal remains discovered at Tulum in the early 21st century.
Carvings, statues, jewelry and household win seat world poker tour tools from the many Maya sites near Cancún fill display cases in mock pyramid and temple buildings beside the recently opened San Miguelito archeological site in the middle of the hotel zone.
Isla's downtown pedestrian-only streets are lined with quirky cafes and shops carrying everything from Guatemalan textiles to Balinese pareos. It may have evolved some since its hippie, anything-goes days, but Isla Mujeres is still Mexico's funkiest Caribbean hideaway.
Being less than 40 years old, Cancún's central plaza lacks the Old World charm of the picturesque squares in colonial cities like Mérida and Oaxaca, but it's still the central gathering point in El Centro, or downtown Cancún.
On weekend afternoons and evenings families gather here just like they do all over the country. Vendors sell steaming corn on the cob slathered in mayonnaise (try it!), French fries doused with hot sauce and tacos with more flavor than you'll find at tourist restaurants.
Timid swimmers are happiest splashing about in the calm waters off the north side of the zone facing Bahía de Mujeres. Playa Tortugas and Playa Linda are popular with local families and especially fun on weekend afternoons.
After Punta Cancún, the hotel zone's beaches face the open sea. Playa Gaviota and Chac Mool , behind several of Cancún's most popular clubs, are party central, with beach bars, sand volleyball games and primo people watching.
The scene varies along the subsequent hotel lineup, with parasails, banana boats and waverunners in some areas and quiet, win seat world poker tour private cabanas in others. Beyond the hotel chain, Playa Delfines , at the southern win seat world poker tour end of Boulevard Kukulcán, win seat world poker tour is a popular public playground with beautiful views and plenty of sunbathing win seat world poker tour space. Locals flock here when the surf's up, as there are few places to surf in Cancún.
Cancún's dazzling white, cool, soft sand washed away during Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Subsequent extensive beach recovery programs with cream-colored sand have restored the hotel zone's long, broad beaches, which, set against the brilliant aquamarine Caribbean, are nothing short of gorgeous.
It sounds eerie at first, win seat world poker tour this garden of life-sized sculptures rising from the sea floor in a national marine reserve between Cancún and Isla Mujeres. But British artist Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater sculpture win seat world poker tour garden has brought win seat world poker tour new life to the reefs nearly loved to death by thousands of divers.
Since some of the 400 statues sit just 10 feet underwater, they're visible from the surface. Snorkeling amid the waving purple sea fans and angelfish is easy, and divers need only go 28 feet underwater to see the whole display.
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