At $4 a day, the reserve oversees a number of tours, escorting its visitors to the most traditional form of vacationing in the Yucatan. Canal and Bird-watching excursions provide a non-restricting means to explore habitats diverse of the flora and fauna, 103 mamalia, and 336 bird species that inhabit Sian Ka’an.

Canal Tour

• Follow a 1200 year old Mayan trade route.
• Visit ruins within the reserve.
• Observe lush flora and fauna unique to the reserve.
• Float down a freshwater river.
• Learn Mayan history.

All-Day Canal Tour

• Travel the waters by 23′ open-air boat.
• Experience the different ecosystems, plants, and birds.
• Navigate a natural canal Mayan trade route.
• Float along a freshwater canal as the current carries you downstream.
• Lunch and snacks provided.
• Walk through a Sian Ka’an garden.
• Cool off swimming at a cenote.

Price: $70/person. Transportation is provided to and from ME Cancun and other resorts of the Cancun hotel zone. The reserve limits its patronage to 12 people a day and recommends visitors bring a swimsuit, towel, and sunblock.

Sunset Bird Watching Tour
(Operates December – May)

• Tour of the largest natural protected area in the state of Quintana Roo.
• Includes bird watching, swimming and snorkeling in a cenote, and watching the sunset over reserve lagoons.
• Dinner

The Biosphere spans 75 miles, north to south, making up nearly one third of the Caribbean coast of Mexico. By visiting the reserve and taking any one of its tours, a typical Cancun vacation becomes personalized, something as unique as Sian Ka’an itself.

However hazy the memory may be, it takes an experience to complete that though. The Cancun nightlife is known for its diversity. While clubs and bars continue to dominate most of the scene, resort hotels have begun opening their own facilities to compete; often hosting large parties and attracting any number of vacationing celebrities on any given night. The saying has been worn tired, but as the day turns to night, Cancun evolves into another city, offering something for everyone.

It may be a nightlife may be for everyone, but the clubs and entertainment in this guide are not. Generally attracting a younger crowd (18-32), they provide an atmosphere that can only be described as hysteric.

The City – The City is the largest club in Cancun and therefore has earned its name. Described as a “mega-entertainment complex”, The City is a wave pool leading to a multi-level club that features suspended entertainers and an enormous video and sound system. Every year sees a packed lineup of celebrity curated parties; one of the most memorable being 50 Cent’s for Spring Break 2005.

CoCo Bongo – It can’t claim to be the largest, but comes damned near close; considered by many as the hot spot of Cancun. CoCo Bongo is a nightclub of smorgasbord allure. It teams the widest variety of entertainment, décor, and activities into one bowl-shaped arena. A hanging stage, flying acrobats, on-bar conga lines, video screens that drop from the ceiling, foam and bubble parties, tequila—it’s what separates CoCo Bongo from the other clubs and sets it a tier higher than the rest.

Maxim Beach Club – Hosts Cancun’s largest beach parties with DJs spinning global house and dance music, fire dancers, ME girls, and a different performance every night. As its name implies, Maxim Beach Club is hosted on the white shores of Cancun, at ME Cancun resort, and is open to the public.

Bulldog Café – Features Cancun’s greatest laser light show and live music. Although the club holds 2000, don’t be surprised if you see Bulldog bikini-clad girls in the mix. The Café has played host to many shows in the past including Radiohead, Naughty by Nature, and Shakira and conveniently sectioned into multiple areas, offering multiple atmospheres, and features a VIP room with Jacuzzi.

O Ultra Club & Terrace – A chic, intimate atmosphere of premium liquors and Euro-American house music. O Ultra Club is conveniently nestled between Dady Rock and Dady’O, so when the mood strikes, your night can transition, seamlessly, from one club to another. Built to hold 200 people, the walls, the décor, and the lighting have all been carefully orchestrated to provide guests with a sensual ambiance.

Pat O’Brien’s – O’Brien’s is not as crowded and overwhelming as its counterparts. It mirrors more of a bar atmosphere and is a great place to begin or end your night. Whatever you end up drinking at Pat’s, be sure to save room for their house Hurricanes.

The clubs and bars of Cancun run the gamut of head-imploding excitement to cool casual and relaxing. The aforementioned tend to tip the scale in favor of unbelievable nights and hazy mornings that will have you deciphering your own Polaroid. And say you still manage to deplete the stock; other clubs such as Carlos ‘n’ Charlies, Senor Frogs, Fat Tuesday, and Dady ‘O are all perfectly capable of keeping up and exposing you to Cancun’s wild nightlife.

Previously they catered for locals and tourists looking to party with regular bikini contests and even a surfing simulator.

Located at the rear of The City nightclub, the beach club caters for the well to do local and offers a menu devoid of the ubiquitous hamburger and fries. A group of expats living here decided to get together and have a family day out there.

Kids are only allowed on Sundays and cover charge is 100 pesos or $10 USD per person (free for kids). The club consists of two pools, many padded sun loungers and cabanas, all overlooking the wide expanse of restored beach.

The cabanas come in two styles, one has two sun beds the other a large bed suitable for groups of up to 10. Each cabana has piped music with individual volume control and a water misting device. The cabanas are an extra 200 pesos, but one of our group managed to blag one for free.

The kids enjoyed the pool and the adults hung around drinking beer and chatting. Beach access is just a few short steps away, so we also spent time in the sea too. Although there seemed to be lots of staff, service was pretty slow. Ask for an ashtray 3 times and you’ll eventually get one 20 minutes later. Order a round of drinks and they’ll arrive eventually.

The menu was quite good and offered a wide variety of food. I ordered the curried chicken wrap which was tasty but smaller than what I was expecting. I could have eaten it twice over, but not at the 100 peso price I paid for it. Beers were I think around 35 pesos so it could easily make for an expensive day out.

Our total cost for two adults and one toddler came out at around 800 pesos including cover charge, about 8 beers and two meals. While it’s not something we’d do every weekend it does make for an occasional pleasant day out.

Here’s my ratings out of 5:

• Service **
• Ambiance ****
• Facilities ****
• Food ***
• Price ***

You can visit their website here

The maps are more than just a map though, they are a complete guidebook, and for only $8 (the price of a Whopper Meal at Burger King here in Cancun!)

The Cancun Map for example contains extensive information on 163 places to dine, 143 places to stay, plus details of 27 nightclubs/bars and 70 tours and attractions.

Other maps feature locations such as Riviera Maya, Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Chichen Itza and the Reefs of Cozumel. If you click these preceeding links, you’ll view a fantastic presentation showing you the features of each map in detail.

I have a copy of the Cancun Map 2005 version and I didn’t think it could be done, but the 2006 version is even better and has a new format which will be rolled out to their other maps soon.

The new for 2006 Cancun Map instead of being a fold out regular map like before, now comes in a handy pocket sized wallet containing 4 separate pullouts comprising of 8 maps and 5 guides.

These comprise of:

1. Map A, Locations of Cancun Hotel Zone Restaurants: with personal first hand reviews. Prices and suggestions for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These reviews are unpaid and first hand accounts.
2. Map B - Detailed Map of Punta Cancun: or the party zone where the density of restaurants is too high for them all to be included on the main map.
3. Map C - Detailed Map of La Isla Shopping Mall: again there are a number of restaurants in a small area here, so this area is deserving of a detailed close up.
4. Map D - Tours Attractions and Nightlife:  on the flipside of Maps A, B and C are detailed locations with extensive narrative on everything from Isla Mujeres Ferry Schedules to Cancun Dolphin Swim locations to ATM locations.
5. Map E - Detailed Punta Cancun: again a zoom in of the Party zone nightlife area.
6. Map F - Cancun Hotels: Locations of all the Hotel Zone hotels, price guide and advice on calling home.
7. Map G - Downtown Hotels, Restaurants and Attractions: Want to find the markets? or Costco?
8. Map H - Outside Cancun: the area between Cancun and South to the airport, and to the North as far as Isla Blanca
9. Guide 5 and 6: Airport Departures and Arrivals: Advice on getting through the airport as quickly as possible, with a plan of the airport and nearby roads.
10. Guide 7 and 8: Taxi and Bus guide: Tips on taking the bus and taxi, plus a taxi tariff chart to esnure you don’t get ripped off.

So there you have it. A brand new format and better than ever!

If you are going to Cancun and want to know your way around, or even if you know your way around this guide is still a must have. Perhaps you have the 2005 map and guide already? If so, remember, Miss Wilma made some pretty big changes around here and they’re all included in the 2006 Cancun Map and it costs just $8!

Purchase your Cancun Map Here

Scott is clearly a talented photographer and manages to capture some very poignant scenes away from the touristy areas of Cancun depicting people, wildlife and history.

From shoeshine boys to pea-pods, from jaguars to bullfighters, from Mayan ruins to Mayan dress.

Portrait of the Yucatan shows much of what can be called the real Mexico, the Mexico that many tourists, sadly, never see. Scott’s book is available via this link and is currently retailing at just $7.50 plus $2.50 shipping which is a snip at twice the price.

Completely in black and white with 84 pages and 72 stunning photos plus sufficient, but not over the top, narration this book is the ideal coffee table accompaniment.

Scott also has some great Cancun photographs including color that you can download from our Cancun Wallpaper page. Also take some time to drop by Scott’s website at Scott Bulger Photography for more stunning Cancun images.

Here’s a couple more photos from the book:

 Here’s the link to purchase the book Portrait of the Yucatan

There are thousand of amateur video clips of Cancun out there that are permitted to be reproduced and this is the ideal medium for them to be shared, so I’ll be adding more Cancun video clips regularly. I’ll also be taking some video to add to the blog myself.

Our visit was last Saturday night. It’s always a good idea to get there early as the club fills quickly and good vantage points become scarce after 11pm.

We waited in the express line for about half an hour before they opened the doors around 10:30pm.

Ironically, the express line is actually longer than the regular line. Probably a sales tactic to get people to go in the first place if they think they receive some kind of VIP service.

It was fairly clear that, at that time of night, all the clubs are competing for the same customers. The careful management of the line, allowing only a trickle of clients at a time to enter, ensured the line looked long to passers by and would entice more to join the queue. One nice touch was that staff handed drinks out to the customers waiting in the hot Cancun night.

The price of admission is $45 or 475 pesos. I think that the price is higher on Friday and Saturday nights, with other nights of the week costing $5 less. The price of admission obviously includes the open bar deal.

Once inside a series of escalators takes you up to the top of the club where you then make your way into the amphitheatre type nightclub. The club consists of a main stage high up to the front with a central bar (both for the service of drinks and for dancing on). The club also has three or so tiers of seating, with the lower areas having a bleacher style and private tables occupying the upper levels. What seems like hundreds of waiters attend to the clubbers. A well placed tip at the beginning of the night ensures you’ll get good service all night long and don’t have to queue at the bar for your drinks.

The show starts about 11.00pm and on Saturday was opened by a Robbie Williams impersonator, closely followed by a Madonna lookalike. Set against a backdrop of bubbles, ticker tape, balloons and streamers falling from the ceiling it’s a spectacular sight. Scantily clad dancers trumpeters and drummers complement the acts.

There are also a couple of shows consisting of guys who hang from sheets above the crowded bar and perform synchronised gymnastic and acrobatic routines.

Beetlejuice and The Mask also provide entertainment as they fly around the club and dispense drinks of tequila mix direct from the bottle.

Around 2am the show is pretty much over but the night continues with a mix of 80′, 90’s and latin pop to suit all tastes.

All in all Coco Bongo is a not a place you’d want to visit every night of your vacation in Cancun but everyone should experience this unique concept at least once.

I’ve now added a Video clip of the Coco Bongo Show.