Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula has long been a holiday haunt for sun-seeking yanks but European travelers are fast coming round to the idea of a long haul beach holiday as more and more tourists flock to this south-Mexican Mecca for beach bums, party lovers and culture vultures. Here are ten reasons why Mexico, specifically the diverse Yucatan peninsula needs to be on your bucket list.

1.       Chichen Itza

You’ve probably heard of Chichen Itza before and assumed it was a breed of small dog. Chichen Itza is actually an ancient Mayan city that’s been preserved for thousands of years, providing a fascinating window to the past. This site is up there with other world renowned man-made and natural tourist spots like the Pyramids of Giza and Macchu Picchu. And the best thing? Chichen Itza is roughly a 2 hour drive from most of the big resorts in Yucatan!

2.       Corona on Tap

In Mexico, everyone’s favourite beer is on tap, making for an even more refreshing frosty Cerveza to tame the central American heat. Corona is the perfect summertime beer and sipping one, whether it’s from a pump or a bottle, completes the true Mexican holiday experience. Hell you can even get it in cans!

Bonus Fact (that you already knew): Corona is traditionally served with a lime jammed in the neck of the bottle because this technique was originally used in Mexico as a means of repelling flies, which apparently HATE the smell of the citrus fruit

3.  Inexpensive (but Luxurious) Hotels

Because Mexico has become so popular as tourist destination in recent, hundreds of new hotels have sprung up all over Yucatan, most of them are excellent quality – 4 and 5 stars have become the standard creating plenty of competition and driving prices down for tourists. This means going All Inclusive is a cost effective way of holidaying in Mexico, the food in most of these hotels is top notch, so the temptation to go and eat- and spend more money – isn’t there as it often is holidaying in Europe.

4.       Spring Break

Once upon a time this was a U.S-only phenomenon, but young Brits have embraced this hedonistic holiday period and made it their own. Let’s not beat around the bush, Spring break is THE reason that revellers flock to Cancun – Yucatan’s (and arguably North and Soth America’s) party central – in March/April to ‘sample’ the local beverages and ‘mix’ with fellow party enthusiasts from the U.S.A and Canada

5.       Mexican Food

We all have a Fajita night, right? Well in Mexico every night is Fajita night, and they are SO much better than the ones we get from red and yellow packages from Tesco. Go to the right place and you’ll find that the tortillas are handmade on the day (sometimes from authentic BLUE corn) and laced with a fiery potent salsa.

6.       Plenty of Space

Yucatan is a big place, with a long coastline, which means there’s loads of space to stretch out and relax, you shouldn’t have kids running past kicking sand in your face (unless they’re your own kids,, in which case they’re probably doing on purpose), beach balls landing on your face, or leathery skinned men walking up and down trying to sell you watermelons and Fanta Lemon. Of course if you’re in the spring break crowd and you want crowded beach beaches then you can find those too.

7.       Cenotes

What? Is this another type of beer? Sadly not, Cenotes are ALMOST as amazing as beer, they’re underground beaches of sorts or as Wikipeda calls them ‘surface connections to subterranean water bodies’. Try to visualise a big hole in the ground with a shallow pool of water at the bottom. They’re Cool. And they’re only found in Yucatan.

8.       TEQUILA

Mexico is the spiritual home of Tequila, this spirit is made from the Agave plant which grows in central Mexico, but you don’t care about that. This is the drink to get the party started (and indeed end it prematurely for some), are you brave enough to drink it without the requisite salt and lemon?

9.       It is safe

It seems that no popular tourist resort has been without its fair share of bad press recently, Egypt has riots, Cyprus is in financial ruin and Mexico is allegedly embroiled in drug fuelled warfare. I can tell you that the last time I was in Cancun the only shots I saw were lined up on the bar! Yes there is crime in Mexico, like every other country, but it is incredibly safe, particularly the big tourist resorts.

10.   Diving

You may have gathered that Mexico is pretty wild (in a good way), but it’s not just the party animals that create a scene, there are many weird and wonderful species living here, and many of them can be found in the clear blue waters. Some of the best experiences are to be had in the Cenotes and caves around the coast, IF you’re brave enough!

Author: This list was bought to you by Hayes and Jarvis, a long haul tour operator offering several luxury hotels on the Yucatan peninsula.