While Cancun is famous for its parties, it’s also a vitally important centre for the study of the remarkable Mayan culture. Chichen Itza, about three hours from Cancun proper, is probably the big attraction. But seaside Tulum is fascinating and has the added bonus of being on a fabulous beach. I loved my visit to Coba, which features one of the few Mayan pyramids you’re allowed to climb, at least for now. Despite what tour books suggest, it’s not a hard climb. And it’s not that scary, even for folks like me who don’t like heights.

Cancun feeds the tourists what they want in a lot of ways. You can rent jet skis at some of the resorts. Other activities include speed boat rentals, where you can zoom out of the lagoon and out into the open waters of the Caribbean. Para-sailing also is hugely popular, both in the lagoon and in the ocean if the water is calm enough. Looking for thrills on land? Try the Cancun Extreme Zipline Canopy Tour for a bird’s eye view.

Alltournatives is a local company that can take you on both adventure or cultural tours. I took the cultural tour, stopping at both the ruins at Coba and visiting a couple of Mayan villages. At one, we witnessed a blessing from a Mayan shaman on the shores of a beautiful cenote. At another, we visited a Mayan family that grows their own food and draws their own water and has no electricity. The mother and father have eight kids to help look after, and the mother was making corn tortillas on an open fire in a grass/thatch hut when we visited. One of the boys was shooting pictures of the tourists with a digital camera when we were there, an an Alltournatives spokesman said it’s part of their give-back program to try to teach modern skills to local kids.

This is a wild and fascinating treatment you can take at the Westin Resort and Spa in the south end of the Hotel Zone. It’s based on an ancient purifying ceremony and involves a great deal of chanting and free-form prayers inside a small dome. You sit on a bed of sand in your bathing suit while colourfully dressed locals load hot rocks into a fire pit in the centre of the dome, ratcheting up the temperature. It’s a great way to work up a sweat and to contemplate one’s life and loved ones.

The popular Wet ‘n Wild water park chain has a playground in the south end of the Hotel Zone, with slides and a wave pool and kids’ zone. They also sell an all-inclusive package that has food and drinks. XCaret is a theme park/garden/water attraction Playa del Carmen with a snorkel river, dolphin pool, turtle pools, a zoo and more. The garden at the Museo Maya de Cancun has cool gardens that will help get the kids out of the sun for a bit, plus gnarly-looking black and silver iguanas they can admire. Little ones will be happy enough with a resort pool and sandcastles on the beach.

This town, a half hour south of Cancun, is what I imagine busy Playa Del Carmen must have been like before it was “discovered.” There’s a small square with a kids’ playground and tons of inexpensive restaurants. When I was there a harpist and guitar player were entertaining folks at lunch at a seaside spot called Pelicanos. There’s a fine English-language bookstore called Alma Libre that has new and used material. Somehow the souvenir shops, selling the usual array of sombreros and Green Bay Packers ponchos, seem more charming here. The offshore reef has great snorkelling, too.

After a few nights of excessive entertainment, a trip to the Museo Maya de Cancun might help restore some brain cells. You’ll find hugely impressive ceramic jars dating back more than 1,0000 years, as well as containers used to hold Mayan chocolate, so you know those folks had some of their priorities right. There’s also a welcoming cool garden that contains small but impressive Mayan ruins, making it a great spot to see Mayan history without enduring a two-hour bus ride to one of the more famous sites.