We arrived in Cancún on July 4, 2003. We had a long flight that left early in the morning from San Jose, CA, then stopped in Guadalajara, changed planes in Mexico City, and finally arriving in Cancún in the evening.

In the 1970s Mexico's ambitious tourism planners decided to outdo Acapulco with a brand new, world-class resort in the Yucatán Peninsula. The place they chose was a deserted sand spit offshore from the little fishing village of Puerto Juárez. Its name was Cancún.

In the last two decades Cancún has grown from a tiny jungle village into one of the world's best-known holiday resorts. The Mexican government sunk vast sums into landscaping and infrastructure, yielding straight, well-paved roads, drinkable tap water and great swaths of sandy beach.

Cancún is actually two places in one. On the mainland lies Ciudad Cancún, a planned city founded as the service center of the resort. The main north-south thoroughfare is Avenida Tulum, a long tree-shaded boulevard lined with banks, shopping centers and restaurants. The smaller, low to medium-priced hotels and restaurants are within the city center.

The 23km (14mi) long sandy island, Isla Cancún, is known as the Zona Hotelera or Zona Turística. Boulevard Kukulcán, a four-lane divided avenue, leaves Ciudad Cancún and goes 9km (5mi) westward to Punta Cancún. The boulevard then heads south for 13km (8mi) to Punta Nizuc, where it turns eastward, rejoins the mainland and heads inland to the airport.

We stayed with Tannia's Uncle and Aunt in Cuidad Cancún. The weather was very hot and humid while we were there. Fortunately there was only one rainy day, and we left the day a hurricane arrived. We enjoyed a day on Isla Mujeres where we louned in the shade having drinks all day. It was a nice place to snorkel.