If this place isn''t actually "Paradise", it''s close enough. Costly, though--but Paradise was never described as cheap, was it? Lost, Fallen, and Regained, but never Reduced.
This particular representation of earthly paradise is a collection of little concrete cabins strewn along a white sand beach, tucked in among stands of coconut palms and seagrape. (It''s remarkable how often our image of paradise involves coconut palms--it''s amazing the Biblical version went on about apples.) The accommodations are basic, but in a beachcomberly sort of way--an excellent choice of what amenities you really need when paradise is right outside. There is a huge circular restaurant with painted ceiling (another image of paradise that seems universal--we can assume that in Heaven the ceilings will have frescoes) and a beachfront palapa bar with swings instead of stools. Oddly enough, the swing thing works. Possibly because after you get shitfaced and fall off a swing, there is only soft white coral sand below.
But all this is merely a staging area, the sadly necessary support system that allows you to live a portion of your life on a long white beach back by palms and jungle, fronted with the sea that gave this place the name "Turquoise Coast" (or was that a chamber of commerce? no matter). The sand is fresh-ground coral; cool, soft, and indelibly white. The water is warm and gentle, a palette of blues and greens. The temperature discourages clothing, and people oblige--this is, after all, paradise. There isn''t much more you can say. That''s the beauty of a beach, of paradise in fact: it''s simple and it''s indescribable. Except for on last detail--if you walk north on the beach five minutes and splash around a rocky outcropping, you''ll suddenly look up and see the stones of the Tulum Ruins. What would paradise be without an ancient temple?
Oh, yeah, the bad news: it''s the most expensive of the cabanas on this stretch of beach and the despair of the shaggy eurotramps that flock here: $30 to $50 U.S. a night, depending on accommodations. The good news? You could pay 8 times that in Cancun for a much lesser situation. What price Paradise?