10/30/2002

Visited the area on that date by trying to drive south from Tulum to Punta Allen. The road increasing deteriorated to the point where we had to turn around after traveling only about 5 or 6 kilometers past the entrance into the reserve. I was afraid of the wear and tear on my rental mini-van. It is very densely overgrown and although we were probably no more than 100 meters, at the most, from the Caribbean on our left the water was not visible at all. At our turn around point we had reached what appeared to be an area adequate for camping as there were many signs that campers had used the area. It was a very pleasant sandy area shaded by coconut palms and extended down to the beach. Walking in the area was a tremendous disappointment as the remnants of past camping experiences was littered throughout the area. Trash was evident wherever you looked and although we were prepared to do some swimming were discouraged from doing so because of the filthy condition of the beach. Although we had registered our visit at the entrance no information or map was available except for a large map on a roadside sign. Would like to have gone further and will probably do so sometime in the future but will try to be better prepared with some sort of 4 wheel drive vehicle. We had tried to get information about the area in Cancun but were unable to find anyone who had personally been there and there didn't seem to be any sort of tour available. available.