Delfines Beach

Playa Delfines, or Dolphin Beach, is a truly beautiful place. The wide strip of light sand appears to stretch on for miles, contrasting with that particular kind of blue that you only find in the Caribbean Sea. Amazingly for a place like this, it's not difficult to find yourself a quiet spot, and with lifeguards to keep an eye on the little ones in the controlled swimming area, you can really put your feet up and enjoy the peaceful lapping of the waves.

The beach is dotted with umbrellas, free to use, so you'd be advised to set yourself up under one of these to have some protection from the intense heat. In fact, this coastal strip is very well tended to, and working alongside the trained lifeguards are also medical officers, should anything go wrong.

And it’s not for nothing that it's called Dolphin Beach. This is a favourite place for people to come dolphin watching, and you can often spot these amazing creatures playing in the waves not too far off the coast. It's also possible to charter a boat to take you out to sea if you want to see them up close, and you can even arrange to swim with them.

The beach is also quite popular amongst surfers. The waves here aren’t huge, but they’re definitely high enough for a decent surf. There's nowhere to hire boards on the beach itself, so that should be arranged in advance in one of Cancun’s many surf shops.

One of the many magical things about Playa Delfines is that it's not lined with large hotels and restaurants. You can really tell that this is a favourite hang-out among locals by the fact that the only food and refreshments available are from street vendors, and everything is reasonably priced. This makes the beach a surprisingly good place to try out some local dishes, such as fresh fish wrapped in banana leaf, or kibis, a kind of Yucatan dumpling.

Playa Delfines is 17.5 kilometres away from the centre of Cancun, and is very easy to get to by bus or by taxi. Uniquely for a Cancun beach, there's also free parking here. The beach is always open and free to use, but the lifeguards are only there during the day.