This Spring Break - Head to the Yucatan! :: We've Got Your Map

While the weather here at the National Geographic maps offices in Colorado has been unseasonably warm, many cities throughout the country have seen record cold temperatures, feet of snow, torrential rain, and even a few rare February tornadoes. If you're one of the poor souls tired of walking past cold windy alleys, digging your car out from behind the snowplow berm, or excited when "spring fever" means 37 degrees - then turn your attention south to Mexico and the lush Yucatan Peninsula.

The Yucatan offers something for every tourist. For the resort set, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and the rest of the Riviera Maya offer 5-star hotels, white sand beaches, warm Caribbean waters, and plenty of nightlife, restaurants, and bars to shake off your mid-winter chills. Those that enjoy a more adventurous vacation will find the Maya sites scattered throughout the peninsula (easily accessible via numerous tour agencies) an alluring attraction with their incredible architecture and historical significance.

In the case you're still undecided on the Yucatan as your spring break destination here are a few other compelling reasons:

* Current temperature in Cancun (11am, 2.27.09) = 79 degrees. Current temperature in Boston = 35 degrees.

* Current water temperature off the coast of Cancun = 78 degrees.

* $1.00 currently equivalent to 14.98 (MXN Pesos)

* Roundtrip airfare from Boston to Cancun the weekend of March 13th, $358.

Now that you're ready to start packing your bags and making the clicks to purchase hotel and airfare, make sure you pick up a copy of our brand new Northern Yucatan Peninsula and Maya Sites Adventure Map. At just $11.95, this is the perfect companion for your trip for both pre-trip planning and in-country navigation.

The front side of the map contains a carefully researched and detailed road layer with hundreds of place names, including the small rural towns that are scattered throughout the peninsula. Two inset maps provide street level detail for Merida and Cancun and include the locations of key infrastructure like post offices, hospitals, and bus stations, but also popular points of interest like parks and museums. Adventure travelers will benefit with the locations of prime snorkeling, surfing, and fishing spots plus Maya historical sites and federal and state protected lands.

The map's reverse contains a detailed guide to (7) of the most popular Maya Sites, complete with inset maps that highlight points of interest at each location. A cool new feature noted on this map are Maya sites with TekTrek multimedia destination guides available for download. These immersive audio and video programs include information on the history and significance of the sites and how to support local sustainability efforts. Sites detailed on the back of the map include: Chichen Itza, Ek' Balam, Tulum, El Rey, Uxmal, Coba', and San Gervasio. Downloadable TekTrek guides are available at their website.

Our new Yucatan map is available now at the NG Online Store and directly from National Geographic Maps. To place an order call 800.962.1643 Mon-Fri between 8:00am and 5:00pm mountain time.

To learn more and browse our Yucatan map - visit it's page on our website.

National Geographic Maps Baja California

Snow is starting to fall throughout the U.S. and Canada and with it interest quickly peaks in warmer climates. While the economy has made it less attractive to board a flight to the Mediterranean or other far-flung exotic destinations, Mexico remains tangible for even the most frugal and depending on your location could be just minutes away.

Located on the Northwest corner of Mexico is the Baja Peninsula, over 700 miles in length from the U.S. border to its southern terminus in Cabo San Lucas. Highly diverse, the peninsula contains forests, deserts, agricultural valleys, and a vast coastline with rugged cliffs, protected coves, and hundreds of miles of unmolested sand beaches.

Baja offers a variey of experiences for travelers. Those seeking luxury resorts will find the Los Cabos resort corridor with its Nicklaus designed golf courses and lavish resorts an ideal destination. The Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) at San Jose del Cabo is located just a few miles north of Cabo san Lucas and is serviced with direct flights from Frontier, Alaska Airlines, America West, Continental, Delta, and Mexicana Airlines.

Those seeking a more adventurous, off-the-beaten path experience need only hit the road on MX-1 the main highway which runs the length of the peninsula. This is a drive of a lifetime and is not the typical American road trip. You can easily bridge hours and hundreds of miles in the central portions of the peninsula without seeing a convenience store, let alone a place to stop for gas. With it though comes incredible beauty and the rare opportunity to explore a region of the Earth that is still virgin to over commercialization.


Surfers consider Baja one of the premier destinations in the Western Hemisphere. The Seven Sisters a stretch of seven right point breaks from Punta Cono to Punta Rosarito just north of the Baja California / Baja California Sur state line offer incredible surfing in the winter months with strong west or northwest swells. One of the best things about surfing in Baja is the quantity of great locations and the ability to break free of the crowds with just a little exploration.


Baja is of worldwide importance to marine wildlife as well. Surrounding the peninsula on both the Pacific Ocean side as well as the Gulf of California are a series of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and protected areas. Most notably the El Vizcaino Gray Whale Sanctuary on the western coast of Baja California Sur (mid-peninsula) contains two lagoons, Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio, which serve as key wintering and reproduction areas for Gray Whales, Harbour Seals, Elephant Seals, Blue Whales, and four species of endangered sea turtles.

For the past several months National Geographic cartographers in cooperation with local government, the Nature Conservancy of Mexico, UNESCO, and local experts have been carefully researching and developing a series of two new Adventure Maps for Baja California, which are now available. The two maps, Baja California and Baja California Sur, combine highly detailed topography with up-to-date roads and the locations of key points of interest. Unlike other maps of the peninsula, each of our new Baja maps contain extensive place and feature names, backroads, historical places , and important service features (such as gas and diesel stations). Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose' Del Cabo, and the Los Cabos Resort Corridor are detailed in inset maps that pinpoint post offices, churches, government facilities, and popular tourist destinations.

Having traveled to Baja on several occasions via car, cruise ship, and plane I recall using a variety of guide books and the now out-of-print AAA map. Obviously I'm a bit biased, but these maps are amazing and are perfect examples of National Geographic quality. Should you be one of the 200,ooo expected in Baja next week for the Baja 1000, be sure to look for our friends at Too Much Fun Promotions (Armando Carrasco) in Ensenada or in the pits at race mile 108.

Our new Baja maps are available at the National Geographic Online store and at retailers in Mexico and of course closer to home.

:: Learn More About Baja ::

Looking for a bit more on Baja? Check out these articles from our Adventure and Traveler magazines:

Preserving Baja's Coastal Treasures from National Geographic Traveler's award-winning Intelligent Travel Blog. "Is Baja on the Block?" looks at how the spread of tourism and development is threatening the integrity of Baja California in Mexico. Here, he introduces some of the people trying to help sustain the marine heritage of the region. See the original article in this month's issue of National Geographic Traveler.

The Baja Blueprint from National Geographic Adventure