EL CAREYES BEACH RESORT

One of the little-known gems of the Pacific Coast of Mexico, this is really two hotels in one. After Christmas and before Easter, El Careyes brims with well-to-do Mexican families letting their hair down. The rest of the year the hotel is a tranquil, tropical retreat basking at the edge of a pristine, craggy cove.

  The natural scene sets the tone: a majestic palm grove opens onto a petite sandy beach set between rocky cliffs. Offshore, the water, deep and crystal clear, is home for dozens of kinds of fish. Overhead, hawks and frigate birds soar, pelicans dive, and boobies and terns skim the waves. Seasonally, at night nearby, sea turtles carry out their ancient ritual by silently depositing their precious eggs on nearby beaches where they were born.

  As if not to be outdone by nature, the hotel itself is an elegant, tropical retreat. A platoon of gardeners manicure lush spreading grounds that lead to gate and reception area. Past the desk, tiers of ochre-hued Mediterranean-chic lodgings enclose an elegant inner courtyard where a blue pool meanders beneath majestic, rustling palms. At night, the grounds glimmer softly with lamps. They illuminate the tufted grove, light the path to a secluded beach, and lead the way up through the cactus-sprinkled hillside thorn forest to a romantic restaurant high above the bay.

HOTEL ACTIVITIES

Hotel guests enjoy a plethora of sports facilities, including tennis courts, riding stables, and a polo field. Aquatic activities include snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, sailing, and deep-sea fishing. Boats are additionally available for picnic-excursions to nearby hidden beaches, wildlife-viewing, and observing turtle nesting in season. A luxury spa with view pampers guests with massage, facials, sauna, whirlpool tub, and exercise machines. Evenings, in season, live music brightens the cocktail and dinner hours at the elegant beach-view restaurant/bar.

  The hotel was named for carey (kah-RAY), the native word for an endangered species of sea turtle (the hawksbill) that used to lay eggs on the little beach of Careyitos that fronts the hotel. Saving the turtles at nearby Playa Teopa, accessible only through hotel property, has now become a major hotel mission. Guards do, however, allow access to serious outside visitors during hatching times; follow the dirt road between Km 49 and Km 50 to gate and beach; no camping, please. Check with the hotel desk for information and permission.