Maroma Resort and Spa

The rooms and suites at Maroma Resort and Spa are shaded by coconut palms on one side, open to the sun and sea on the other. The brainchild of architect José Luis Moreno, Belmond Maroma Resort and Spa nestles within a 500-acre coconut plantation blessed with a secluded bay and the finest white-sugar sand beach on the Riviera Maya. What's more, tight controls mean Maroma still enjoys the best and least developed strip of real estate on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

One of the best things about Maroma Resort and Spa is that even when it's fully booked, you'll wonder where all the guests went. The beachside dining room is rarely more than half full, there's always space under a palapa and never a crowd at the bar - or anywhere for that matter. Regardless of when you come, the place feels wonderfully empty.

As well as a beautiful white sand beach, the resort's facilities include three swimming pools, two tennis courts (with a resident pro) the soaring Kinan spa offering a variety of treatments, and a rooftop yoga pavilion with 360-degree views of the jungle and the sea.

There are three restaurants, with ocean views, serving innovative Mexican cuisine, and two bars. A full range of watersports is available at the marina, including kayaking, sailing, parasailing, fishing and swimming with dolphins. Superb snorkelling and scuba diving awaits on the colourful reefs just offshore.

The diving here is highly personalised. Most dives are for only two to four guests, so you generally turn up at an appointed time of your own choosing. Departures tend to be around 9 to 9.15 a.m., when you take a short wade out to the boat, a now less colourful but far more comfortable and practical 30-ft RIB. While it still offers a limited amount of cover, this isn't a problem as all the dive sites are under ten minutes away; alternative arrangements can be made if you want to take a day trip further afield.

Other local activities include boat trips, golf, jungle walks with a naturalist and of course excursions to ancient Mayan sites such as Tulum, Coba and Chichén Itza.