If you're interested in a unique culture and enjoy sand, sun and surf as well as history, dance and music, you'll love Mexico.

Mexico also has several historical sites and archaeological ruins to explore, many in its jungles that teem with wildlife. Local arts and crafts make great souvenirs and can be highly collectable as well. Mexican food, music and culture also create a festive, warm atmosphere that charms most vacationers.

You can find enough recreational activities to keep you busy for several days, depending on your destination. Ecotourism has soared in recent years, and you'll find opportunities for river rafting in Veracruz, bird-watching all along the Gulf and Caribbean coasts, and whale-watching in Baja California and Punta Mita December-March. Be sure to visit the monarch-butterfly preserves in Michoacan and the state of Mexico November-March.

Some of the most remarkable beaches, with white, gossamer-soft sand bracketing an azure sea, are found along the Caribbean coast, and there's more than a half-dozen major sites on the Yucatan Peninsula around the town of Merida.

Deep-sea fishing is superb off Cozumel and the Baja Peninsula, where record catches of marlin and other sports fish are common. Some of the best surfing is along the Baja and the Oaxaca coasts, and tennis and racquet sports are found in all big cities and beach resorts.

Hiking and mountain climbing are especially alluring around the volcanoes outside Mexico City and in Veracruz. Cozumel boasts superb snorkeling and scuba diving and is often named one of the top-five dive spots in the world. To the south along the Caribbean, cave diving is exceptional.