A beach near Tulum, Mexico. (Len Fournier/QMI Agency)

"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

-- Yogi Berra, Yankee baseball legend and noted linguist.

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You'd hardly think that, in the sweltering height of August, a tropical tourist beach would be crowded, but there was hardly room for the fish that terrorized my youngest daughter, who rushed out of the water several times while the threat vanished.

Yes, tiny translucent creatures were hunting for even-smaller beasties off the shores of the Mayan Riviera outside Cancun, Mexico.

We were there for the wedding of my eldest daughter, along with 50 or so other guests at the Barcelo Maya Colonial Beach hotel. There was no hint among the guests that they knew they were staying near a sister hotel where a Woodbridge couple was murdered last Christmas.

"That right?" said the London., Ont., guy at the barstool next to mine. He was neither aware of proximity of the hotel nor, for that matter, the murder. Most people I talked to had no feeling of dread. There was security, but nothing obvious.

Even in the less structured confines of the nearby town of Playa del Carmen there is no sense that someone will jump out the shadows to rob you.

"That sort of stuff happens mainly in Mexico City," my son-in-law Sergio, a native of the capital, tells me.

The pool at Barcelo Maya Colonial Beach Hotel. (Len Fournier/QMI Agency)

In a money-saving move we boarded the mini-vans that cruise the highway on a regular shuttle between work sites and Carmen and the local archeological wonder called Tulum. A little crowded, to be sure, but at $2 US, compared to $20 for the hotel-based vans, it is a bargain -- and again no sense of danger.

If you are thinking of making a trip there this winter, here are some quick points:

The all-inclusive hotel has three full buffet meals a day and snack bars here and there. The hotel also has full-service restaurants, which require reservations. Again, the restaurants are included in the room price. The facilities are first-rate, and the ocean waters are clean and warm -- deliriously calming.

Playa del Carmen is a delightful little town on the coast. Most everything you can buy at the hotel in the way of souvenirs is much cheaper in Carmen.

Tulum is a city of 1,600-year-old ruins with a spectacular view of the Caribbean, and well worth the $4 admission. But there has been no effort to clean up the appalling collection of derelict vendors shacks that line the entrance.

Tourists take in the ruins at Tulum. (Len Fournier/QMI Agency)

The trip was not without glitches, though.

We took off from Toronto almost 90 minutes late because of a badly inflated tire on the plane. After our three-hours-plus flight we landed in Cancun, where we boarded a bus by 5:10 p.m. We stayed parked for almost an hour waiting for stragglers.

Then I noticed a Mexican family get on and we were finally off to the hotel, a one-hour-15-minute ride away. What we didn't realize was the Mexican had bribed the bus driver into making a 20-minute unauthorized detour to their hotel.

We finally got to our hotel around 8 p.m. and endured what was arguably the slowest check-in I've ever experienced, and in an open-air lobby that must have been 35C. We got our electronic keys about a half-hour later.

We made the trek to our rooms, where not one of our keys worked. Twenty minutes later, correct keys in hand, our day was done and almost wasted -- except for that trip to the delightful bar.