Cancún and the Riviera Maya
The wedding was on the sand, and by the last dance a necklace was gone
The ceremony and the party happened on sand you can point to on a map.
A beach wedding keeps everyone on one patch of sand for the evening, with a photographer recording most of it, so a necklace or ring that goes missing there went somewhere inside a small, known area. Whether it turns up depends mostly on two things: whether it fell on the sand or in the sea, and whether the pictures show roughly when it came off.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Cancún and the Riviera Maya with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The coast from Puerto Morelos down to Tulum is the Riviera Maya, where couples come for destination weddings. This page also covers Cancún, Costa Mujeres, Isla Mujeres and Holbox, and ordinary beach days too.
Before the chairs and flowers leave the beach
Tell the planner or the venue staff what is missing while the setup is still standing, so they can watch for it as they pack up. Drop a pin where the arch stood and another where people danced, and ask the photographer which part of the evening they covered, since the times on their files can narrow down when the necklace, ring or watch came off.
Some stretches of this coast sit in front of resorts, such as Bahía Petempich in Puerto Morelos and most of Playa Maroma. If you were at a hotel, give us its name as well as the pin. Cozumel has its own page.
Places we cover in Cancún and the Riviera Maya
- Cancún Hotel Zone
- Playa Delfines
- Playa Chac Mool
- Playa Marlin
- Playa Nizuc
- Playa Las Perlas
- Costa Mujeres and Playa Mujeres
- The Chacmuchuch lagoon
- Puerto Juárez ferry terminals
- Isla Mujeres
- Playa Norte, Playa Sol and Playa Lancheros
- Playa Garrafón at Punta Sur
- Isla Contoy
- Puerto Morelos
- Bahía Petempich
- The Riviera Maya
- Playa Maroma
- Playa del Carmen and the Quinta Avenida
- Playacar
- Punta Esmeralda
- Paamul
- Puerto Aventuras
- Xpu-Há
- Akumal
- Tulum, Playa Paraíso and Playa Pescadores
- Bahía Solimán
- The Sian Ka'an beaches and Punta Allen
- Isla Holbox, Punta Cocos and Punta Mosquito
Cancún, the Riviera Maya towns, Isla Mujeres and Holbox
From Costa Mujeres and Cancún down to Tulum, and out to Holbox.
Cancún's hotel zone
The hotel zone runs along 22 kilometers of beaches, so a hotel name or a pin comes first. Playa Nizuc, at the south end, is calm and shallow, and Playa Chac Mool has waves for surfers. Playa Delfines has the Cancún letters at its entrance and no hotels on the sand. Playa Marlin is behind shopping centers, and Playa Las Perlas, nearer downtown, is in a sheltered bay.
Costa Mujeres and Isla Mujeres
Costa Mujeres lies just north of Cancún, with resorts along Playa Mujeres and kitesurfing on the Chacmuchuch lagoon. Ferries to Isla Mujeres leave from Puerto Juárez, close by. On the island, Playa Norte has almost no waves, Playa Sol next to it faces the sunset, and Playa Lancheros has shallow, sheltered water. On the east coast, Playa Media Luna faces the open sea and has strong waves and currents. Playa Garrafón is a small beach at Punta Sur, the southern tip, with reefs close by for snorkeling. Boats also run out to Isla Contoy, where people swim and snorkel off untouched beaches.
Puerto Morelos
Puerto Morelos is a fishing village between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, with a plaza and a leaning lighthouse by the beach. Boats leave from the pier for the reef. Playa Ojo de Agua has a freshwater spring rising from the seabed, Punta Brava, north of the main beach, has rock formations, and Bahía Petempich to the south is lined with resorts.
Playa del Carmen
The beach in Playa del Carmen is a few steps from the Quinta Avenida, the pedestrian street of shops, bars and restaurants that runs parallel to it, so a loss can belong to the evening in town as much as to the sand. Playacar is quieter. At the north end, Punta Esmeralda has a small cenote that flows into the sea, and calm, shallow water where local families swim.
From Paamul to Akumal
Paamul is a small bay between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Aventuras, with the reef a short swim from the shore. Puerto Aventuras is a residential community with a marina and a beach. Xpu-Há has clear water that is usually calm. In Akumal, sea turtles feed on the seagrass of a calm, shallow bay, and snorkelers watch them from the surface.
Tulum
The beaches beside the ruins, Playa Paraíso, Las Palmas, Santa Fe and Playa Pescadores, are part of the Parque del Jaguar. Playa Paraíso has white sand and shallow, easy swimming. Playa Pescadores, at the north end, is where fishermen keep their boats and snorkeling boats leave for the reef. Just north of Tulum, Bahía Solimán is a half-moon bay sheltered from the waves. South of town, the Sian Ka'an coast has beaches with almost no footprints, and boats leave the fishing village of Punta Allen to snorkel on the reef.
Isla Holbox
Holbox sits at the northern end of the Mexican Caribbean. The main beach runs along the north shore in front of the village. Punta Cocos, at the west end, has shallow water and is where people go to see the sea glow on dark nights. Boat trips on the Yalahau lagoon stop at Isla Pasión, a small islet with shallow water.
Ring Seekers, after the wedding
Nothing explained twice
Whoever answers your first message is the one who arranges the search and tells you how it went. Guests can send what they remember through you.
The wedding album as a map
Wide shots from the photographer and the guests' videos show where people stood, and the detectorist studies them next to your pin.
If it went over a boat rail
A necklace that went over the side of a catamaran far off the coast is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. The sand under the party and water you could stand in are what a search is planned around.
Talked through before any date
We explain the costs before any search is booked, early enough for the two of you to talk it over.
Calm water behind the reef, a sandbar off Holbox
The reef breaks the waves along much of this coast, and at Holbox a long sandbar runs out into the sea.
Between the reef and the beach
In front of the shallow beaches of Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Akumal, the Mesoamerican Reef takes the force out of the waves. At Puerto Morelos the reef runs a few hundred meters off the beach, and the water in between is calm and shallow. If you were in that stretch, say how deep it was where you stood.
The Punta Mosquito sandbar
At Punta Mosquito, at the northeast end of Holbox, a long sandbar runs out into the sea with knee-deep water as far as the eye can see, and at low tide people walk out over it. Mark on a map roughly where you think you were standing, and what you could see from there.
Questions about Cancún and the Riviera Maya
The photographer took hundreds of pictures at our Playa del Carmen wedding. Which ones help?
The wide shots of the beach from that evening help most, the ones showing the arch, the water line and the buildings behind the sand, along with any close picture where the piece can be seen. The beach is a few steps from the Quinta Avenida, so if the party moved into town afterward, send the route you walked too.
A bracelet was gone after a kitesurf lesson on the Chacmuchuch lagoon in Costa Mujeres.
Begin with where you last saw it on your wrist: out on the lagoon, on the beach, or on the way back. Tell us where the lesson started and which part of the lagoon you rode in. Video from the lesson helps too, since the shoreline in the background can place you.
At Playa Norte we waded a long way out before my ring slipped off.
Playa Norte has almost no waves, and you can walk a good stretch out to sea. So the useful details are how far from the beach you had walked and how high the water came on you. Say which of the beach bars or restaurants was nearest when you walked in, and check your vacation photos for one taken from the water.
Our car keys went into the water off the pier in Puerto Morelos.
Boats leave from the pier for the reef, so say whether you were getting on or off one or had only walked out to look. Point out on a map or a photo where on the pier they went in: near the beach end, partway along or near the far end.
The ceremony was near Playa Paraíso and the dinner near Playa Pescadores. Which one do we give you?
Give us both, each with its own pin. Both are among the beaches beside the ruins, with Pescadores at the north end of the park, where the fishing boats are kept. Say where you last had the piece, and whether you walked between the two on the sand or went around by car.
An Oura ring came off while we were watching turtles in Akumal Bay.
The turtles feed over the seagrass in the bay, and there are reefs nearby, so start by telling us whether you stayed over the seagrass or swam out toward a reef. If a guide led your group, ask them to mark the route on a map.
I went into the water at Punta Cocos at night to see the glow, and afterward an earring was missing.
The water at Punta Cocos is shallow and calm, and it is a walk or a short golf cart ride from the village. Tell us where along the shore you waded in, and describe the earring and its fastening. If you went back in daylight and took a picture of the spot, send that, because night photos rarely show much.
A phone went into the water at the Puerto Aventuras marina as we were boarding a fishing boat.
Give us the name of the boat and mark on a map where it was tied up. Say whether the phone fell between the boat and the edge or off the far side, and whether anyone saw it go in. Ask the crew how deep the water is at their berth.
Cancún and the Riviera Maya
Tell us which beach the wedding was on
The planner, photographer and guests can fill in the rest.
On WhatsApp, describe the piece and give the date and the venue or beach. We reply with the questions that matter for that spot.