If you were planning on going to Cancun for a vacation, you might not be able to.

A beach in Cancun was shut down for stealing sand. That’s right, stealing sand. After Hurricane Wilma in 2005, much of the sand on the beach was washed away, and since then, sand has been pumped in from the ocean floor, but has been washed away.

The Gran Caribe Real Hotel has been stealing sand by building breakwaters to keep the sand in front of their hotel. However, this stops the natural movement of sand and keeps it away from the other Cancun, Mexico hotels and beaches.

Really, if there isn’t any sand, what’s the point of going to the beach?

Affordable Caribbean: Jamaica

By PETER MEEHAN
Published: October 28, 2007

For many tourists, visiting Jamaica means checking into an all-inclusive resort along the white sand beaches of Negril or Montego Bay. But Port Antonio, in the northeastern parish of Portland, offers a more affordable alternative, along with a slower pace, fewer tourists and more cultural immersion than a weekend of pretty palm trees and stiff rum drinks on the beach.

Where to Stay in Jamaica

Many of Jamaica’s cheapest hotels are in Long Bay, a sleepy beach town 30 minutes east of Port Antonio, but the area was hit hard by Hurricane Dean in August. So until Long Bay gets back on its feet, staying in or around Port Antonio is the way to go.

A bumpy ride up Springbank Road will take you to the Jamaica Heights Resort map (Springbank Road; 876-993-3305), which occupies a hilltop with a commanding view of the town’s coastline and the Blue Mountains. Most rooms, from $75 to $125, have private balconies with views, and are clean and handsome, furnished in an attractive colonial style with white wicker furniture and four-poster beds draped with lace mosquito netting. (There are also simpler “backpacker” accommodations for $45 a night.) Charmaine, the wife of the charming proprietor, Helmut Steiner, cooks an excellent breakfast ($12.50) that includes fresh fruit, fresh juice, guava jam, toast, Blue Mountain coffee and one hot dish.

Another hilltop perch is Hotel Mocking Bird Hill map (off the A4 between Boston Bay and Port Antonio; 876-993-7267), a 10-room hotel with a focus on sustainable tourism and island-breezy rooms starting at $125 until Dec. 19 and $165 during the winter high season. There are also a swimming pool and balconies with hammocks.

For more seclusion, try the Rio Vista Resort Villas map (off the A4 between Port Antonio and the Rio Grande River, 876-993-5444). It’s a little way out of town (about four miles west of Port Antonio), but the rooms are comfortably furnished, not terribly expensive (starting at $80 with breakfast), and the hotel has well-kept grounds planted with Caribbean flowers and fruits.

Where to Eat in Jamaica

When school lets out in the afternoon, a steady stream of taxis crammed with brightly uniformed students stops at Coronation Bakery map (138 Bryan Bay Street; 876-993-3824). Sweet soft breads are the Coronation’s stock in trade, but their beef patties are flaky, annatto-hued half moons stuffed with a mince of tender beef spiked with Jamaican seasonings are the real find. And at 60 Jamaican dollars each (or $.82 at 73.19 Jamaican dollars to the U.S. dollar), the patties are one of the few things that can be bought with those attractive but nearly worthless Jamaican coins that pile up in your pockets.

Shine Eye Jerk Center map (Boundbrook Wharf Road; 876-776-8658) sells delicious jerk chicken for 400 Jamaican dollars a half bird. The chickens are perfectly roasted over a charcoal fire: the breast meat is moist and the skin, particularly on the legs, is almost potato-chip crisp. Miss Shine Eye, the proprietor, said she uses wild spices in her marinade, including purple-hued scallions, dried tree barks and spices gathered from the island’s jungle interior.

For sit-down fare, head to Cynthia’s map (Winnifred Beach, Portland; 876-347-7085), where everything is made to order, including the savory dough fritters called festival bread, which are rolled out one at a time and dropped into frying oil. Everything at Cynthia’s is good, but lobster “spiny lobster, not Maine lobster” shouldn’t be missed when it’s available. Meals begin at 500 Jamaican dollars, plus drinks.

At dinner, the no-frills (and no walls) Survival Beach Restaurant map (24 Folly Road; 876-384-4730) is one of the best deals in town. Housed under corrugated metal on a thin slice of beach just off the main road (A4), the restaurant serves Rastafarian Jamaican dinners: four or five vegetable preparations (callaloo, water spinach sauteed with garlic and onions, is a staple) are partnered with rice and peas for just 1,000 Jamaican dollars.

Free Jamaican Beaches

Most of the beaches near Port Antonio are free, tucked into breaks along the rocky coastline between town and Boston Bay to the east. (Frenchman’s Cove, which charges a 300 Jamaican dollar entrance and offers chair rentals and waiter service, is an exception that’s worth the small fee.) The sparsely attended Winnifred Beach, map protected by a reef that keeps the shallow waters calm and warm, has a good amount of sand to stretch out on and shady trees for those particularly hot days. The beach is dotted with several colorful beach shacks, should you need a Red Stripe (about 100 Jamaican dollars) to cool you off from the sun.

Where to Party

Small bars abound in Port Antonio, mostly modest affairs geared toward locals. West Street, in the center of town, is home to a couple of clubs that play reggae, soca and dancehall music. The local favorite is the Roof Club map (11 West Street; no phone) a bare-bones place where the dance floor starts to get going late (after 11 p.m.), the music is louder than loud, and the room is filled with a sweet-smelling smoky haze.

What to Do in Jamaica

Much of Port Antonio’s allure is its physical beauty: calm azure waters wash up on white sand beaches that give way to jungle-green hills backed by the Blue Mountain range. Take in that view from a boat, which can be chartered here for a song. Four people can go on a languorous eight-hour ride to Monkey Island for lazing, to the Blue Lagoon for a dip, then to Winnifred Beach for lunch and back again to the western end of Port Antonio, for about 4,500 Jamaican dollars (less for shorter trips). The captain is Dennis Butler (876-854-4763), who keeps his charter boat at Shan Shy Beach, below his father’s Rastafarian restaurant, Dickie’s Best Kept Secret; if he is unavailable, ask around the Blue Lagoon or at your hotel for recommendations.

What to Buy from Jamaica

Most shops in Port Antonio are geared toward necessities, not excesses, but the Musgrave Market in the heart of town map (West Street between Port Antonio Square and Main Square) isn’t a bad place to catch a little local flavor and pick up some souvenirs, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, when farmers from the surrounding hills come and sell their goods. Rock Bottom (876-844-9946), a wood carver who makes calabash bowls, brown coral bracelets and decorative wood cutting from blue mahoe, has been plying his trade at Musgrave for more than 20 years. Find him at the back of the market.

Great, now reading that makes me want to really get back to Jamaica now.

Fort Myers Beach, Fla. — I was definitely overdressed as I strolled the sand in my T-shirt and shorts, carefully stepping around barely clad sunbathers baking on the beach.

It could have been a scene from my youth, this long stretch of shoreline packed with bronzed bodies, seemingly unaware of the decades-long warnings about cancer and wrinkles that forced many of us to cover up years ago.

Indeed, this was the beach of my youth. My grandparents bought land on this barrier island, seven miles long and a mile wide at its fattest, in the early 1960s, long before the king conch was replaced on his throne by the high-rise condo.

I returned last spring to see what had become of this sandy strand from my past, the place I chased crabs, constructed castles and searched the surf for sand dollars.

In fact, aside from a few more condo complexes and some cheesy T-shirt shops, it’s largely the same.

At the northern end: a public beach and pier, packed day and night with families, couples and college spring-breakers looking to score.

At the southern end: idyllic Lovers Key State Park, a perfect antidote to the crowds, more than 1,600 acres of undeveloped land where kayakers and beach walkers have permanently won the battle with developers.

In between: miles-long stretches of condos and hotels on a nearly perfect span of sand. The beach has been dubbed “the world’s safest” because of its gentle slope and lack of any undertow.

If only it all was a bit easier to get to.

We sat in our rental car for 40 minutes on a Sunday afternoon, inching across the two-lane Matanzas Pass Bridge, which connects the island to the city of Fort Myers. Depending on the time of day and year, the wait to cross the bridge can be a few minutes or a few hours; late-morning crossings during the winter and spring are almost always bumper-to-bumper.

And because the slender island is served by just one main north-south route (Estero Boulevard), the congestion rarely eases once you’re off the bridge. It can take hours to travel the length of the island, en route to your condo or restaurant, the community pool or Beach Movie Theater.

So either plan your arrival right or park your car for the afternoon and head for the water.

If you like your beach bustling, spread your towel at Lynn Hall Memorial Park, known simply as “the public beach” when I was a kid (it was renamed in 1979 after a sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed there).

Here you’ll find parasailing and Jet Ski rentals, kids balancing on Boogie boards, even a man pushing an ice cream cart down the hard sand. When I was there, an Eric Clapton cover band playing in a nearby bar entertained the beach front while a trio of students started a pickup volleyball game.

It’s a grand, greasy mix of kids, coeds and couples.

The center of the action is the 600-foot-long public pier, packed with both real anglers and those angling for attention. It even has its own gift shop.

Adjacent to the beach is the community’s downtown area, known as Times Square, filled with outdoor eateries, tattoo and piercing parlors, and shops jammed with shell art and T-shirts with silly sayings (“I only drink beer on days that end in Y”).

Your teen will love it here, guaranteed.

In an effort to avoid Estero Boulevard traffic, my husband and I made an early morning visit to Lovers Key, one of Florida’s busiest parks, and had the place almost to ourselves.

Crossing a footbridge on the walk to the beach, we saw hundreds of schooling stingrays in the briny water below, which by itself was worth the price of admission (yes, Florida state parks charge an entrance fee; $5 per vehicle).

Thankfully, the beachcombers here seem far more interested in searching for shells than showing off body art.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

Nearly every major airline flies into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers. Fares vary widely depending on time of year and when you book.

Getting around

In an effort to ease congestion on the Fort Myers Beach, LeeTran, the region’s public transportation system, runs a shuttle bus along Estero Boulevard, the beach’s main drag. But most people end up renting a car anyway, to get to the beach from the airport. The shuttle buses get stuck in the same traffic as the cars and motorcycles, but at least you’re not adding to the pollution.

Where to stay

• The condo is king on Fort Myers Beach, which has about 50,000 total overnight units, including hotels and campsites. Our choice was the Silver Sands Villas, a small complex two blocks from the action at Times Square. Twenty brightly colored condos set amid lush landscaping give this place a Key West feel. Because of its location across the street from the beach, the prices, even during high season, are reasonable: $179 to $219 per night. www.silversands-villas.com .

• For a resort atmosphere, try the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa, on the beach a short walk from the public pier. www.pinkshell.com .

Where to eat

Leave your South Beach duds at home; casual dining is the rule here.

• Matanzas Inn, a waterfront restaurant on the bay side of Fort Myers Beach, has local favorites, including stuffed grouper, steamed shrimp and gator tail (no, it’s not illegal to eat alligator, and, yes, it tastes like chicken). www.matanzasrestaurant.com .

• JoJo’s at the Beach, a colorful, open-air restaurant at the Pink Shell Beach Resort; try the shrimp and Key lime pie. www.pinkshell.com .

Attractions

The entire beachfront is public, with more than 30 access points along Estero Boulevard (parking is $1 per hour). On the rare bad-weather day, head into town and tour the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, the Southwest Florida Museum of History or the Imaginarium Hands-On Museum. www.fortmyers-sanibel.com ; 1-800-237-6444.

Then this morning when I was going through some Google Alerts, i came across two different posts about cows on beaches.

The first is over on Flickr, and is just a picture of a cow, and yes, he is on a is a beach.

The next story is about a cattle drive that happened on Huntington Beach in California. It was a publicity stunt to get some interest in the Orange County Fair. It also misplaced some surfers for a few hours. Luckily, there were designated pooper scoopers to clean the beach afterwards.

I guess that right now the beach employs taggers to go around and ask people to see their wristbands that proves they paid. The new RFID system would take care of all that. So when you go to the beach, they know it. They know where you are. They know when you go to the bathroom. You can use it to pay for stuff at the beach instead of cash. OK, I grant you that that last one is pretty cool. But you can also have a tag on you children that when they leave a certain area, you get an SMS message sent to you. Now, first of all, many people don’t know what an SMS message is. If they do, will they have their phone at the beach? Second of all, great (sarcasm), another way for parents to not take responsibility for their own kids. “Let the computer worry about the kids, I need my tan.” Watch your kids. Huh, i could really go off here, but I won’t.

I just don’t see the need to make everyone pay to go to the beach when it’s a part of creation. Do I have to pay to go to the park? No. Do I have to pay to go to most any beach? No. Wake up New Jersey.