If your family has never seen Mayan ruins, these will do, especially if taking the ferry to the mainland and driving south along the Riviera Maya to Tulum is just too complicated and too long of a day-trip for your family. The Maya inhabited San Gervasi from about 200 A.D. to the late 16th century, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. San Gervasi’s structures — crudely fashioned, compared to those at Tulum or at other Maya sites — still might awe children who’ve only read about the Maya culture and not seen any actual buildings. The Maya created the site, in part, to honor the Goddess Ixchel, considered the mother of the gods with powers related to fertility and childbirth. The central square and its surrounding temples and buildings reign as the highlights.