The Riviera Maya was an important commercial and religious center during the time of the Mayans, especially in the Postclassic period.

Tulum was a fortress and the only Mayan city built on the coast. Other important towns in the region were Xaman-Há, now known as Playa del Carmen, Xcaret, known as Puerto de Pole by the Mayans, and Xel Há, the first European settlement on the peninsula.

Inland, amidst the jungle, lies one of the most important city-states of the Mayan Empire, Cobá. This city flourished from 400 to 1100 AD, with a population of up to 50,000 people. Cobá exerted economic control over the region through a network of at least 16 roads called sacbeob.

The Riviera Maya was an important trade route when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. However, the most important cities of the classical period, such as Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, and Cobá, had already been abandoned.

Over the next three centuries, the jungle, pirates, and difficult access hindered the development of the region. In fact, this entire part of the peninsula was virtually abandoned.

It was not until the 1980s that the region, known at the time as the Cancun-Tulum corridor, began to gain importance.

The tourist infrastructure of the area began to improve in the early 1990s and has since experienced dynamic growth.