Hurricane smashes arty Mexican resort of Tulum

TULUM, Mexico, Aug 22 (Reuters) Hurricane Dean smashed up the arty Mexican resort of Tulum, destroying one-bedroom beach cabins and restaurants with strong waves and uprooting palm trees.

Dazed locals wandered across the small resort's white sands, which were strewn with rocks, garbage and bits of debris from small wooden and concrete huts popular with European and US visitors.

Built mostly on the beach on the Caribbean some 130 km south of Cancun, Tulum is known for its natural feel and simple but stylish accommodation.

It was roughed up by Dean, which slammed into the area in the early hours of yesterday as a Category 5 storm, the strongest type of hurricane possible.

Waves and storm surge from Dean may also have damaged Cancun's famous beaches, still recovering from a huge loss of sand in Hurricane Wilma two years ago.

Dozens of cabins in Tulum were badly damaged, many of them collapsed. Sea stormed inland and tore up a 100-yard (meter) stretch of coastal road, making it almost impassable.

''There is no company that wants to insure us,'' said Felix Nieto, 46, owner of the Punta Piedra cabin complex.

There was no sign of any injured people as tourists and residents had evacuated inland long before the storm hit.

Local government officials estimated a third of the hotels and cabin complexes in Tulum suffered damage.

Tulum is home to imposing Mayan archeological ruins by the sea, but the area was sealed off by police. Mexico's archeological institute earlier said none of the sites in the path of the hurricane had been hard hit.

Residents of Cancun and tourists said Dean had swept away sand on parts of the beach.

City authorities were checking for damage.

''They have just gone to inspect it and we will know this afternoon but, yes, there is quite a bit of damage on one or two beaches,'' said Reina Gil, head of the Cancun city administration's ecology department.

There were no reports of death or serious damage to infrastructure from Dean in Mexico.

Cancun, which plays a major role in generating Mexico's foreign exchange income from tourism, was badly damaged in 2005 when Wilma mauled hotels with high winds, flooded the resort and washed away large parts of the wide eight-mile (13-km) stretch of beach.

The beach was restored in 2006 with sand brought from sandbanks out in the Caribbean at the cost of around million.

Reuters CS VP0710