Morning comes into Cancún gently. The sky brightens into another cloudless day, waves lap ashore softly, and up and down the hotel zone, pool boys at mega resorts flip on soft trance music and pull out the deck chairs.

Three months after hurricane Wilma dumped its Category 4 wrath on this popular resort, causing an estimated $2 billion in damage, the place is back in business.

No doubt, Cancún is still sore from the battering it took over the Oct. 21 weekend. About half of the hotels here remain shuttered and hundreds of flights from the US have yet to resume service. Dozens of uprooted palm trees litter the exit from the airport, blown-out windows and boarded-up shopping malls are still apparent downtown, and in several places the famous white sand beaches have simply been washed away.

But, in equal measure, there is rejuvenation here: Hotels are reopening, beaches are being recreated, attractions are reopening, new palms are being planted, and great discounts are available.

"Now is the time to come," says Antonio Pitta, Orbitz's and Cheap Tickets' regional director for Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. "Cancún is getting itself quickly into better shape than ever and we are promoting it - in a big way - as a terrific vacation destination. Now." He pauses. "Look at the turquoise waters!" he exclaims as if seeing them for the first time. "Is that something that can be blown away?"

Over 7 million tourists, most of them from the US, visit Cancún and the 80-mile Riviera Maya coastline south of here every year, leaving behind $11 billion - a full 40 percent of what Mexico makes from tourism every year, says Gabriella Rodriguez, tourism secretary for Quintana Roo state.

It's no wonder, then, that Cancún is in a rush to rebuild itself.

President Vicente Fox has pledged $500 million in loans and tax breaks to hotels and businesses here, and encouraged them not to lay off employees. Also, a $20 million federal program to pump sand back to the shore is set to begin this month. Private insurers, meanwhile, have received over $1.8 billion in claims and expect the figure to rise, according to the El Universal newspaper.

But the vast majority of hotels are not waiting for insurance or federal funds to arrive before beginning to rebuild. Of Cancún's 27,822 rooms, 11,744 were already available New Year's Eve. According to official statistics, another 2,249 will open by the end of January, and by the end of April a total of 19,165 rooms will be in operation.

Some hotels - including the Hilton, the Hyatt, and the Sheraton - which either sustained tremendous damage, or are taking the opportunity to remodel, have announced they will not open before next summer. But of those that have opened, most - including upscale Dreams and Le Meridien - were 80 to 90 percent full over the Christmas to New Year's high season. And, according to Mr. Pitta, many others are offering 10-20 percent discounts or incentives such as a fifth night free, credit at their spas, or free tours to nearby Mayan ruins and tourist parks.

At nearby Cozumel Island, most stores and restaurants, as well as all 800 downtown hotel rooms, have already reopened, according to Raul Marrufo, director of the Cozumel Tourism Promotion Board. But the beachfront hotels remain badly damaged. Only some 500 rooms out of 3,200 usually available were open by New Year's, and many of them featured construction workers to go along with the poolside entertainment. But the famous reefs around the island, such as Punta Sur, Santa Rosa, and El Mirador, were not damaged by Wilma, according to the Scuba Club Cozumel.

While cruise ships returned to Cozumel in November, the piers need repair and those will not be completed soon. So whereas 40 to 45 ships would stop here in an average December week in 2004, that number was cut in half this Christmas and passengers could be arriving by tender for at least a year.

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