RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico — It might prove daunting to pinpoint the exact instant when that “1 percenter” vibe hits you at Mayakoba, an eco-focused luxury resort that’s home to three hotels on Mexico’s Caribbean shore.

At least it was for me.

Was it the surprisingly stress-sapping drive along the forested lane from the front gate to the Banyan Tree hotel, tropical birds and the raccoonlike coati skittering into the undergrowth? Or maybe that first glimpse of the three-room walled villa that I’d occupy, a large plunge pool in the leafy courtyard dividing an airy parlor from the expansive bed and bathrooms?

No, my moment came 10 minutes into the “Balinese” rubdown in the Banyan Tree’s large and trance-inducing spa, with a Thai-trained muscle master named Gerardo working the knots out of my grateful shoulder blades.

This decidedly is not your spring breakers’ Riviera Maya, that of all-inclusive packages, margaritas and cafeteria-quality food. It’s a shame the other 99 percent of visitors to the Riviera Maya, on the coast below Cancun, are missing out.

“It’s just great for quiet time,” said Jason Yong, 31, celebrating a fifth anniversary with wife Linda Lee after flying in from Boston. “Very Zen.”

Tucked into a once-virgin coastline now too often defined by landscape-chewing mega hotels, Mayakoba was envisioned by its Spanish developer — the OHL Group — as a secure, nearly square-mile oasis of rainforest, mangroves and white sand fronting the turquoise sea.

The OHL executives’ idea was to create a tourism experience far different from the beachfront behemoths lining the fragile 80-mile coastline from Cancun south to the protected 1.3-million acre Sian Ka’an Biosphere.

Mayakoba offers “living proof that luxury travel can go hand in hand with sustainability and support environmental conservation and community wellbeing,” said Daniel Katz, board chairman of the New York City-based Rainforest Alliance.

Mayakoba’s three hotels — Banyan Tree, Rosewood and Fairmont — hide shoulder to shoulder, cloaked in green. Banyan Tree has one- to three-bedroom villas; Rosewood markets large suites and private residences; Fairmont provides more traditional, if upscale, hotel rooms.

With about 125 rooms apiece, both Banyan Tree and Rosewood aim for the flush and/or famous, selling privacy as much as pampering for anywhere between $650 and $2,000 a night during the winter season. Fairmont, a top-shelf Canadian chain, books its 400 rooms with families and those attending business conventions, with rates ranging from $175 to $300 in season.

Off-season rates are far lower. And rooms sometimes can be had at steep discounts through online booking services such as jetsetter.com.

Many of Rosewood’s suites front canals, giving guests the feeling of staying in an isolated jungle lodge. People staying at the Banyan Tree can retreat into their own villa compounds — hideaways romantic enough for two, big enough for 20. Fairmont sports gorgeous grounds and a complex of fantastic swimming pools, most of them kid magnets, with one reserved for adults.

All three hotels have their own beach club, sporting freshwater pools, though Fairmont’s Las Brisas is by far the liveliest. Mayakoba is not the place for para-sailing, noisy poolside recreation “facilitators” or wet T-shirt contests.