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Semievergreen tropical forest is the most extended forest type and one of the most transformed in the Yucatan Peninsula, however there are few studies addressing its recovery process. The aim of this study was to analyze the recovery patterns of structure, diversity and species composition in a semievergreen tropical forest. The study took place in El Zapotal Conservation Area, in Yucatan, Mexico, between 2011 and 2012. Woody vegetation was sampled in a chronosequence encompassing forest stands of 4 to 60 years of abandonment after cattle grazing, and a remnant conserved (mature) forest. Recovery patterns of structure and diversity were analyzed comparing different nonlinear models, while composition involved ordination and clustering analyses. Structural and diversity attributes increased with successional age, except for density, which peaked at early stages and later declined. Diversity attributes reached values registered in the conserved forest, whereas structural attributes did not. Floristic similarity relative to the mature forest increased with successional age and three groups of species could be distinguished, indicating replacement in species dominance during succession. These results suggest a fast recovery of diversity, a slower recovery of structure, and a pattern of composition more similar to humid tropical forests than to dry forests, with important implications for forest conservation, restoration and climate change mitigation.