Cozumel (Mayan: Island
of the Swallows) is an
island in the Caribbean Sea
off the eastern coast of
Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula,
opposite Playa del Carmen.
It is one of the eight
municipalities (municipios)
of the state of Quintana Roo.
Cozumel is a popular tourist
destination renowned for its
scuba diving. The main town
on the island is San Miguel.
The island is about 48 km
(30 miles) north-south and
16 km (10 miles) east-west,
and is the largest island of
Mexico. It is about 20 km
(12 miles) from the
mainland, and some 60 km (36
miles) south of Cancún.
Nearly everybody in Cozumel
lives in the town of San
Miguel (pop. est. 90,000 in
2003), which is on the
western shore. The rest of
the island is low, flat, and
densely vegetated. |
The Maya are believed to
have first settled Cozumel
by the early part of the 1st
millennium AD, and older
Preclassic Olmec artifacts
have been found on the
island as well. The island
was sacred to Ix Chel, the
Maya Moon Goddess, and the
temples here were a place of
pilgrimage, especially by
women desiring fertility.
There are a number of ruins
on the island, most from the
Post-Classic period. The
largest Maya ruins on the
island were bulldozed to
make way for an airplane
runway during World War II.
The ruins of San Gervasio
are located approximately at
the center of the island and
are the largest remaining
ruins.
The first Spanish visitor
was Juan de Grijalva in
1518, and in the following
year Hernán Cortés came with
a fleet and destroyed many
Mayan temples. Some 40,000
Maya lived on the island
then, but smallpox
devastated them and by 1570
only 30 were left alive. In
the ensuing years Cozumel
was nearly deserted, used as
a hideout by pirates from
time to time. In 1848, the
Caste War of Yucatán
resulted in resettlement by
refugees escaping the
tumult.
In 1959, Jacques Cousteau
discovered the extent and
beauty of Palancar, the
coral reefs at the south of
Cozumel and publicized it as
one of the best places to go
scuba diving in the world.
Although the original
airport was a World War II
relic and was able to handle
jet aircraft and
international flights, a
much larger airport was
built in the late 1970s.
This resulted in much
greater tourism to Cozumel.
Diving is still a primary
draw, but Cozumel built a
deepwater pier in the 1990s
(causing some damage to the
reefs) so that cruise ships
could easily dock there, and
it is now a regular stop on
cruises in the Caribbean.
The island was struck
directly by two Category 4
hurricanes during the 2005
Atlantic hurricane season,
Hurricane Emily and
Hurricane Wilma, which
together devastated much of
the infrastructure and
tourism industry on the
island. Several successful
efforts have been made to
reconstruct damaged areas.
Singer Kirsty MacColl died
on this island, after a
tragic accident on December
18, 2000 in which she was
hit by a speedboat owned by
Mexican supermarket
millionaire Guillermo
González Nova (owner of
Comercial Mexicana). The
original case resulted in
minor penalties for a crew
hand, but the Mexican
authorities have recently
agreed to re-open the case
due largely to the efforts
of the Justice for Kirsty
campaign organized by
Kirsty's mother. The
campaign's supporters
include U2's Bono.Cozumel
is a flat island based on
porous volcanic rock. The
highest natural point on the
island is less than 100
meters above sea level. The
Cenotes are deep water
filled sinkholes formed by
water percolating through
the soft limestone soil
during thousands of years.
Cenotes can be explored by
snorkeling, swimming or
diving, in which several
marine species can be
appreciated. Ancient
inhabitants of the island
also used the large holes in
the rocks for shelter,
particularly to escape the
heat, by digging out small
caves in the ground.
Cozumel has not enough
resources that would allow
it to be self-sufficient, so
it relies on tourism for
income. All food and
manufactured supplies are
shipped onto the island.
There are two universities
on the island: UQROO [2] and
Partenon. In addition to
teaching English as a
degree, they hold other five
career options such as
natural resources research,
tourism and commercial
systems.
Hurricane Wilma was
devastating to the island.
The usually lush rainforest
has been sheered off. The
tops of trees are missing
and there are no leaves on
the highest five feet of
almost every tree. A
significant amount of
vegetation was ruined when
salt water washed over the
island. The sewers of San
Miguel were also heavily
damaged.
Reconstruction was swift and
concerted. Even before the
hurricane was clear the
supplies needed to restore
the island were already
being gathered on mainland
Mexico. While many treetops
remain bare and sewer
construction creates traffic
problems, the island is
currently being restored for
tourism. |
