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- Cozumel - Punta Langosta Pier
Monday, 6th September - 15:53 GMT -06:00
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Cozumel - Punta Langosta Pier
RatingSubmitted on 10th February 2009 by columbos
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Cozumel (Mayan: Island of the Swallows) (Kùutsmil in Modern Maya) is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, opposite the Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatan Channel. 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 and snorkeling. The main town on the island is San Miguel de Cozumel.
The island is about 48 km (30 miles) north-south and 16 km (10 miles) east-west, and is the largest Atlantic island of Mexico. (It is the third-largest island in Mexico, following Tiburón Island and Isla Ángel de la Guarda.) It is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the mainland, and some 60 km (36 miles) south of Cancún. The vast majority of the population of Cozumel lives in the town of San Miguel (pop. 71,401 in 2005), which is on the western shore. The rest of the island is low, flat, and densely vegetated. The island, including offshore islets, has a land area of 477.961 km² (184.54 sq mi). The municipality, which includes two small areas on the mainland enclaved within the Municipality of Solidaridad with a land area of 10.423 km² (4.024 sq mi), has a total land area of 488.384 km² (188.566 sq mi). The two areas enclaved on the mainland are Calica, near Playa del Carmen and Xcaret, and the Xel-Há Water Park, near the Xelha archaeological ruins.
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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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 Maya temples.[citation needed] Some 40,000 Mayans lived on the island then, but the smallpox disease devastated them, and by 1570 only 30 were left alive.[citation needed] In the ensuing years Cozumel was nearly deserted, just used as a hideout by pirates from time to time.[citation needed] In 1848, the Caste War of Yucatán resulted in resettlement by refugees escaping the tumult. A plaque at the Museo Cozumel states that Abraham Lincoln as the American President came close to purchasing the island of Cozumel as a place to send the freed slaves. The continued war in the Yucatan caused him to change his mind.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.
Scuba diving is still one of Cozumel's primary attractions, mainly due to the healthy coral reef marine communities. These coral reefs are protected from the open ocean by the island's natural geography. In 1996, the government of Mexico also established the Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park, forbidding anyone from touching or removing any marine life within the park boundaries. Despite the importance of healthy reefs to Cozumel's tourist trade, a deepwater pier was built in the 1990s for cruise ships to dock, causing damage to the reefs, and it is now a regular stop on cruises in the Caribbean.
Singer Kirsty MacColl died on this island, after an 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.
The island is about 48 km (30 miles) north-south and 16 km (10 miles) east-west, and is the largest Atlantic island of Mexico. (It is the third-largest island in Mexico, following Tiburón Island and Isla Ángel de la Guarda.) It is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the mainland, and some 60 km (36 miles) south of Cancún. The vast majority of the population of Cozumel lives in the town of San Miguel (pop. 71,401 in 2005), which is on the western shore. The rest of the island is low, flat, and densely vegetated. The island, including offshore islets, has a land area of 477.961 km² (184.54 sq mi). The municipality, which includes two small areas on the mainland enclaved within the Municipality of Solidaridad with a land area of 10.423 km² (4.024 sq mi), has a total land area of 488.384 km² (188.566 sq mi). The two areas enclaved on the mainland are Calica, near Playa del Carmen and Xcaret, and the Xel-Há Water Park, near the Xelha archaeological ruins.
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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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 Maya temples.[citation needed] Some 40,000 Mayans lived on the island then, but the smallpox disease devastated them, and by 1570 only 30 were left alive.[citation needed] In the ensuing years Cozumel was nearly deserted, just used as a hideout by pirates from time to time.[citation needed] In 1848, the Caste War of Yucatán resulted in resettlement by refugees escaping the tumult. A plaque at the Museo Cozumel states that Abraham Lincoln as the American President came close to purchasing the island of Cozumel as a place to send the freed slaves. The continued war in the Yucatan caused him to change his mind.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.
Scuba diving is still one of Cozumel's primary attractions, mainly due to the healthy coral reef marine communities. These coral reefs are protected from the open ocean by the island's natural geography. In 1996, the government of Mexico also established the Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park, forbidding anyone from touching or removing any marine life within the park boundaries. Despite the importance of healthy reefs to Cozumel's tourist trade, a deepwater pier was built in the 1990s for cruise ships to dock, causing damage to the reefs, and it is now a regular stop on cruises in the Caribbean.
Singer Kirsty MacColl died on this island, after an 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.
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