Conzumel Island

Conzumel Island

Conzumel island is an island that belongs to Mexico and it is located in the Caribbean sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and about 51 miles south of Cancun and about 12 miles from the main land. This island is opposite to Playa del Carmen and it is close to the Yucatan Channel. Conzumel means the island of swallows and makes one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.

The size of Conzumel is about 30 miles long and about 10 miles wide and has a total area of 184.542 square miles. This island is the third largest island of Mexico and has a population of about 100,000 and most of them live in the town of San Miguel located on the Western shore of the island. The highest area of this island is about 49 feet above sea level; you won't see any mountains there.

Conzumel has a rich Mayan history. It is believed they settled there in the early part of the 1st millennium AD. The island was sacred to Ix Chel, the Maya Moon Goddess, and the temples were a place of pilgrimage, especially by women desiring fertility. The largest Mayan ruins in present day are located toward the center of the island in San Gervacio.

It is believed that 10,000 Maya lived on the island but in 1520, infected crew members of the Pánfilo Narváez expedition brought the smallpox contagion to the island and by 1570 only 186 men and 172 women were left alive on Cozumel. In the ensuing years Cozumel was often the target of attacks by pirates, and in 1650 many of the islanders were forcibly relocated to the mainland town of Xcan Boloná to avoid the buccaneers’ predation.

Conzumel is one of the port of calls of several cruise lines including Norwegian an Carnival and perhaps because of this, it is a well known place worldwide.

Tourism, diving and charter fishing comprise the majority of the island’s economy. There are more than 300 restaurants on the island and many hotels, some of which run dive operations, have swimming pools, private docks, and multiple dining facilities. Scuba diving is one of the main attractions of the island and this is due to the healthy coral reef marine communities. There is a lot to do in Conzumel.

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Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozumel