Cancun

As promised, here is what we promised you. the second part of the 10 facts you might not have known about Cancun, we hope you enjoy it, and if you have any other unusual information about our beautiful destination and the 5 star hotels in Cancun, feel free to talk about it in the comments section.

Have you already read Part I of this article?

6. Two huge hurricanes have hit Cancun.

Hurricanes in Cancun.

On September 8, 1988, near the Windward Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, tropical depression number 12 of the cyclone season began to form.,a few days later, with the name Gilberto and turned into a hurricane, the meteor hit the island of Jamaica and continued its course northward, gaining strength and speed. Gilberto would touch Mexican soil two days later, on September 14, 1988, near what is now Playa del Carmen, as a category 5 hurricane, the highest in existence, and as a category 6 hurricane, the highest in the third most intense hurricane on record, with winds close to 300 kilometers per hour and the lowest pressure ever recorded for a hurricane in the western hemisphere until October 2005, when Hurricane Wilma set a new record with a pressure of 882 hPa. Gilberto would continue its path towards the Gulf of Mexico leaving behind millions of dollars in damage and hundreds of fatalities in the states of Yucatan, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León e incluso en Texas, where Gilberto provoked 29 tornadoes and later downgraded to a thunderstorm and then a tropical depression before finally disappearing.

Wilma and the Cancun hotel zone.

17 years later, October 21, 2005, Wilma made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula as a powerful category 4 hurricane, with winds in excess of 250 kilometers per hour, Wilma moved northward causing hurricane force winds in some towns on the Yucatan Peninsula. for more than 70 continuous hours. One of the reasons for this hurricane to be a hurricane was extraordinarily devastating was due to the fact that a cold front coming from the north, prevented thestorm from moving easily into the Gulf of Mexico, which caused it to Wilma remained “parked” in the city and swept away everything in its slow pace. In addition, Cancun had grown exponentially over the last 15 years and the infrastructure of the city and the hotel zone was already very different. to the one Gilberto encountered on his way in 1988. The truth is that, During both Hurricane Gilberto and Wilma, hours of anguish were experienced in this beautiful tourist destination, But more importantly, Cancun and its people stood up, We lift our faces and continue to do what we do best: to work with a smile so that those who visit us find in this, our land, a place that makes them happy and leaves us as always, proud to live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

7. Cancun means nest of snakes.

Cancun, the origin of its name.

Another detail that is usually ignored by most of our visitors is the meaning of the name of our city. There are two versions of the origin of the name, the first and best known tells that its name in Mayan means “nest of snakes”. The second version states that its origin in Mayan language is Ka’an Ku’un which means yellow snake, this theory is based on the fact that the Hotel Zone of Cancun, has a certain shape that at sunrise makes the geography of this kind of island look like a yellow snake, because of the sun shining on the bright white sands, but as we can see, its exact denomination is in doubt. On some maps, the name appears as “Kankun” (a single word with the letter K), which in Mayan means “pot of snakes” or “nest of snakes”, but in the first minutes of Infratur, the organization responsible for the creation of this destination, the designation appears separated into two words: Kan-Kun and, sometimes, Can Cún, apparently already in Spanish. The current denomination of our beautiful destination, is perhaps due to phonetic conveniences that obey to the custom or to the coincidence, however there is some mystery as to the origin, meaning and correct pronunciation, what we do know for sure is that regardless of the name, Cancun is the most beautiful place in Mexico.

8.The sand in Cancun does not get hot.

White sand in Cancun.

One of the most amazing surprises in Cancun, especially if you have never been to a beach in the Caribbean, is the color of the sand and the temperature of the sand. White sand that stays cool in the 40° Caribbean is surprising news for those accustomed to Pacific beaches, with large-grained golden sandand in which it is basically impossible to walk without shoes. Or the black sand beaches, with thinner grain but equally hot and impossible to enjoy without a towel, sarong or any other fabric that allows not to lie directly on the burning sand of the beach.

But if you’ve ever wondered: Why is the sand in Cancun this color and why does it have these properties? the answer will surprise you even more than realizing that the sand is not burning you and that you should not run out into the water to avoid hurting yourself. Of course, the sand of each beach depends on the geography (or geology) of the place, for example, beaches with volcanic sand are usually black, while Caribbean beaches with white sand are usually of this color due to the huge coral reef that runs off its coast. This is precisely the case with Cancun, but the most surprising thing doesn’t end there, There is a direct responsible for the white sand of our beaches, this responsible is the sparid fish, or “parrotfish”, these fish are important as regulators of algal growth and reef life in general. They have jaws similar to the beaks of a parrot with which they practically chew the dead coral, thanks to this the coral can regenerate and stay alive for a long time, and, as parrotfish do not have a stomach, the dead coral they eat passes directly through the long intestine and is expelled in the form of a cloud of white sand, on average, a sparid can produce 381 kilograms of “white sand” per year, so as strange as it may seem, the reality of Cancun’s white sand is that it is coral ground up by the guts of the incredible parrotfish.

Cancun is a baseball city.

Los Tigres de Quintana Roo, pride of Cancun.

Tigres de Q. Roo Jersey

As far as sports are concerned, the most obvious would be to think of excellence in water sports among Cancun’s athletes, and, although this is true and we can name many examples, Cancun is a city whose most popular sport is not played on the beaches, but in the Beto Avila stadium, home of the Tigres de Quintana Roo, 12-time Mexican Baseball League pennant champions, most recently in 2013. In general, the Tigres de Quintana Roo are a team with a fantastic history full of great stars, championships and venue changes, if you really want to be Cancunense you should come to support the Tigres at least once in your life. Attending a game is an experience sportsmanship, good humor (baseball botargas are sensational) and a very southern ambiance make tigers nights a very Quintana Roo experience, basically if you haven’t gotten into a cab that listens to a Tigers game while taking you to your destination you can’t say “I’ve never been to a Tigers game before. you are Cancunesnse.

10. The second largest coral reef in the world passes by Cancun.

Mesoamerican Great Barrier Reef

53 kilometers north of Cancun in the northernmost part of the Yucatan. is located in cabo catoche, The point that serves as a division between the Gulf of Mexico and the Antillean Sea. The first intentional landing of the European conquerors on the continental landmass of the current Mexican territory, Cabo Catoche is also the place where the second largest coral reef in the world is born, surpassed only by the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Mesoamerican Reef. extends along the coasts of the Mexican Caribbean, reaching as far as Central America, which makes the vast majority of these beaches in perfect places to observe marine life in all its extension. The beaches of Puerto Morelos, just a few kilometers from the entrance of Cancun, are an excellent place for this activity without the need to go farther, and for those who are in the Riviera Maya it is even easier, for example, at the Oasis Tulum hotel, just a few meters from the shore you can observe different colorful fish and A snorkeling tour is a must do activity, you will undoubtedly marvel at the experience and you will go home and tell everyone how amazing it is to observe life on a coral reef.

Cancun is undoubtedly a place that we will never finish discovering because it reinvents itself every day and every night, in addition to its natural beauty, which we must preserve at all costs, seems endless, we hope that these ten points have helped you to learn more about this land we call home and that you decide to visit us very soon, here at Cancun will welcome you as we have always done for 45 years, with a huge smile on our faces and the pleasure of having you as our guest.