Cozumel - Mexico's Largest Island

Cozumel is Mexico's largest island, nestled just 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Cozumel measures 28 miles long & 10 miles wide,and is world renown for it's dazzling white sandy beaches and the remarkable clear Caribbean Sea around its coastline. The climate is subtropical & the people native to Cozumel are of Mayan descent. The Maya were a great culture of farmers, fisherman & warriors who ruled from Campeche to Guatamala for over 2000 years before the arrival of the Spanish Explorers in the 15th Century. They were a very advanced civilazation, and their legacy survives to this day in the huge cities that they built during their reign. One of the lesser known sites is here on the island and is called San Gervacio. This is now a park with a resoration project to study the Mayan culture.  It was once a sacred site where Mayan women worshipped the goddess Ixchel, the goddess of fertility.

Cozumel itself was a sleepy little fishing community until 1961, when a Frenchman by the name of Jacques Cousteau declared it one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas of the world. Since that time Cozumel has become an underwater marine park to protect the delicate balance of it's dazzling coral reefs & abundant variety of tropical fish. The underwater wildlife is absolutely amazing here & due to the clarity of the water, it can be enjoyed by snorkellers or divers alike.

In addition to the spectacular open water diving, the region of Cozumel and Akumal are well-known for the underground rivers that honeycomb the porous limestone of the Yucatan. These provide some of the most beautiful cave and cavern or "cenote" diving in the world. Many of these caves are very highly decorated, and are host to a variety of unique marine life found only in these cave environments.

San Gervasio Mayan Ruin