Cozumel's Natural World

Marine Life

The President of Mexico declared the popular Cozumel reefs a national park on June 2, 1980. As a marine refuge it is prohibited to take, break, damage, or otherwise destroy the beautiful marine organisms. In fourteen years as a national park, most intentional damage and collecting has ceased. However, most scuba divers need to be informed that merely touching organisms causes irreparable damage. Many divers climb on top of the reef and break coral structures, kick and mutilate gorgonians, or let their heavy gauges drag along causing much unnecessary damage. Please help the reefs survive our generation and pass the word along so that our children can enjoy the abundant life under the sea.

Cenotes

There are no above ground rivers in the Yucatan. All rivers in the Yucatan peninsula are underground. They are called cenotes. The Maya´s original word was "tsónot" and the Spanish changed the word to cenote. They are fresh-water rivers that from time to time open up to the surface and becomes accessible. The Maya treated these fresh water veins as sacred.

A Cenote/Swimming Hole

There are many places where these underground rivers are accessible for people to swim in. In Xcaret, they have gentle currents that move you through the crystalline waters. There are subterranean formations, and skylit caves that seem like rooms that you will discover.

Occasionally there will be big openings into lagoons and families can have lots of fun here.

Iguanas and Other Lizards

These beautiful creatures are harmless, yet a bit creepy to most people unfamiliar with them. Remember when your parents told you they are more afraid of you than you are of them? Well, it’s true. The best thing about the small lizards is that they cut down the insect population a bit. If they happen to get in the house, just leave them alone and they’ll find their way out.

Land Crabs

Everything said above about iguanas applies equally to these crabs, which you may never see unless you go walking along the road in the northern hotel zone, where in the low-lying ground on the inland side of the road, there are millions of them. They climb on the screens and scratch around the doors and will sneak in if given the chance so watch out.

Ants/Insects

Most of the homes on the island have a problem with ants. Please try to keep food put away in the refrigerator once the packaging is opened. There should be a can of bug spray under the kitchen sink or in one of the lower kitchen cabinets. Just do what you can to clean up as much as possible or you’ll wake up one morning to find yourself invaded.

We will try to help if you tell us about any problems you have with insects. Sand fleas will occasionally get you, too. Locally called “no see ‘ems”, they give little stings that don’t ever swell, they just ich. Deet-based insect repellents help. If you become uncomfortable with the bites an antihistimine such as Claritine or Benadryl will help.

Mosquito Hour

The hour before sunset is prime-time for mosquitos. If you are going to be outside, put on plenty of insect repellent. Be sure to close all windows and doors in your home and in your car if you’ve rented one. You need a little planning to watch the sunset. There are months where they are scarce, and you have a good chance of enountering very few — if any — on your vacation.

You won't find macaws like this on Cozumel (if you're lucky, you can spot them on the mainland nearby), but you might spot the native yellow-lored parrot

Birds

There are abundant birds on Cozumel, and three that occur nowhere else on earth. The Cozumel Bananaquit, a white-throated race of the normally gray-throated Bananaquit found elsewhere in the tropics, is a sparrow-size bird with a yellow belly, black back and head, and a white stripe above the eye. It drinks flower nectar and can often be seen on flowering trees, particularly on, you guessed it, bananas.

Also indigenous to Cozumel are the Cozumel Thrasher, a cousin and look-alike of the Brown Thrasher of the USA, and the Cozumel Vireo, which looks pretty much like any other Vireo, except for its rusty-colored back and head.

Flamingos

There are five species of flamingos in the world. The ones that live in the Yucatan and Caribbean islands are Phoenocopterus ruber. Flamingos can live more than 30 years and are monogamous. Males and females are identical, so it is impossible to tell their sex at first sight. They are pink and long legged and beautiful creatures. Their beak is adapted to feed on small marine organisms, such as crustaceans, sea-weed, and single-cell organisms, which are filtered through fine hairs on their tongues.

Flamingos

There are many breeding programs on the mainland, and the largest colony of flamingoes in the western hemisphere can be found at the norther tip of the Yucatan at Rio Lagartos. They are often seen in the northern and southern tips of the island and often you will see them fly overhead.

Coconuts

You may notice that in Cozumel virtually all the coconut palms are pretty short on Cozumel. The reason is that in 1985–1986, Lethal-Yellowing disease struck the island, and the disease moved north along the Caribbean coast of Mexico, wiping out the coconuts. The coconut trees you see now have been planted since then, and are of a different variety which is highly resistant to the disease — the Malayan dwarf, which, despite its name, will eventually reach heights of 50–60 feet.

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