Cancún#Environmental concerns

According to early Spanish sources, the island of Cancún was originally known to its Maya inhabitants as {{lang|yua|Nizuc}} ({{langx|yua|niʔ suʔuk}}), meaning either 'promontory' or 'point of grass'.

The name Cancún, Cancum or Cankun first appears on 18th-century maps.{{cite web |url=http://cancun.gob.mx/visitantes/historia-de-la-ciudad/ |title=Government of Mexico, Cancún 2014 |website=cancun.gob.mx |access-date=September 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111234057/http://cancun.gob.mx/visitantes/historia-de-la-ciudad/ |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |url-status=live }} In older English-language documents, the city's name is sometimes spelled Cancoon, an attempt to convey the sound of the name.{{cite book |title=Transportation, improving mobility for older Americans: hearings before the Subcommittee on Federal, State, and Community Services of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRxDAQAAMAAJ&q=%22cancoon%22+mexico |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=9 November 2014 |year=1976 }}

Cancún is derived from the Mayan name {{lang|yua|kàan kun}}, composed of {{lang|yua|kàan}} 'snake' and the verb {{lang|yua|kum}} ~ {{lang|yua|kun}} 'to swell, overfill'.{{Cite book |last1=Bricker |first1=Victoria Reifler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HN0uAAAAYAAJ |title=A Dictionary of the Maya Language: As Spoken in Hocabá, Yucatán |last2=Yah |first2=Eleuterio Poʻot |last3=Poʻot |first3=Ofelia Dzul de |date=1998 |publisher=University of Utah Press |isbn=978-0-87480-569-7 |pages=122, 137 |language=en }} Two translations have been suggested: the first is 'nest of snakes' and the second, less accepted one is 'place of the golden snake'.{{cite web |title=Fast Facts |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/cancun/cancunfacts.htm |access-date=2013-04-18 |website=World Atlas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224150835/http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/cancun/cancunfacts.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2012 |url-status=live }} Snake iconography was prevalent at the pre-Columbian site of Nizuc.{{cite web |url=http://research.famsi.org/aztlan/uploads/papers/Andrews-Cancun-Aztlan-06-2.pdf |title=Historic Notes and Observations on Isla Cancún, Quintana Roo |website=famsi.org |last=Andrews |first=Anthony P. |access-date=May 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730234906/http://research.famsi.org/aztlan/uploads/papers/Andrews-Cancun-Aztlan-06-2.pdf |archive-date=July 30, 2009 |url-status=live }}

The shield of the municipality of Benito Juárez, which represents the city of Cancún, was designed by the Mexican-American artist Joe Vera.{{cite news |last1=Varillas |first1=Adriana |title=Centro de Cancún, tan mexicano como cosmopolita |url=http://www.el-periodico.com.mx/noticias/centro-de-cancun-tan-mexicano-como-cosmopolita/ |access-date=6 October 2014 |agency=El Periodico de Quintana Roo |date=19 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112052/http://www.el-periodico.com.mx/noticias/centro-de-cancun-tan-mexicano-como-cosmopolita/ |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}

It is divided into three parts: the color blue symbolizes the Caribbean Sea, the yellow the sand and the red the sun with its rays.

{{Historical populations|align=left

|1990 | 167730

|1995 | 297183

|2000 | 397191

|2005 | 526701

|2010 | 628306

|2015 | 743626

|2020 | 888797

|footnote=sources:{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/php/mexico-quintanaroo.php|title=MEXICO: Quintana Roo|date=2012-01-08|publisher=Citypopulation.de|access-date=June 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103213950/http://www.citypopulation.de/php/mexico-quintanaroo.php|archive-date=January 3, 2012|url-status=live}}

}}

In the years after the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, much of the Maya population died or left as a result of disease, warfare, and famines, leaving only small settlements on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cancunairporttransportations.com/blog/disappearance-of-mayans-inhabiting-cancun/ |title=Disappearance of Mayans inhabiting Cancun |work=Cancun Airport Transportations |date=April 22, 2021}}

Cancún is a planned city, created to foster tourism. When development of the area as a resort was started on January 23, 1970, Isla Cancún had only three residents, all caretakers of the coconut plantation of Don José de Jesús Lima Gutiérrez, who lived on Isla Mujeres. Some 117 people lived in nearby Puerto Juárez, a fishing village and military base.{{Cite book

| title = Cancun User's Guide

| last = Siegel

| first = Jules

| publisher = Lulu.com

| year = 2006

| page = 204

| isbn = 1-4116-3944-8}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} Cancún was created as a government project to boost tourism. In 1967 government allocated 2 million dollars fund to be administered by the Bank of Mexico to determine the feasibility of creating new recreational zones, “preferably where no other viable development alternatives exist." This was entrusted to INFRATUR, a Bank of Mexico agency.{{Cite news |last=Dunphy |first=Robert |date=5 March 1972 |title=Why the Computer Chose Cancun |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/05/archives/why-the-computer-chose-cancun-how-the-computer-chose-cancun-as.html |work=New York Times}}

File:FuenteFonatur.JPG's coat of arms, in Cobá and Náder Avenues]]

File:Cancun Strand Luftbild (22179809191).jpg

Due to the reluctance of investors to gamble on an unknown area, the Mexican federal government financed the first nine hotels.

The city began as a tourism project in 1974 as an Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo, National Fund for Tourism Development), formerly known as INFRATUR. Since then, it has undergone a comprehensive transformation from being a fisherman's island to being one of the two most well-known Mexican resorts, along with Acapulco. The growth of Cancún outpaced the rest of Quintana Roo during the late 20th cenutury, for example, from 1970 to 1980 the population grew annually on average by 62.3%. In hindsight, the development of Cancún as tourist city performed better on a number of metrics than what Mexican state planners had envisionaged.{{Cite journal |title=Análisis geohistórico de la turistificación de Quintana Roo en México, en los últimos cien años (1920-2020) |journal=Norte Grande Geography Journal |last=Ojeda |first=Antonio B. |url=https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-34022024000100105&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es |volume=87 |year=2024 |issue=87 |pages=1–22 |trans-title=Geohistorical analysis of the touristification of Quintana Roo in Mexico, in the last hundred years (1920-2020) |doi=10.4067/S0718-34022024000100105|language=es}} Once outside the main tourist areas of the World the growth of Cancún was part of a wider touristification of northern Quintana Roo while in the south and east of the state the timber industry developed more than tourism. From places like Cancún the tourism industry then expanded from the 1990s onward into indigenous territories and protected areas in inland sites.

Most 'Cancunenses' are from Yucatán and other Mexican states. A growing number are from the rest of the Americas and Europe. The municipal authorities have struggled to provide public services for the constant influx of people, as well as limiting squatters and irregular developments, which in 2006 occupied an estimated ten to fifteen percent of the mainland area on the fringes of the city.

In 2023, a record 21 million tourists visited Cancún, topping the original estimate of 20.5 million.{{cite web|url=https://sipse.com/novedades/preven-cierre-de-ano-con-21-millones-de-turistas-en-q-roo-460400.html|title=Prevén cierre de año con 21 millones de turistas en Q. Roo|website=www.sipse.com|date=December 21, 2023 |access-date=December 21, 2023}}

File:BetoAvilaCUN.jpg, home of Tigres de Quintana Roo]]

In the 21st century, Cancún had largely avoided the violence associated with the trade of illegal drugs; however, drugs are sold to tourists in bars and night clubs. Cancún has gradually been reported for being a center of money laundering.{{Cite news |last=Booth |first=William |date=May 27, 2010 |title=Mayor of Cancun, Mexico, charged with drug trafficking, money laundering |newspaper=Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604854.html?hpid=sec-world|url-status=live|access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926095744/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604854.html?hpid=sec-world |archive-date=September 26, 2017}}

The links with Cancún date from the 1990s and early 2000s, when the area was controlled by the Juárez and Gulf drug cartels. By 2010, Los Zetas, a group that broke away from the

Gulf Cartel, had taken control of many smuggling routes through the Yucatán, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.{{Cite news |last=Hawley |first=Chris |date=May 26, 2010 |title=Drugs cast cloud over Mexican paradise |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-05-26-cancun-mayor_N.htm |url-status=live |access-date=2010-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530070344/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-05-26-cancun-mayor_N.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2010}}

There have been a number of violent acts in the city related to drug trafficking.{{cite web |url=http://www.milenio.com/policia/disparan-homicidios-cancun-arma_fuego-snsp-seguridad-quintana_roo-asesinatos-milenio_0_1059494058.html|title=Se disparan 162% los homicidios en Cancún |trans-title=Homicides soar 162% in Cancun |work=Milenio |date=February 11, 2017 |access-date=February 2, 2018 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206224456/http://www.milenio.com/policia/disparan-homicidios-cancun-arma_fuego-snsp-seguridad-quintana_roo-asesinatos-milenio_0_1059494058.html|archive-date=February 6, 2018 |url-status=live}} Between 2013 and 2016, there were 76 murders: 31 in 2016, and at least 193 in 2017,{{cite web |url=http://yucatanalamano.com/destacado/abaten-a-tiros-a-mujer-en-cancun-llegan-a-193-asesinatos-este-ano/ |title=Abaten a tiros a mujer en Cancún, llegan a 193 asesinatos este año |trans-title=Woman shot dead in Cancún, reaching 193 murders this year |work=Yucatan a la Mano |access-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108174937/http://yucatanalamano.com/destacado/abaten-a-tiros-a-mujer-en-cancun-llegan-a-193-asesinatos-este-ano/ |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |url-status=dead}} the vast majority related to drug trafficking.{{cite web |url=http://www.milenio.com/policia/asesinatos-cancun-violencia-narcotrafico-quintana_roo-milenio-noticias_0_1018698318.html |title=En 2017, crimen organizado mató a 111 en Cancún |trans-title=In 2017, organized crime killed 111 in Cancun |work=Milenio |date=August 26, 2017 |access-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131200619/http://www.milenio.com/policia/asesinatos-cancun-violencia-narcotrafico-quintana_roo-milenio-noticias_0_1018698318.html |archive-date=January 31, 2018 |url-status=live}} Most have occurred in the urban nucleus, and there have been various violent episodes with firearms in the so-called "Zona Hotelera". Beginning in 2018 with a high wave of violence, Cancún is above the national average in homicides.{{cite web |url=http://noticaribe.com.mx/2018/01/08/quintana-roo-por-arriba-de-la-media-nacional-en-homicidios/ |title=Quintana Roo, por arriba de la media nacional en homicidios |trans-title=Quintana Roo, above the national average in homicides |date=January 9, 2018 |work=Noticaribe|access-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064059/http://noticaribe.com.mx/2018/01/08/quintana-roo-por-arriba-de-la-media-nacional-en-homicidios/ |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |url-status=live}} In January 2018 alone, there were 33 homicides, triple the number from January 2017.{{cite web |url=http://www.lapalabradelcaribe.com/se-disparan-300-los-homicidios-en-cancun/95266/ |title=Se disparan 300% los homicidios en Cancún |trans-title=Homicides soar 300% in Cancun |language=es |date=February 1, 2018 |work=La Palabra del Caribe - Journalism with ethics - Quintana Roo News |access-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203005908/http://www.lapalabradelcaribe.com/se-disparan-300-los-homicidios-en-cancun/95266/ |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}

Starting in 2015, Cancun tourism was significantly impacted by the appearance of large amounts of smelly, unsightly brown Sargassum seaweed on its white sand beaches every summer.{{cite news |last1=Partlow |first1=Joshua |last2=Martinez |first2=Gabriela |title=Mexico's holiday beaches buried as mystery seaweed invasion hits Cancun |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/mexico-s-holiday-beaches-buried-as-mystery-seaweed-invasion-hits-cancun-a6714096.html |work=The Independent |date=October 29, 2015}} By 2021, Sargassum season had become an annual occurrence at many Caribbean beach destinations, including Cancun.{{cite news |last1=Castro |first1=Alejandro |title=Brown tide of sargassum threatens Caribbean tourist beaches |url=https://www.nola.com/news/environment/brown-tide-of-sargassum-threatens-caribbean-tourist-beaches/article_d23f12b6-8f21-11eb-9a26-d7b9068fcc1b.html |work=Nola.com |date=March 27, 2021}}

File:planMaestroCun.jpg

File:Palaciomun08.jpg

Apart from the island tourist zone (part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System), the Mexican residential section of the city, the downtown part of which is known as "El Centro", follows a master plan that consists of "supermanzanas"{{cite book|title=La arquitectura norteamericana, motor y espejo de la arquitectura española en el arranque de la modernidad (1940-1965) |trans-title=North American architecture, engine and mirror of Spanish architecture at the beginning of modernity (1940-1965) |author1=José Manuel Pozo Municio |author2=Javier Martínez González |publisher=Servicio Publicaciones ETSA |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WoI8mrLTohkC&q=El+Centro+supermanzanas |page=67 |isbn=978-8489713710}} (superblocks), giant trapezoids with a central, open, non-residential area cut in by u-shaped residential streets.

Cancún's mainland or downtown area has diverged from the original plan; development is scattered around the city. The remaining undeveloped beach and lagoon front areas outside the Hotel Zone are now under varying stages of development, in Punta Sam and Puerto Juarez to the north, continuing along Bonampak and south toward the airport along Boulevard Donaldo Colosio. One development abutting the Hotel Zone is Puerto Cancún;{{cite web |url=http://www.puertocancun.com/english/location.html |title=Location |publisher=Puerto Cancun |access-date=2013-08-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510142009/http://www.puertocancun.com/english/location.html |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |df=mdy-all }} Malecon Cancún{{cite web |url=http://www.lavozdequintanaroo.com.mx/reportajes/400-malecon-cancun.html |title=Todo Incluido acabó hasta con las propinas |trans-title=All Inclusive ended even with tips |first=Xavier |last=Mendez |date=18 July 2011 |website=La Voz |lang=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722224024/http://www.lavozdequintanaroo.com.mx/reportajes/400-malecon-cancun.html |archive-date=July 22, 2011}} is another large development.

File:How Cancún Grew into a Major Resort.jpeg

Cancún has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw), with little temperature difference between months, but pronounced rainy and dry seasons. The city is hot year-round, and moderated by onshore trade winds, with an annual mean temperature of {{convert|27.1|C|1}}. Unlike inland areas of the Yucatán Peninsula, sea breezes restrict high temperatures from reaching {{convert|36|C}} on most afternoons. Annual rainfall is around {{convert|1340|mm|1|sp=us}}, falling on 115 days per year.

The rainy season runs from late August through November, and the dry season runs from November through April. The hurricane season runs from June through November.{{Cite web |title=Cancun Weather |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/travel/holiday-weather/americas/mexico/cancun |access-date=6 October 2023 |website=Met Office}} The Hotel Zone juts into the Caribbean Sea and is therefore surrounded by ocean keeping daytime temperatures around {{convert|1|to|2|C-change|1}} cooler. Windspeeds are higher than at the airport located some distance inland, which is the official meteorological station for Cancún; averages are shown below.{{cite web|url=http://www.cancuntravel.com/cancun-weather.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008224459/http://www.cancuntravel.com/cancun-weather.asp |archive-date=October 8, 2009|title=Cancún Weather}}

Thanks to the Yucatán current continually bringing warm water from further south, the sea temperature is always very warm, with lows of {{convert|79|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in winter and highs of {{convert|84|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in summer.{{cite web |url=http://www.cancunmap.com/weather/cancun-water-temperature.html |title=Cancun weather – water temperature |publisher=Cancunmap.com |access-date=2013-08-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727015443/http://www.cancunmap.com/weather/cancun-water-temperature.html |archive-date=July 27, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}

{{Weather box|width = auto

|location = Cancún

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan record high C = 33

|Feb record high C = 38

|Mar record high C = 39

|Apr record high C = 38

|May record high C = 39

|Jun record high C = 39

|Jul record high C = 39

|Aug record high C = 41.5

|Sep record high C = 38.5

|Oct record high C = 38

|Nov record high C = 37

|Dec record high C = 33.5

|year record high C = 41.5

|Jan high C = 28.3

|Feb high C = 29.4

|Mar high C = 30.7

|Apr high C = 32.2

|May high C = 33.5

|Jun high C = 33.7

|Jul high C = 34.3

|Aug high C = 34.8

|Sep high C = 33.7

|Oct high C = 31.6

|Nov high C = 29.8

|Dec high C = 28.6

|year high C = 31.7

|Jan mean C = 24.1

|Feb mean C = 24.8

|Mar mean C = 25.8

|Apr mean C = 27.4

|May mean C = 28.7

|Jun mean C = 29.2

|Jul mean C = 29.5

|Aug mean C = 29.7

|Sep mean C = 29

|Oct mean C = 27.5

|Nov mean C = 25.9

|Dec mean C = 24.5

|year mean C = 27.2

|Jan low C = 19.8

|Feb low C = 20.3

|Mar low C = 21.0

|Apr low C = 22.6

|May low C = 23.9

|Jun low C = 24.7

|Jul low C = 24.8

|Aug low C = 24.6

|Sep low C = 24.3

|Oct low C = 23.3

|Nov low C = 21.9

|Dec low C = 20.5

|year low C = 22.6

|Jan record low C = 13

|Feb record low C = 12

|Mar record low C = 9.5

|Apr record low C = 14

|May record low C = 18

|Jun record low C = 20.5

|Jul record low C = 21

|Aug record low C = 20

|Sep record low C = 19

|Oct record low C = 15

|Nov record low C = 12

|Dec record low C = 12

|year record low C = 9.5

|rain colour=green

|Jan rain mm = 104.6

|Feb rain mm = 49.5

|Mar rain mm = 44.1

|Apr rain mm = 41.2

|May rain mm = 86.9

|Jun rain mm = 138.3

|Jul rain mm = 77.9

|Aug rain mm = 87.5

|Sep rain mm = 181.9

|Oct rain mm = 271.9

|Nov rain mm = 130.3

|Dec rain mm = 86.1

|year rain mm = 1300.2

|unit rain days = 0.1 mm

|Jan rain days = 9.4

|Feb rain days = 5.9

|Mar rain days = 5.0

|Apr rain days = 4.1

|May rain days = 6.7

|Jun rain days = 11.0

|Jul rain days = 9.3

|Aug rain days = 9.7

|Sep rain days = 14.0

|Oct rain days = 16.4

|Nov rain days = 11.4

|Dec rain days = 9.8

|year rain days = 112.7

|source 1 = Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (1951–2010)

{{cite web

|url = http://smn.cna.gob.mx/climatologia/Normales5110/NORMAL23155.TXT

|title = Normales Climatológicas 1951–2010

|language = es

|publisher = National Meteorological Service of Mexico

|access-date = 6 March 2015

|date = August 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150705224131/http://smn.cna.gob.mx/climatologia/Normales5110/NORMAL23155.TXT

|archive-date = July 5, 2015

|df = mdy-all

}}

|date=August 2010

}}

File:Playacancun1.JPG

The tropical storm season lasts from May to December, the rainy season extending into January with peak precipitation in October. February to early May tend to be drier with only occasional scattered showers. Cancún is located in one of the main Caribbean hurricane impact areas. Although large hurricanes are rare, they have struck near Cancún in recent years, Hurricane Wilma in 2005 being the largest. Hurricane Gilbert made a devastating direct hit on Cancún in September 1988 and the tourist hotels needed to be rebuilt. In both cases, federal, state and municipal authorities were well prepared to deal with most of the effects on tourists and local residents.{{cite web|url=http://hurricanecancun.com/2007/08/16/hurricane-dean-on-course-for-cancun/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712231856/http://hurricanecancun.com/2007/08/16/hurricane-dean-on-course-for-cancun/ |archive-date=July 12, 2011|title=Hurricane Dean On Course for Cancún|date=August 16, 2007}} Hurricane Dean in 2007 also made its mark on the city of Cancún.

Making landfall in 1988, Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin. It landed on the Yucatán peninsula after crossing over the island of Cozumel. In the Cancún region, a loss of $87 million (1989 USD) due to a decline in tourism was estimated for the months of October, November and December in 1988.{{cite web|author=Benigono Aguirre |title=Cancun under Gilbert: Preliminary Observations |publisher=International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters March 1989, Vol. 7, No.1, pp. 69–82 |access-date=October 1, 2006 |url=http://www.udel.edu/DRC/Aguirre/publications/ag35.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210104904/http://www.udel.edu/DRC/Aguirre/publications/ag35.pdf |archive-date=December 10, 2005 }}

On October 21, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with strong winds in excess of {{convert|150|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. The hurricane's eye first passed over the island of Cozumel, and then made an official landfall near Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo at around 11 p.m. local time on October 21 with winds near {{convert|140|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. Portions of the island of Cozumel experienced the calm eye of Wilma for several hours with some blue skies and sunshine visible at times. The eye slowly drifted northward, with the center passing just to the west of Cancún, Quintana Roo.

Two years later after Hurricane Wilma, in 2007, Hurricane Dean made landfall as a Category 5 storm in Majahual, {{convert|190|mi|km|}} to the south of Cancún. Fierce winds at the edge of Dean's impact cone stripped sand off {{convert|7.5|mi|km|}} of beaches from Punta Cancún (Camino Real Hotel) to Punta Nizuc (Club Med).{{Cite web|url=http://novenet.com.mx/seccion.php?id=63845&sec=3&d=22&m=08&y=2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929035342/http://novenet.com.mx/seccion.php?id=63845&sec=3&d=22&m=08&y=2007|title=Novedades de Quintana Roo|archivedate=September 29, 2007}}

The authorities asked tourism operators to suspend sending tourists to Cancún while Hurricane Dean was approaching, but did ask airlines to send empty planes, which were then used to evacuate tourists already there.{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Huge-hurricane-roils-Yucatan-2509207.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709051813/http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-08-21/news/17258108_1_hurricane-dean-mexico-s-gulf-coast-yucatan-peninsula |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |title=Huge hurricane roils Yucatan|author1=James C. McKinley Jr.|author2=Marc Lacey|date=August 21, 2007|url-status=live|work=San Francisco Chronicle}}

Despite being a young city, Cancún has a memorial monument of its foundation on a replica of the old Airport Control Tower that resembles to its own date of foundation. The original control tower was a provisional wooden structure, the work of Mexican architects Agustín and Enrique Landa Verdugo.{{cite web|url=https://mexicanroutes.com/cancun-airports-old-control-tower-memorial/|title=Cancun airport's old control tower memorial|date=February 7, 2021 |publisher="Mexican Routes" [mexicanroutes.com]}}

The old airport was located on the same part of the city that today corresponds to the Kabah Avenue. The tower is 15 meters tall, has a 45 step staircase and has a base dimension of 5 × 5 meters. The memorial was first built in 2002 with a donation by Aerocaribe, a local airline, but the structure was damaged after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. After pleas by the local people to rebuild the tower memorial, a new version was erected in 2010, which was later abandoned without proper maintenance until Woox Pinturas, a local wood maintenance company, made a donation to restore the structure to its original appearance.{{cite web |url=http://www.revistapioneros.com/la-antigua-torre-de-control-simbolo-de-la-fundacion-de-cancun/|title=La antigua torre de control, símbolo de la fundación de Cancún |date=April 8, 2013 |lang=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527195806/http://www.revistapioneros.com/la-antigua-torre-de-control-simbolo-de-la-fundacion-de-cancun/ |archive-date=May 27, 2015}}

The real name of this monument is "Caribbean Fantasy", located in the heart of downtown Cancún, between the Coba and Tulum avenues intersection. It is the nerve center of the daily urban traffic of the city. It has witnessed multiple social and political events, undergoing constant repairs and remodeling for years.

Six years after Quintana Roo was recognized as the youngest state in the Mexican Republic and barely a decade after the city of Cancún was born, on October 22 and 23, 1981, the North-South Summit was held at the now defunct Sheraton Hotel. Two abstract pillars made of metal crossbeams gave the structure a stepped pyramidal appearance, with small masts displaying the flags of the countries attending the 1981 North-South Summit. The author, Lorraine Pinto, added details representing Quetzalcoatl on the sides, resembling the pyramid of Chichen-Itza, located in Yucatan.

In 1994, the municipal authorities of Cancún decided to demolish the commemorative structure because the city had been the scene of one of the most devastating climatic-environmental phenomena in the history of the Yucatan Peninsula, Hurricane Gilberto. The sculpture was irreversibly affected, leaving only the solid concrete base and the metal skeleton.

Due to its crosswise and bare appearance, the locals began to call it "Insectronic", a device manufactured by the Steren company to kill flies and mosquitoes. The municipal authorities decided to keep its base and the dynamics of the water fountain.

Once again, Lorraine Pinto was on call to create what locals began to call the Ceviche Fountain or the Ceviche Roundabout.

File:Yamiluum1.JPG, Temple of the Scorpion]]

There are some small Mayan vestiges of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Cancún.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tusbuenasnoticias.com/arte-y-cultura/general/horarios-y-ubicacion-del-museo-maya-de-cancun/33874 |title = Te damos horarios y ubicación del Museo Maya de Cancún para que vayas y veas su nueva exposición Máscaras|newspaper = Tus Buenas Noticias|date = 21 June 2024}} El Rey (Las Ruinas del Rey) is located in the Hotel Zone. El Meco, a more substantial site, is found on the mainland just outside the city limits on the road north to Punta Sam. {{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Close by in the Riviera Maya and the Grand Costa Maya, there are sites such as Cobá and Muyil (Riviera) the small Polé (now Xcaret), and Kohunlich, Kinichná, Dzibanché, Ichkabal Oxtankah, Tulum, Noh Kah, Chacchoben, among others, in the south of the state. Chichén Itzá is in the neighboring state of Yucatán.

Football club Atlante F.C. was founded in 1916 in Mexico City and moved to Cancún in 2007 due to poor attendance in Mexico City.{{cite web|url=http://www.atlantefc.com.mx/|title=:: Atlante Futbol Club ::|access-date=15 April 2011|archive-date=April 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411163537/http://www.atlantefc.com.mx/|url-status=dead}} In June 2020, speculation began about a possible move of Atlante F.C. back Mexico City. On June 26, the relocation became official.{{cite web |title=Atlante regresa a la CDMX y jugará en el Estadio Azul |url=https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/deportes/atlante-regresa-a-la-cdmx-y-jugara-en-el-estadio-azul |website=El Financiero |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=Spanish |date=3 February 2021}} The same day, the relocation of Cafetaleros de Chiapas to Cancún was announced, with the team renamed Cancún F.C.{{cite web |last1=Moreno |first1=Marcos |title=Cafetaleros se muda a Quintana Roo y nace Cancún FC |url=https://futbol.radioformula.com.mx/nacional/cancun-fc-nuevo-equipo-liga-expansion-cafetaleros-mudanza-fraquicia-2020/ |website=Radio Fórmula |accessdate=26 June 2020 |language=Spanish |date=3 February 2021}} They play in the Liga de Expansión MX, the Mexican second division, at the Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo. The city is also home to the Pioneros de Cancún of the Liga Premier de México, the third tier of Mexican football.

The Tiburones de Cancún (Cancún Sharks) were a professional American football team who played in the Fútbol Americano de México (FAM) league until the league's dissolution in 2022.

The city is also home to the baseball team Tigres de Quintana Roo, who play in the Mexican League (LMB).

{{wide image|Estadiopotros.JPG|800px|Andrés Quintana Roo Stadium, with a slightly larger capacity than originally planned, for club Atlante F.C.}}

In October 2023, the WTA Finals (Women's Tennis Association) were held in Cancún, in a temporary, outdoor, hard court stadium in Plaza Quintana Roo with a capacity of 4,300. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina criticized the facility, saying that it was unacceptable for high level tennis, not ready in time for practice, and there was no time to fix it.[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-31/aryna-sabalenka-labels-wta-finals-court-disrespectful/103042304 Aryna Sabalenka labels WTA Finals court in Cancún unacceptable for high-level tennis], Associated Press/ABC News Online, 2023-10-31

Since February 2025, the Cancún Country Club Residencial & Golf in Cancún hosts the WTA 125 tennis tournament "Cancún Tennis Open", that takes place on outdoor hardcourts.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wtatennis.com/tournaments|title=2025 WTA Calendar}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/deportes/mexico-suma-torneos-de-tenis-para-el-2025-uno-de-wta-125-y-dos-challengers-de-la-atp/|title=México suma torneos de tenis para el 2025, uno de WTA 125 y dos Challengers de la ATP}}{{Cite web |url=https://deportesquintanaroo.com/2025/01/14/presentan-el-cancun-tennis-open-wta-125/|title=Presentan el Cancun Tennis Open WTA 125|date=January 14, 2025 }}

File:MMUN008.jpg

Cancún is served by the Cancún International Airport with an added main runway that commenced operation as of October 2009. It has many flights to North America, Central America, South America, and Europe. It is located on the northeast of the Yucatán Peninsula serving an average of about fifteen million passengers per year. The airport is located around 20 km (12 mi) from the Hotel Zone, approximately a 20 minute trip by car.[http://www.cancuncare.com/Cancun_Airport/cancun_airport_map.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013025923/http://www.cancuncare.com/Cancun_Airport/cancun_airport_map.htm|date=October 13, 2010}} CANCUN AIRPORT MAP (CUN) ICAO CODE (MMUN) LATITUDE 21.0° LONGITUDE 86.9° The island of Isla Mujeres is located off the coast and is accessible by ferry from Puerto Juárez and Playa Tortugas in the Hotel Zone.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tusbuenasnoticias.com/turismo/general/donde-se-localiza-isla-mujeres/34635 |title = ¿Dónde se localiza Isla Mujeres y cómo llegar? |newspaper = Tus Buenas Noticias|date = 21 June 2024}} In 2020, the Quintana Roo government implemented a law that all international visitors arriving to the State of Quintana Roo are required to pay a fee called the VisiTAX.{{cite web |date= |title=VisiTAX Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.visitax.gob.mx/sitio/ |access-date=19 December 2024 |website=VisiTAX}} Visitors with a Mexican passport are exempted from the tax.{{cite web |title=VisiTAX, what is it? Official Information and latest update 2023 |url=https://www.cancunairport.com/visitax.html |website=Cancún Airport}}

Bus service from Cancun Airport to Downtown Cancun is provided by bus company ADO.{{Cite web |title=Cancun Airport Public Bus Service |url=https://www.cancunairport.com/public-buses.html |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Cancun Airport |language=en}}

Cancún is also served by five public transportation companies, who are granted concessions by the Quintana Roo Institute of Mobility (Imoveqroo) or the Municipality of Benito Juárez, depending on the type of vehicles operated.{{Cite web |last=Roo |first=Redacción Quintana |date=2017-02-20 |title=Opera TTE de forma irregular |url=https://quintanaroohoy.com/quintanaroo/cancun/opera-tte-de-forma-irregular/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Quintana Roo Hoy |language=es-MX}}

These companies include:

• Autocar S.A. de C.V. (Autocar)
• Transportación Turística y Urbana de Cancún (Turicún)
• Sociedad Cooperativa de Autotransporte del Ejido de Alfredo Vladimir Bonfil (Bonfil)
• Sociedad Cooperativa de Transporte Maya Caribe (Maya Caribe)
• Transporte Terrestre Estatal (TTE)

Together, these companies operate 36 bus routes in Cancun and its surrounding areas.{{Cite web |last=Esto |first=Redacción Por |date=2024-10-17 |title=Usuarios reprueban el transporte público de Cancún, "el servicio es muy malo, inseguro y tardado" |url=https://www.poresto.net/quintana-roo/cancun/2024/10/17/usuarios-repelan-el-transporte-publico-de-cancun.html |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Por Esto! |language=spanish}} Autocar operates 18 routes, both Maya Caribe and Turican operate 28, and Bonfil operates 20. TTE only operates Microbuses and Minibuses known as "combis."{{Cite web |title=Transporte Cancún {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/179723548/Transporte-Cancun |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Scribd |language=en}}

Most bus routes terminate near either Plaza Las Americas, the ADO Bus Terminal, Tulum Avenue, or the Hotel Zone.

In the Hotel Zone, the main routes are R-1 and R-2, which run up Kukulkan Avenue. Operated by SEA (a joint venture between Turicun, Autocar, and Maya Caribe), services run around every 5 minutes and go between Tulum Avenue and the Westin Resort.{{Cite web |last=Blanco |first=Stephani |date=2024-04-03 |title=Estrenan trabajadores de Cancún transporte de lujo hacia la zona hotelera |url=https://sipse.com/novedades/estrenan-trabajadores-de-cancun-transporte-de-lujo-hacia-la-zona-hotelera-466695.html |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=sipse.com |language=es}}{{cite web |title=Public Transportation |url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150807-s303/Cancun:Mexico:Public.Transportation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102132219/https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150807-s303/Cancun:Mexico:Public.Transportation.html |archive-date=January 2, 2018 |access-date=January 2, 2018}}

File:Cancun bus new cropped.jpg

In April 2024, SEA announced it had received 100 new air-conditioned buses, and were running them along the R-1 and R-2 routes. It was also announced that the two routes would be phased out in favor of a new corridor that ran between the Hotel Zone and Kabah Avenue, with other inner-city routes being considered.{{Cite web |last=Maidana |first=Victoria García |date=2024-04-03 |title=Nuevas rutas con destino a Cancún. |url=https://tvmredmaya.com/nuevas-rutas-con-destino-a-cancun/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=TVM Red Maya |language=es}}

In August 2024, it was reported that a subsidiary of ADO, which already operates buses in Merida, was interested in operating 184 units in Cancun.{{Cite web |last=Hoy |first=Redacción Quintana Roo |date=2024-08-29 |title=Posible nueva entrada de concesionaria de Autobuses en Cancún, mismas que ofrecen el servicio en Mérida, Yucatán |url=https://quintanaroohoy.com/100deportes/estado/posible-nueva-entrada-de-concesionaria-de-autobuses-en-cancun-mismas-que-ofrecen-el-servicio-en-merida-yucatan/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Quintana Roo Hoy |language=es-MX}}

ADO already operates long distance bus services from its Cancun Bus Terminal, with destinations including Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Merida and the Airport.{{Cite web |date=2017-01-18 |title=Cancun to Merida Bus Schedule |url=https://travelyucatan.com/cancun-to-merida-bus-schedule/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |language=en-US}}

The Tren Maya, under construction since June 2020, will connect Cancún to Palenque, Chiapas with intermediate stops on the Yucatán peninsula{{cite news|url=https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/central-9/todo-lo-que-sabemos-hasta-ahora-sobre-el-tren-maya|title=Todo lo que sabemos hasta ahora sobre el Tren Maya|date=13 January 2021|lang=es|work=Diario de Yucatán}} and operations started on December 15, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.sinembargo.mx/06-10-2023/4418099|title=El 15 de diciembre inicia ruta Palenque-Cancún; todos los tramos, para febrero: AMLO|language=es|website=sinembargo.mx|date=October 6, 2023|accessdate=November 30, 2023}}{{cite news |date=December 16, 2023 |title=Mexico's Tren Maya officially begins first stage passenger service |url=https://riviera-maya-news.com/mexicos-tren-maya-officially-begins-first-stage-passenger-service/2023.html?cn-reloaded=1 |work=Riveiera Maya News |access-date=December 17, 2023}} Passengers can take a free electric shuttle from Cancun Airport to the Tren Maya Station.{{Cite web |title=How to get to Cancún Train Station? |url=https://rutatrenmaya.com/cancun-airport-station-on-the-mayan-train/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Tren Maya: Route, stations, stops, attractions and trains. |language=en}}

• {{flagicon|USA}} Wichita, Kansas, USA – November 25, 1975{{cite web |title=Wichita Sister Cities |url=http://www.wichita.gov/Council/Pages/WSC.aspx |publisher=City of Wichita |access-date=25 July 2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725183952/http://www.wichita.gov/Council/Pages/WSC.aspx |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagicon|ROU}} Timișoara, Romania – March 5, 2019{{cite web |title= Timişoara s-a înfrăţit cu oraşul mexican Cancun. Ambasadorul a făcut cadou filmul care a câştigat Premiul Oscar 2019 pentru cel mai bun film străin |date=March 5, 2019 |url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/timisoara/timisoara-s-a-infratit-orasul-mexican-cancun-ambasadorul-facut-cadou-filmul-castigat-premiul-oscar-2019-mai-bun-film-strain-1_5c7ed62e445219c57eec855e/index.html |publisher=Adevarul |access-date=5 March 2019}}
• {{flagicon|USA}} Naperville, Illinois, USA – February 5, 2021{{cite news |title=Naperville Welcomes Cancun México as Third Sister City |url=https://www.positivelynaperville.com/2021/06/04/naperville-welcomes-cancun-mexico-as-third-sister-city/121160 |work=Positively Naperville |date=June 4, 2021 |access-date=21 May 2022}}

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• Cancún Underwater Museum
• Cenote

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Category:1970 establishments in Mexico

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