The Yucatán Peninsula is located in the southeast portion of Mexico. It separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. The latitude of Yucatan is from about 19 to 21 degrees north which is the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands. It is tropical. Warm to hot inland and usually perfect on the beaches 80 to 90 degrees.
Yucatan is the heart of the old Mayan Empire. The majority of the people here are direct descendents from the Mayan Indians. Maya is still spoken here especially in the country away from the large cities. Spanish is the official language here. Many people speak English here, as well. The Yucatan Peninsula has been divided into 3 states, Campeche on the west, Quintana Roo on the east and the state of Yucatan that has the north coast and extends down to the center of the peninsula. Merida is the capital of Yucatan. It has a population of over 800,000 inhabitants. Merida is almost 500 years old since the Spanish conquered the city of T’ho and founded Merida in its place. Merida is called the white city. It is quite beautiful with large avenues, large flowering trees, many parks and museums, malls, shopping, American retail chains, large supermarkets. It is generally very safe with very few violent crimes, much safer than many cities in the U.S.
About 20 miles north of Merida is the beach town/fishing village of Progreso which has a population of about 50,000 inhabitants. It is home to the largest shipping port in the Yucatan Peninsula. The port is actually 4 miles out on the rock island called Isla Cervera. We have about 150 cruise ships that arrive in Progreso every year, which bring over 300,000 tourists to Progreso each year. . People come from all over Mexico to Progreso for vacation. When these are over it is nice to get our quiet beach town back again. There are several nice restaurants and bed & breakfasts in Progreso. It is a 30 drive to Merida which has everything one might need. The road from Progreso to Merida is currently a 8 lane divided highway with overpasses at all intersections.
The Mayan ruins are all over Yucatan. Chichen Itza and Uxmal are within a 90 minute drive from Merida. There are many more in the local area. The flamingos live all along the northern coast of Yucatan. The largest concentrations of them are at Celestun on the west end and Coloradas to the east. You can see them almost every day at Uaymitun just east of Progreso. They fly over Progreso along the beach almost every day. The beaches here are sandy with lots of shells.
The sea is usually calm at the beach in the mornings and we have a good sea breeze in the afternoon. This is a great area for shelling, swimming, windsurfing, sailing, fishing, bird watching and just enjoying the beach.
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Yucatan Dream Properties