Cozumel's Re-Construction
November 10, 2005
It's no secret that Hurricane Wilma dealt a hard blow to Cozumel, the tiny island off the coast of Mexico that offers some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the world. It's also been a top travel destination for cruises for many years.
The cruises and travel in general to Cozumel stopped, however, when Hurricane Wilma came along, causing widespread flooding, millions of dollars of damage to infrastructure such as piers, shops, and hotels (of the 70,000 hotel rooms in the region, 60,000 were completely uninhabitable after the storm), and an estimated $800 million more in lost revenues.
Now that more time has passed after Hurricane Wilma, Mexican tourism officials and cruise line execs have got a better handle on what's in store for this Mexican island. For one, it could take up to three months before cruises could return to Cozumel.
With almost three million cruise passengers visiting the popular port in the last year alone, the lack of cruises and tourism in general as a result of Hurricane Wilma will really hurt the local economy, and no doubt many cruise passengers will be disappointed that Cozumel won?t be on their itineraries for a while.
Cleanup in Cozumel really began the morning after the storm and has continued almost around the clock. Crews have been bringing in sand for beaches, planting palm trees, and rebuilding infrastructure. However, it wasn't until some time had passed that a more thorough estimate of the damage caused to what's arguably Cozumel's most valuable assets could be taken.
No doubt, one of the most painstaking and disappointing aspects of the clean up is the restoration that has to be done to the island's tropical reef. Named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the best places in the world to dive, Cozumel has a beautiful, but fragile, coral reef system. People from all over the globe---amateur and experienced divers alike---had for decades come to experience the underwater world along the coast of Cozumel.
Now, after close inspection of the reef, Mexico's National Protected Natural Areas Commission states that it could take more than a century to recover from the battering by Hurricane Wilma. The 25-mile stretch of delicate reefs off the island of Cozumel is part of an archipelago of reefs stretching for hundreds of miles southward to the coast of Honduras, comprising the largest reef system in the hemisphere.
"The area was hit hard by the storm and it could take at least 100 years for the reef to recover," Alfredo Arellano, regional director of Mexico's National Protected Natural Areas Commission, said. ?Whole colonies of coral were torn from their original site and tossed into the abyss,? he said.
That's not to say that Mexico hasn't been trying to save as much of the reef as possible. Divers and conservationists have begun rebuilding sections of the damaged reef, using powerful pneumatic drills to bore holes in bed rock in an attempt to reattach loose coral fragments with epoxy.
It's a painstaking process, but necessary for both the country's economy and natural beauty. Still, it's at least somewhat comforting to think that even though the reef was partially destroyed, the damage done to it was all part of the natural order of things---an ever-changing and sometimes destructive ecosystem. Although that same rationale falls short when you look at the destruction to hotels, resorts, and homes.
Yet don't think that you'll have to cancel your cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean; there are dozens upon dozens of other island and mainland destinations available to you and other cruise passengers. Jamaica, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Barbados, the Bahamas---and yes, Mexico---are still part of the itineraries of many cruise lines, as are many other enchanting ports of call.
