Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Puerto Morelos (Spanish pronunciation: ['pweɾto mo'ɾelos]) is a town and seaport in Quintana Roo, Mexico's easternmost state, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The town is located in the northeast of the state, about 36 km (22 mi) south of the resort city of Cancún, and about 30 km (19 mi) north of the city of Playa del Carmen.

Puerto Morelos merged with the village of Leona Vicario on December 6, 2015, to become the 11th municipality in Quintana Roo, separating from its former municipality of Benito Juarez.

History

It has historically been the main port between the mainland of Yucatán and the Island of Cozumel, and an automobile ferry used to run from Puerto Morelos to Cozumel. The town is named after Independence leader José María Morelos.

Resorts are abundant in the Puerto Morelos region along the Riviera Maya and attractions, such as the Crococun Crocodile Zoo, the Botanical Garden, and a host of cenotes are also increasing in number. New smaller inns have been built which offer evening programs of talks on local history, marine biology, and healthy living practices.

One hundred meters offshore lies the Puerto Morelos portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, designated as a National Marine Park in 1998 due to local environmental activists.

Geography

Puerto Morelos is divided by a highway and a mangrove swamp into three sections. The section west of the highway is known as "Colonia Joaquin Zetina Gazca". The section east of the highway is called "Colonia Pescadores". The section on the coast east of the mangrove swamp is "Puerto" or "Antiguo (old) Puerto Morelos". This original coastal fishing village is now a quiet, mixed-use neighbourhood of private homes, hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and tourist shops.

The second part is about 2 km. inland and adjacent to Highway 307, on the western side. The inland portion is mainly single-level dwellings for local workers. New residential developments have sprung up in recent years adding to the housing mix. 

Climate

Classified by Köppen-Geiger system as tropical wet and dry climate (Aw), because its driest month has less than 60 millimetres (2.4 in) of precipitation and also less than 100 − (total annual precipitation [mm]/25), also because each month has a mean average above 18 °C (64 °F).[3]