Cozumel History
For the ancient Mayans, Cozumel was a sacred place, believed to be the sanctuary of the Mayan fertility goddess X’chel. It was a major destination for religious pilgrims from as far away as central Mexico and parts of Central America.
The Spaniards discovered the island in the 16th century, and in the years that followed it became a haven for pirates and buccaneers. (Scuba divers can still explore the wreckage of some unlucky Spanish galleons.) By 1700 it was uninhabited.
In the 19th century, Cozumel became embroiled in a Mayan insurrection that began in the Yucatan. Refugees fled the mainland for the relative safety of the island, and when the rebellion was finally defeated, Cozumel emerged from its isolation to eventually become one of Mexico’s most important eastern ports.
Tourism became a mainstay of Cozumel’s economy beginning in the 1950s. With the discovery of its fantastic underwater coral reefs, scuba divers began flocking to the island on a new kind of pilgrimage . . . and they’ve been coming ever since.
Today, Cozumel is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, visited by over 2 million tourists every year.