10/25/09
(Cancun Beach, North to Punta Cancun; By Cancun Casa)
In this edition of the Cancun Casa Blog, we’ll attempt to bring you up to date on the news in and around Cancun, Mexico during the traditional “slow season”, September through late November. We’re playing a bit of Cancun Casa Catch -Up here on the news blog, so we’ll jump right in momentarily. As a sidebar, we will tell you that this time of year is a terrific period of the year to visit the Mexican Caribbean, including Cancun, the weather is beautiful, the crowds are nil and the sale prices on hotels and vacation packages extremely enticing. So, if you find your mind wandering to palm trees, moon lit beaches and a hankering for the land of the Maya, there’s likely no better place to start than Cancun, Mexico.
Hopper Dredger “Kaishuu” (Courtesy of VesselTracker.com)
- Beach Restoration: The Cancun Beach Restoration Project is underway, not without issues, but underway nonetheless, the project which also includes selected selected beaches in Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel along with a 11.1 kilometer stretch of Cancun’s southern beaches has been in the preparatory stages for months and now the ships are arriving to do the heavy lifting of the project, namely underwater sand mining and sand replenishment on the beaches. The beach project has had numerous delays due to political jockeying, financial arrangements, weather concerns and environmental issues, particularly on Isla Cozumel, where concerns over marine sand mining at an area known as the North Bank has been a severe point of local consternation over concerns of the elusive, endangered, Pink Conch habitat and marine barrier protection of the Isla’s coastline. As it is, the long awaited dredging ship and associated vessels have arrived in Cancun to begin sand mining and beach replenishment amid the controversy, and despite legal wranglings from a consolidation of Cozumel based environmental groups, the project is expected to proceed. A ceremonious send off by Mexican president Calderon has been delayed from last week due to late arriving vessels and weather concerns but that too, is expected to be rectified in the days ahead. Readers are urged to follow Cancun Casa’s complete coverage of the Cancun Beach Restoration and past reports at Cancun Beach Restoration 2009
(Fiesta Americana Coral Beach Hotel by CancunCasa)
- Hotel Occupancy: Better known as the Cancun Stock Market, a euphemism used to describe the growing or waning fortunes of the tourism industry in Cancun, the city and her citizens lifeblood, has settled into a paltry 41% average for the month of October as of the 21st of the month. The same period last year had averages near 52% occupancy for the hotel sector or approximately a 20% decline in occupancy over the same period last year. The reasons for the downtown are the world recessionary economic climate, continued long range fallout from the disinformation associated with Mexico as a result of the world wide swine flu A-H1N1 pandemic, and publicity, often erroneously attached to Cancun from the drug cartel Mexico-US border wars, some 1100 miles away.
(Pericos Restaurant Promotional)
- Perico’s Restaurant Closed: As many tourists and Cancun followers may already be aware, the long time popular Mexican eatery in Cancun’s downtown has been closed for a few months now. Information received by Cancun Casa from the restaurant’s management indicate that the restaurant may have closed permanently in the downtown area and that the owner’s hope to re-open in an undisclosed, future, Hotel Zone location in December of this year. The information, while certainly not as specific as we all would have liked, appears to indicate, at a minimum, the tourist hot spot will be out of action until at least December, downtown or otherwise. For the unaware, this past year’s downturn in tourism has forced many business establishments to either cut back or close altogether for economic reasons.
- U.S. Citizen Murdered in Downtown Cancun: In a tragic killing that may be related to illegal immigration from Cuba to Mexico to the United States, it appears a Cuban- American male, in his sixties, with U.S. citizenship and a past address in the State of Indiana, now residing, at least part time in Cancun and possibly Miami, Florida, was assassinated by three men in downtown Cancun. The man was assaulted and stabbed by three unknown assailants, described by witnesses to be possibly, Cuban, late night in a Cancun neighborhood, far from the tourist district. Local police and authorities are investigating the crime scene and robbery has been ruled out as a motive…In a late breaking update to this story Judicial Police in Cancun have arrested a 32 year old woman reported to have some type of employment relationship with the victim as a potential accomplice to the attack, and in a rather strange twist are now indicating the attack may have been part of a greater robbery plot. Earlier reports from local police had indicated that robbery was not a motive based on the untouched personal possessions on the victim left at the scene of the crime, leading police to speculate on the reason for the assassination. It has yet to be confirmed whether this involves members of the Cuban community in Cancun, as witnesses to the crime scene had led local police to speculate, in earlier reports. Based on the most recent report, courtesy of Diario de Yucatan, the woman arrested remains in custody at the Cancun jail. http://www.yucatan.com.mx/noticia.asp?cx=15$4108080000$4179216&f=20091025
- 12th Annual Dog Adoption Festival a Success: Local reports indicate that the recent dog adoption festival held by the Canine Care Center (ACC) was a success, having provided for the adoption of 24 puppies and 7 adult dogs during the annual event.
(Cancun Beach, Near Playa Delphines: By Cancun Casa)
- International Beach Clean Up Day, 2009: In a continuing eye toward beach trash maintenance and upkeep, the Bepensa Beverage Company was the official sponsor of an official beach cleaning as part of International Beach Clean Up Day on a series of local beaches this past Saturday. The company, largely supplemented by local volunteers and employees, helped to clean up beaches at Punta Sam, Las Perlas, Playa Delphine sand Punta Nizuc.
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October 26th, 2009 at 4:54 pm Hi Dangers, Is there any recent updates on the Mercado 28 incident from a week or so ago? Thanks much, Joanna
October 26th, 2009 at 5:42 pm Hi Joanna~ there’s updated information if you haven’t seen it at http://dangers.cancuncasa.com/?p=100. The long & short appears to be; all five victims released by kidnappers, substantial ransom paid, and victims refuse to cooperate with police investigation under fear of reprisals from kidnappers. If more becomes available we’ll pass it along.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:55 pm Intriguing story you got here