Newszine

Wild Weather Around the World

Buen tiempo

In Spanish, the words ‘buen tiempo’ literally mean both good weather and good time.

Such is the case for Costa Maya, Mexico, where good times are always dependent on good weather.

For spring break I took a Mexican cruise that stopped in Cozumel and Costa Maya. While Cozumel has a strongly established tourist-based economy, Costa Maya, as a relative newcomer to the tourism industry, is quite different. This area consisting of the two small fishing villages of Majahual and Xcala boomed after a dock and a man-made tourist village was built in 2001 to host cruise ships.

My friends and I arrived there on a bright and beautiful March day and were welcomed by the clearest turquoise waters I’ve ever seen. We chose to take a snorkeling excursion in which local Mexicans took us out to superb barrier reefs on a catamaran sailboat. On the way back from our snorkel trip, our guide Orlando told us how this time of year is Costa Maya’s ‘high’ season.

“We’ll get two to three boats a few times a week,” he said. “But come summer, it gets too hot, and the cruises stop coming. Then we’ll get maybe two boats a month.”

Two cruise ships a month.

That’s all the residents of Costa Maya, Mexico can expect to depend on for their livelihood during the hot summer months on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

It’s virtually impossible for residents of Costa Maya to survive on two boats a month. Instead, they hustle as much as they can during the busy season to save up enough money to live on during the hot summer when daily temperatures reach triple digits and cruise ships go to cooler locations. They must hawk their ubiquitous Mexican souvenirs and silver jewelry, fruity cocktails and pictures with monkeys. They must loudly advertise and then fill to capacity their boat trips to scuba dive and snorkel the world-class coral reefs, because they know as summer draws nearer, their income will shrivel just as the vegetation does under the hot Mexican sun.

Weather is integral to the tourism industry here as it is everywhere. Ski resorts depend on sufficient snowfall, amusement parks count on warm weather and beach resorts cross their fingers in hopes that hurricanes don’t hit. However, most of these tourism businesses are individualized ventures within the area they’re located. Even if their isn’t snow, or there’s a cold snap or a directed hit from a hurricane, the local economy will continue to exist through the needs of its local population – banks, grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, etc.

The situation is much different in Costa Maya where tourism is the one and only industry. This poor, isolated area only got electricity, phone lines and potable water within the past few years and probably wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for the needs of the tourists. Compounding the already precarious economic situation of this area, category 5 Hurricane Dean hit Costa Maya directly in August 2007, which devastated the area and stopped the cruise ships from coming for over a year. The dock had to be rebuilt, the tourist village restructured and the tourism industry has only recently been revived. A Holland America cruise ship was the first to return to Costa Maya when it docked on October 31, 2008.

Both expected and unexpected weather conditions will continue to play a significant role in the success and survival of this tropical paradise.