Celestún is a town in Yucatán,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is located in the northwest corner of the state, just north of the border with the state of

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

, on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

coast at . In 2000, it had a population of just under 6,000 people; however, the population swells to 10,000 during the octopus hunting season. It is mostly a fishing town, with a 19th-century

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

(as well as a more modern one) and an abandoned historic

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

. Besides fishing, Celestún also produces salt, as it has done from pre-Columbian times. Tourism is also making up an increasing portion of the town's economy, as the community has many kilometers of sand beaches and abundant wildlife. Surrounding the town is the 147,500-acre (600 km²)

Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

, a wetland reserve that is the winter home to vast flocks of flamingos, as well as many herons and other bird species. This location is set within the Petenes mangroves ecoregion. In addition, more than 200 species of birds pass through on migration, or live there.Brown, Clare. Brown, Karen. Stevenson Day, Jane ''-Karen Brown's Mexico: Exceptional Places to Stay and Itineraries'', page 141. Karen Brown's Guides, 2006. Celestun's ecosystem is unique because of a combination of freshwater from the century estuary and saltwater from the

. The reserve also has two types of pelicans - large white Canadian and smaller gray Mexican ones. Celestun is also known as a hatching ground for

endangered sea turtles Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles a year are accidentally caught in shrimp trawl nets, on longline hooks and in fishing gill-nets. Sea turtles need to reach the surface to breathe, and therefore many drown once caught. Loggerhead an ...

. Wildlife conservationists have an ongoing project to protect the sea turtles from encroaching modernization. One of the busiest times for tourism is

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

, when people from around the region visit Celestun. Local folk-catholic traditions are abundant during this time, when the town's patron saint is floated out to sea surrounded by candles, and visited by the patron saint of nearby Kinchil. As the town of Celestun is the seat of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(''municipio'') of Celestun, it attracts various carnivals, dances and musicians to its town square on a regular basis.

Climate

References

External links

Celestún Lagoon Photo EssayKarst and Colors on the Yucatán Peninsula near Celestún
NASA Earth Observatory, May 8, 2022 {{DEFAULTSORT:Celestun Populated places in Yucatán Tourism in Mexico