Isla Contoy

Isla Contoy National Park was decreed in 1998 at the northern tip of Quintana Roo, where the Caribbean Sea meets the Gulf of Mexico, some thirty kilometres north of Isla Mujeres. It is a narrow, elongated island barely eight kilometres long, uninhabited and with very restricted access: the number of daily visitors is capped and landing is permitted only in one specific sector.

Its main value is ornithological. Contoy is one of the most important seabird nesting sites in the Mexican Caribbean, with large colonies of magnificent frigatebird, brown pelican, cormorant and several species of tern and heron; more than a hundred and fifty bird species, resident and migratory, have been recorded on the island. Its beaches are also a nesting area for marine turtles, mainly hawksbill and green.

The islet combines beaches, dunes, mangroves and inner coastal lagoons in a very small space, which explains the diversity of birds it hosts. The surrounding waters form part of the area where every summer one of the largest whale shark aggregations in the world gathers, drawn by the mass spawning of fish, a phenomenon that has generated a regulated tourist activity. Its proximity to Cancún and Isla Mujeres makes managing visitor numbers the park's main challenge.