IX Cancun Open Water

The IX Cancun Open Water is an open water swimming race held in the Caribbean Sea at Playa Langosta, located along the Hotel Zone of Cancún in Quintana Roo. Staged along the coastline, the competition officially serves as the Municipal Open Water Championship of Benito Juárez. The event is organized by PROTUDEC as an official stop in the Tri Tour series. Swimmers can take on a broad selection of challenges tailored to different abilities. The race distances include sprints of 50, 100, 200, 250, and 400 metres, alongside endurance courses of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 kilometres. The race layout consists of an open 1.25-kilometre circuit with both the start and the finish positioned right next to the pier at Playa Langosta. Out on the loop, every swimmer is required to use an inflated personal safety buoy throughout the entire swim for safety reasons.

Playa Langosta: a sheltered, shallow bay in the Hotel Zone

Playa Langosta lies at kilometre 5 of Boulevard Kukulkán in the Hotel Zone of Cancún, in front of the Nichupté lagoon, a natural ecosystem of about three thousand hectares made up of seven lakes. Playa Langosta is a public beach in Cancún with free access, like Playa Delfines, Playa Gaviotas and Playa Tortugas. Because Playa Langosta sits in a small protected bay, its waves are calmer and its water shallow, which gives the impression of a huge natural swimming pool. On Playa Langosta swimmers can walk and walk into the sea while the water barely reaches their knees. The beach has palapas for shade, loungers and umbrellas for rent, as well as restrooms, showers, a children's play area, lifeguards and public parking. Restaurants and food stalls near Playa Langosta serve fish and seafood dishes such as ceviche, fish tacos and shrimp cocktail.

The Mesoamerican Reef: warm Yucatán currents and coral gardens

The open water off Cancún is kept consistently warm by the steady flow of the Yucatán current, maintaining sea temperatures that range from 26 °C (79 °F) in winter to 29 °C (84 °F) in summer. About ten kilometres from the race course, the national park encompassing Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc preserves a vibrant underwater ecosystem. Beneath the surface, the marine reserve protects 35 distinct species of stony corals and 37 species of soft corals. Above the water line, the islets of Punta Cancún provide a crucial nesting habitat, harboring the only national record in Mexico of the brown noddy and the black noddy seabirds. In September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert struck the region, inflicting widespread damage across Cancún and sinking two vessels, the shrimp boat El Triunfador and the fishing boat Las Redes, in the waters of the national park about ten kilometres away.

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma skirted past as a fierce Category 4 storm with sustained winds exceeding 240 km/h. Two years later, Hurricane Dean washed over the coastline, stripping sand across 12.1 kilometres of beaches between Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc.

The Maya beacons: ancient maritime ports from El Meco to El Rey

Maritime trade historically flourished around El Meco, an ancient Maya port located about seven kilometres from the race beach. Initially settled as a humble fishing village, the site developed into an important Caribbean trading port whose original name, Beel'maan, translates to 'trade canal'. The site's main pyramid, El Castillo, is the tallest ancient structure on the East Coast of Quintana Roo and faces directly toward the sea. The commanding stone temple functioned as a crucial visual navigation marker for coastal canoe voyages and lagoon crossings, while also serving as the primary departure port linking the mainland to Isla Mujeres. Further up the Caribbean coast lies Punta Sam, a tourist shoreline destination that still looks out over these ancient coastal waterways.

Near the Nichupté lagoon, about ten kilometres from Playa Langosta, the Pok Ta Pok archaeological site dates to the late postclassic period. Situated within the fairways of a golf course, the complex consists of two buildings in the East Coast architectural style. Structure 1 features a stone platform with wall ruins forming a room supported by an entrance with two columns, while the nearby beach hosts another ancient site called Yox Xixim. About eleven kilometres from the swim venue, the Maya site of Yamil Lu'um stands on a beach rock cliff that marks the highest natural point along the Cancún shoreline. Built between 1200 and 1550 AD, the site features the Scorpion's Temple, which operated as a pre-Columbian lighthouse overlooking the open sea.

Roughly twelve kilometres away, the cliffside ruins of Ni'Ku' also served as maritime beacons, with two temple shrines oriented to frame the setting sun during sacred calendar rituals. Explorer John Lloyd Stephens first documented Ni'Ku' in 1843, and the ruins remain preserved today within the private grounds of a hotel complex. Following the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, the coastal community was abandoned after regional trade broke down and foreign diseases devastated the population.

Isla Mujeres and Punta Cancún: pirate refuges, sanctuaries and sleeping sharks

The silhouette of Isla Mujeres has its southeast tip forming the easternmost point of Mexico. The island was revered by the pre-Hispanic Maya as a sacred sanctuary dedicated to Ixchel. When Spanish explorers reached the island, the abundance of sculpted goddess effigies led them to name it Isla Mujeres. Its inhabitants gathered salt from interior lagoons for trade currency, food preservation, and medical remedies. On the southern point of the island, a Maya temple stood until Hurricane Gilbert reduced it to its foundation in 1988. About ten kilometres away, within the waters of the national park, lies the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks. Discovered around 1950 by local Mexican diver Carlos García Castilla, the submerged cavern was later visited and explored by French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.