Cabo Catoche or Cape Catoche, in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

, is the northernmost point on the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

. It lies in the municipality of Isla Mujeres, about north of the city of

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

. According to the

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

, it marks the division point between the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

to the east and

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

to the west. The name is believed to be a corruption of the Mayan word ''cotoch'', meaning "our houses, our homeland". "Cotoch" is the name used by the Spanish Franciscan bishop Diego de Landa to refer to the region in 1566.Landa, Diego "Relación de Yucatán". Linkgua, s.l., 2008, p. 11. Catoche was the location of the first intentional landing by Europeans in the territory of modern-day Mexico, during the Córdoba expedition, on 4 March 1517. The Spanish were invited into the native town with "''Cones catoche, cones catoche'', which means: 'Come to our houses'." On the way, the Spaniards were ambushed, suffering thirteen wounded to the native's fifteen killed. The Spaniards captured two natives, baptized as Julian and Melchior, who became interpreters on future Spanish expeditions, before Melchior turned against the Spaniards at the Battle of Centla.Bernal Díaz del Castillo, 1963, ''The Conquest of New Spain'', London: Penguin Books, This is also the site of the first known ''accidental'' landing, a shipwreck in 1511, from which Gerónimo de Aguilar and

Gonzalo Guerrero Gonzalo Guerrero (also known as Gonzalo Marinero, Gonzalo de Aroca and Gonzalo de Aroza) was a sailor from Palos, Spain who was shipwrecked along the Yucatán Peninsula and was taken as a slave by the local Maya. Earning his freedom, Guerrero ...

survived. The

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

at Cabo Catoche is the location of the internationally recognized official boundary between the

and the

. Directly west of Cabo Catouche is Holbox Island and Yalahau lagoon, where the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea converge, creating a rich environment for an abundance of marine and bird life. These waters are home to the largest gathering of

whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...

s in the world for about five months out of the year. Because of the mixing of these waters and the white coraline sands, clear turquoise and emerald waters are found. This island is a protected area and the sands are an important hatchery for sea turtles and a host of bird species. The Yalahau Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon and so deep that the water appears to be black. In satellite photographic images the lagoon appears to be a black hole.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Quintana Roo Catoche

See also

References