Celestún

Celestún is a town in Yucatán, Mexico. It is located in the northwest corner of the state, just north of the border with the state of Campeche, on the Gulf of Mexico coast at 20°51.5′N 90°24′W. 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 (as well as a more modern one) and an abandoned historic Hacienda. 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.

A beach in Celestún

Celestun
Town
Celestun Celestun
Coordinates: 20°51′30″N 90°24′0″W
Country	Mexico
State	Yucatán
Government
• Municipal President	Araci Guadalupe Villanueva Pinto [1]
Population  (2005[2][3])
• Total	6,269
	Municipality
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time)
INEGI Code	011
Major Airport	Merida (Manuel Crescencio Rejón) International Airport
IATA Code	MID
ICAO Code	MMMD
Website	Nuestros municipios - Celestún

Surrounding the town is the 147,500-acre (600 km²) Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicano (also known as the "Celestun Biosphere Reserve"), 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.[4] In addition, more than 200 species of birds pass through on migration, or live there.[5] Celestun's ecosystem is unique because of a combination of fresh water from the estuary and salt water from Gulf of Mexico. 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. Wildlife conservationists have an ongoing project to protect the sea turtles from encroaching modernization.

One of the busiest times for tourism is semana santa, when local Maya villagers from around the region visit Celestun. Local folk-catholic traditions are abundant during holy week, 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 (municipio) of Celestun, it attracts various carnivals, dances and musicians to its town square on a regular basis.

Climate

Climate data for Celestún
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	29 (84)	29.9 (85.8)	32 (90)	34.3 (93.7)	35 (95)	34.3 (93.7)	33.8 (92.8)	33.5 (92.3)	32.9 (91.2)	31.7 (89.1)	30.2 (86.4)	29.1 (84.4)	32 (90)
Average low °C (°F)	17.3 (63.1)	17.6 (63.7)	19.0 (66.2)	20.7 (69.3)	22 (72)	22.5 (72.5)	22 (72)	22.3 (72.1)	22.4 (72.3)	21.7 (71.1)	20 (68)	18.0 (64.4)	20.5 (68.9)
Average precipitation cm (inches)	2.5 (1)	2.0 (0.8)	0.76 (0.3)	1.0 (0.4)	3.6 (1.4)	11 (4.3)	12 (4.9)	12 (4.8)	14 (5.7)	8.6 (3.4)	3.3 (1.3)	2.8 (1.1)	75 (29.4)
Source: Weatherbase [6]

References

1. "Nuestros municipios - Celestún". Archived from the original on 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
2. "Encyclopedia of the Municipalities of Mexico: Yucatan". Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
3. Census Results by Locality, 2005 Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine INEGI.
4. World Wildlife Fund. eds. Mark McGinley, C.Michael Hogan & C. Cleveland. 2010. Petenes mangroves. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC Archived October 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
5. Brown, Clare. Brown, Karen. Stevenson Day, Jane -Karen Brown's Mexico: Exceptional Places to Stay and Itineraries, page 141. Karen Brown's Guides, 2006. ISBN 1-933810-10-6
6. "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Celestún, Yucatán". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.

External links

• Celestún Lagoon Photo Essay