Progreso

For years this port town was just a sleepy fishing village. Then in the 50´s the Meridanos started building summer homes along the coast to get away from the scalding heat of tropical Merida during July and August. Today Progreso is a town of about 50,000 people and is on the "cruise ship map" because of its long pier. Fancy restaurants are springing up along the seaside promenade or El Malecón, facades are being spruced up and people are selling handcrafts along the beach.

 

Progreso has a lighthouse (El Faro), built from 1885-1891. It stands 40 meters (120 feet) tall, and can be seen for 20 nautical miles.  It sits a few blocks inland of the beach next to a church plaza.

 

Why is the pier sooooo long? Progreso, like the rest of the Yucatan peninsula, sits on a limestone shelf that very gradually goes out to sea. The pier had to be built that long to get past the shelf and allow the ships to dock in deep water. The water at the end of the pier is still only 28-32 feet deep! The first part of the pier was built between 1936 and 1942, and the second part was built just within the last ten years.