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 When the Spaniards arrived Chetumal was known as Chetemal or Chactemal, “the place where the red cedar is plentiful” and was one of numerous principalities into which the Yucatán Peninsula was then divided. That of Chetemal ran from Bacalar to southern New River (Belize), a land of recurrent natural disasters, dense forest and fiercely independent natives the Spaniards found impossible to subjugate. After several attempts they abandoned the area, leaving the Maya to their own devices.
Chetumal is the capital of Quintana Roo, easternmost state of the three composing the Yucatán Peninsula. It was founded in 1898 and called Payo Obispo by Lt. Othón P. Blanco who’d been sent to subdue the rebels of the Caste War and stop the arms trade the latter had going with Belize. In 1936, the prosperous bayside city was renamed Chetumal, a clear allusion to its Mayan roots.
Chetumal is your classic Mexican Caribbean town; quiet, tropical and prey to the occasional hurricane. Clapboard housing, louvered windows made from wood, thatched palapas and cement-blocks create the look so typical of provincial Yucatán.
The city has hotels and restaurants to suit all tastes and wallets as well as other tourist services. Its importance has grown over the last few years; not only is it the logical base of operations for visits to the many reserves, beaches and archaeological sites of the south, it is the gateway to Belize and Central America.
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© 2004 Editorial Veras. La guía Oficial del Caribe Mexicano.