Hurricane Wilma recovery in Cancun for my honeymoon...

I get married December 30th. (YEAH!) On January 1st we begin a week of honeymoon vacation in Cancun, Mexico, so I have been following very closely the recovery efforts of that region. I chose Cancun early last Spring, long before hurricane season, and long before Hurricane Wilma decided to park her level 4 self over the Yucatan for a day and a half this past October.

The hotel/club we are staying at is called Imperial Fiesta Club (which also is called Hotel Casa Maya). Within a few days of Hurricane Wilma passing, they had posts up on their web sight stating that they had weathered the storm very well, with only some exterior aesthetic damage. Earlier this week I viewed some video footage online taken from the beach of the hotel, and everything does look great. They have actually gained beach from the hurricane, though many other areas lost some, if not all of their beach. My understanding is that much of the area of km 1-9 of the Hotel Zone gained beach or stayed the same, and most of the rest lost it. Having not actually been there before, I can only say that this is the North end that gained.

Some hotels were destroyed beyond repair, and are in the process of being torn down. Tens of thousands of trees are being replanted (see palms above). Many hotels, clubs, restaurants, businesses are taking advantage of the damage they received and are making improvements to their facilities while they repair. Many places have or will open in better condition than pre-hurricane. My understanding is that by Christmas, the area will be 75-80% recovered, which is saying a lot considering the damage done. Look at the USA Gulf Coast and how slow recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina are going as a comparison.

Initially I was very worried that this might have a negative impact on our experience in Cancun, but after watching the recovery efforts, I feel confident that we'll have a great time, and that we won't feel like we should have gone elsewhere. One great resource for current info on Cancun has been the people at the Cancun Care Message Board. The quality and dedication of the people there is far beyond anything else I have found on the web. If you are considering a trip to Cancun, it is a must visit site for info on the region. There are people on the ground in Cancun posting regularly, with photos, links to videos, info on how to get deals and more.

Washington Post also had a great 4 page article on the recovery efforts of Cancun and surrounding regions.