As recently as 1970, The Island of Cancun's (or as I was incorrectly calling it for the first few days, “The Cancun”) population was just 3. Hindsight would deem it unthinkable that investors at the time were unwilling to gamble their own funds on this small fisherman's island but that being the case; the Mexican government had to finance the start of a development program to make Isla Cancun a tourist retreat. Since then, the financial rewards in the region soared and the continued expansion has been outstanding. The population is now more than 700,000 and is made up with a delicate blend of migrants from other parts of Mexico, the U. S. A and Europe.
Our base was actually just outside of the main resort area or the “Hotel Zone” as it is known. We were staying in downtown Cancun. This is where the Mexican migrants are mainly located and most seem to be workers rather than holiday makers. In fact, I am not sure if most of the holiday makers who are mainly from the United States and Europe are even aware that downtown Cancun exists. It seems that after arriving in Cancun airport, a typical tourist will take a private shuttle to one of Cancun's grand hotels that take up almost every inch of the waterfront before spending a couple of weeks indulging, being pampered and hardly moving a muscle.
