Question 1

Progreso on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Progreso's own beach and Malecón are the easy choice for a day without a tour, and Mérida, the state capital, is about half an hour away by car if you want a city. Whatever you choose, allow time for the ride back out along the pier. The Malecón and the beach: The seafront promenade runs along the town beach, with restaurants along it. The Meteorite Museum: The Museo del Meteorito, at Calle 19 No. 142 on the Malecón, explains the asteroid impact that formed the Chicxulub crater. Check opening hours before you go. One ride inland: Mérida's old center is about 30 minutes away by car. Its cathedral, built in the late 16th century partly with stones from Maya ruins, is the oldest cathedral on the mainland of the Americas. Taxis: Use taxis from authorized ranks rather than ones that approach you on the street. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, and the pier transfer adds time at the end of the day. Watch the clock: Yucatán is six hours behind UTC. If your ship keeps a different time from the shore, go by the ship's clock.

Question 2

Getting Around Progreso and the Yucatán on a Port Day

Accepted Answer

Most of what cruise visitors want in Progreso is close to the Malecón, while Mérida and the Maya sites inland need a car, a taxi or a tour. The drive to Mérida takes about half an hour on Federal Highway 261. Use taxis from authorized ranks, sometimes called sitio taxis. Unlicensed drivers have robbed passengers in parts of Mexico. Buses run often between Progreso and Mérida, but the trip takes about 55 minutes each way, nearly twice as long as by car. The Maya site of Dzibilchaltún lies between Progreso and Mérida, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of the city. Chichén Itzá, one of the largest Maya cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, is much farther away than Dzibilchaltún, so ask on board how long the trip takes before you plan around it.

Question 3

Cochinita Pibil, Sopa de Lima, and the Yucatecan Table

Accepted Answer

Yucatán has a cuisine of its own, rooted in Maya cooking and flavored with achiote and bitter orange, and Progreso, a fishing port, adds seafood. Cochinita pibil is pork seasoned with red achiote paste and cooked wrapped in banana leaves. "Pibil" comes from the Maya word for a pit oven. Sopa de lima is a soup of chicken or other meat with lime juice, served with crisp tortilla strips. Panuchos are fried tortillas stuffed with black beans and topped with shredded chicken or turkey, pickled red onion and avocado. Habanero chiles usually come on the side as a salsa rather than cooked into the dish, so you can choose your own heat. Fresh raw fish or crab, served cold and a little spicy with lemon, is eaten only until about noon, as locals do.

Question 4

Tipping in Mexico

Accepted Answer

Tipping in Mexico works much as it does in the United States, and in sit-down restaurants 10 to 15 percent is usual. Check the bill, since under Mexican consumer law a service charge should not be added without your consent. Staff in small, inexpensive eateries usually do not expect a tip. Tips for taxi drivers are unusual, unless the driver is also guiding you on a tour. The peso is the currency. US dollars are sometimes accepted in tourist areas, usually at a worse rate than paying in pesos.

Question 5

Mérida, Mayan Sites, and the Yucatecan Way of Life

Accepted Answer

Yucatán's culture grew out of the meeting of Maya and Spanish traditions, and its cooking is distinct from the rest of Mexico. Mérida, the state capital, is the cultural center of the Yucatán Peninsula. Mérida was founded in 1542 on the site of the Maya city of Ti'ho, and its oldest buildings, including the cathedral, reuse stones from the Maya ruins. Mérida is nicknamed the White City, possibly for the white limestone used on the façades of its colonial buildings. At Dzibilchaltún, crowds gather on the spring equinox to watch the sunrise through the doorways of the Temple of the Seven Dolls, named for seven small figures found there in the 1950s. Korean immigrants arrived in Yucatán in 1905 to work on the henequen plantations around Mérida, one of the many groups that shaped the region.

Question 6

Henequen, the Long Pier, and the Weight of Mayan History

Accepted Answer

Maya people built salt-trading towns on this coast many centuries before Progreso existed. The port itself was founded in the 1850s to ship henequen fiber from the plantations around Mérida, and its record-breaking pier was built in stages through the 20th century. The asteroid: A little over 66 million years ago, an asteroid about 10 kilometers across struck here, leaving the Chicxulub crater, now buried beneath the Yucatán Peninsula and named for the village of Chicxulub Pueblo. Maya salt towns: Xcambó, on the coast east of Progreso, was a Maya port and salt-producing center that flourished in the Classic period, trading under the control of Izamal. Mérida, 1542: Spanish conquistadors, among them Francisco de Montejo the Younger, founded Mérida on the ruins of Ti'ho. A new port, 1856: A federal decree of February 25, 1856, authorized moving the customs house from the older port of Sisal to a site closer to Mérida, and Progreso grew up around it. Henequen: In the late 19th century, the plantations around Mérida grew rich on henequen, an agave whose fiber was made into rope and twine and shipped out through Progreso. The first pier, 1937–1941: The Danish firm Christiani & Nielsen built a concrete pier about 2 kilometers long on 146 arches, using stainless-steel reinforcement to resist the salt air. The deep-water terminal, 1985–1989: A rock causeway and viaduct extended the pier by 4.5 kilometers, to a total of about 6.5 kilometers, to reach water deep enough for large ships. Guinness World Records recognized it as the longest pier in the world in 2023. Hurricane Isidore, 2002: Isidore, a Category 3 storm, passed about 45 kilometers from Progreso in 2002 and made landfall at Telchac Puerto. To learn more ashore: In Mérida, the Museo Regional de Antropología de Yucatán, in the Palacio Cantón on Paseo de Montejo at Calle 43, holds Maya collections from across the state.

Question 7

Progreso and the Yucatán with Kids

Accepted Answer

With children, a Progreso day is easiest kept short and close: the town beach, a seafood lunch on the Malecón and the Meteorite Museum, without a long drive in the heat. Families with older children can add a Maya site, and Dzibilchaltún is the nearest. Younger children: The town beach along the Malecón is the simplest outing, with restaurants close by. Bring hats and sun protection. School age: The Museo del Meteorito on the Malecón tells the story of the asteroid that struck the Yucatán and ended the age of the dinosaurs. Check opening hours before you go. Older children and teenagers: Dzibilchaltún, between Progreso and Mérida, has the Temple of the Seven Dolls, a cenote at the heart of the ruins and a site museum of Maya finds, which is closed on Mondays. Wildlife: A small colony of flamingos can sometimes be seen at Uaymitún, just east of town on the road to Chicxulub Puerto.

Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico

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