Geography
Quintana Roo covers 44,705 km² of flat limestone along about 865 km of Caribbean coast, the longest Caribbean frontage of any Mexican state. There is almost no relief: the highest ground is only about 230 m, in the south-west near the Campeche line, and there are no surface rivers north of the Río Hondo, which forms the border with Belize. Rainwater sinks straight through the karst into an underground system that surfaces as cenotes and feeds two of the longest flooded cave systems measured anywhere, Sac Actun and Ox Bel Ha, both inland from Tulum.
Offshore lies the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-longest reef system in the world, running from Isla Contoy south past Cozumel and Banco Chinchorro into Belize. Cozumel, 18 km off Playa del Carmen, is the largest Mexican island in the Caribbean at about 478 km². Sian Ka'an, south of Tulum, protects 6,500 km² of wetland, mangrove and reef and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. Bacalar Lagoon in the south is 42 km long and fed by cenotes along its floor.
The state was federal territory until 1974, which is why it has only 11 municipalities, the fewest of any state after Baja California and Baja California Sur; Puerto Morelos, the newest, was created in 2016. Cancún did not exist before 1970, when it was laid out as a planned resort on an empty barrier island; the state's population has grown roughly twentyfold since then, faster than anywhere else in Mexico.
Main cities
The figures below are 2020 INEGI census counts for the whole municipality, so Benito Juárez covers Cancún and Solidaridad covers Playa del Carmen. Four northern municipalities hold about four-fifths of the state's people.
| Municipality | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Benito Juárez (Cancún) | 911,503 | Airport CUN, second-busiest in Mexico |
| Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen) | 333,800 | Cozumel ferry; Riviera Maya centre |
| Othón P. Blanco (Chetumal) | 224,080 | Capital; Belizean border |
| Cozumel | 88,626 | Island, about 478 km²; cruise port |
| Felipe Carrillo Puerto | 84,000 | Maya interior; Caste War capital |
| Tulum | 46,721 | Cliff-top Maya site; airport TQO |
| Bacalar | 41,754 | 42 km freshwater lagoon |
| José María Morelos | 40,000 | Inland farming municipality |
| Puerto Morelos | 37,000 | Reef national park; created 2016 |
| Isla Mujeres | 21,000 | Island 13 km off Cancún |
The state runs on Southeast Zone time, UTC−5, the only Mexican state to do so; it changed from Central time in February 2015 so that the sun sets later over the resorts, and since Mexico dropped daylight saving in 2022 the offset is fixed all year. That puts Cancún an hour ahead of Mérida, 300 km away, and on the same clock as New York in winter. The climate is tropical with a rainy season from June to October and a hurricane season running 1 June to 30 November; Wilma in 2005 and Dean in 2007 were the most destructive storms of recent decades, and the climate map shows the peninsula's rainfall pattern.
Neighbouring states
Quintana Roo has two Mexican neighbours, Yucatán to the north-west and Campeche to the west, and two international ones: Belize across the Río Hondo in the south, and a short stretch of Guatemala at the south-western corner. The Caribbean forms the entire eastern edge. All three peninsular states belong to the Yucatán Peninsula, and the coast from Cancún to Tulum is the Riviera Maya.
Getting there
Cancún International (CUN) is the second-busiest airport in Mexico and the main entry point for the whole peninsula, with direct flights from more than 30 US and Canadian cities. Tulum's Felipe Carrillo Puerto airport (TQO) opened in December 2023, 25 km south-west of the town. Cozumel (CZM) and Chetumal (CTM) handle smaller services. By road, Highway 307 runs the length of the coast from Cancún through Playa del Carmen and Tulum to Chetumal, 380 km in about four and a half hours; Highway 180D crosses to Mérida in three and a half. Driving from Mexico City is 1,600 km and about 20 hours. The Maya Train serves Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Chetumal. See the airports map, the road map and the beaches map.
Questions about Quintana Roo
Where is Quintana Roo on the map of Mexico?
On the eastern side of the Yucatán Peninsula, facing the Caribbean, in the far south-east of Mexico. It borders Yucatán, Campeche and Belize, and stretches about 400 km from Cancún in the north to Chetumal on the Belizean border.
What time zone is Quintana Roo in?
Southeast Zone, UTC−5, the only Mexican state on it. The state moved from UTC−6 in February 2015 to gain an hour of afternoon daylight for tourism, and Mexico stopped observing daylight saving time in 2022, so the offset no longer changes.
Is the capital of Quintana Roo Cancún?
No. The capital is Chetumal, on Chetumal Bay at the Belizean border, with about 169,000 people in the city. Cancún, 380 km north, is far larger and is the seat of Benito Juárez municipality.
When is hurricane season in Quintana Roo?
1 June to 30 November, with the highest risk in September and October. The dry season runs roughly December to April; sargassum seaweed reaches the Caribbean beaches mostly between March and August.