Yucatán Channel

The Yucatán Channel is the strait between Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and Cuba, linking the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico.

Yucatán Current: The northward ocean current that flows through the Yucatán Channel into the Gulf of Mexico. It carries Caribbean water through the channel and feeds the Gulf’s Loop Current.
Caribbean Sea: A tropical sea of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Central America, the Greater Antilles, and the Lesser Antilles. It lies south and east of the channel’s Caribbean entrance.
Yucatán Basin: A deep ocean basin in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, south of the Yucatán Channel. Its waters exchange with the Gulf through the channel.
Cozumel Channel: A narrow passage between Cozumel Island and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It is a nearby passage on the channel’s western approach.
Loop Current: A warm ocean current that enters the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatán Channel and exits through the Florida Straits. Its inflow begins at the channel’s northern entrance.
Yucatán Peninsula: A peninsula in southeastern Mexico separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. Its eastern coast forms the channel’s western boundary.
Cayman Trough: A deep submarine trench in the western Caribbean Sea, extending between Cuba and Central America. It forms part of the deep-water route toward the channel.
Isla Mujeres: A small Mexican island off the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. It sits near the channel’s southwestern mouth.
Caribbean Current: A westward-flowing ocean current that transports tropical Atlantic water through the Caribbean Sea. It supplies water approaching the channel from the southeast.
Cuba: The largest island in the Caribbean, located south of Florida and east of the Yucatán Peninsula. Cuba’s western end forms the channel’s eastern boundary.

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