Spiral Island
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- This article is about an artificial island. You might be looking for Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty.
Spiral Island was a floating artificial island in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. It was built by British expatriate Richie (or "Reishee") Sowa beginning in 1998; he filled nets with empty discarded plastic bottles to support a structure of plywood and bamboo, on which he poured sand and planted numerous plants, including mangroves. The island sported a two-story house, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet, and three beaches. He used some 250,000 bottles for the 66ft (20 m) by 54 ft (16 m) structure. The mangroves that have been planted help to keep the island cool, and some of them now rise to 15 ft (5 m) high.
Sowa was formerly a musician, artist, and carpenter. Now in his fifties, he is an environmentalist who believes in recycling and low-impact living.
The island was featured in an episode of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! TV show.
Spiral Island was destroyed by a hurricane in 2005. Mr. Sowa plans to build a stronger island in a more sheltered area.
Somewhat similar but much older artificial floating islands are built by the Uros on Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia.
