Cozumel lies just across the water from Playa del Carmen, from where ferries leave throughout the day. It’s a very pleasant crossing to get to Cozumel and only takes around forty minutes. Cozumel also has an international airport and you can fly there direct from some US and Canadian cities. Apparently you can also take a fifteen-minute flight from Cancun to Cozumel; they say the views are great. A more mundane way of getting there, which is the one I took, is by flying into Cancun (more direct flights, probably cheaper), hopping on a bus or a minivan to Playa del Carmen, and from there getting the ferry across to Cozumel. Cozumel it’s a very pretty island, with lots of tropical vegetation which sometimes comes down to the beach. There is one large town, San Miguel, which has just about everything in terms of hotels, restaurants, bars, and places to rent cars or scooters. Most activities here are underwater and reef-related, but even if you don’t dive it’s still well worth a visit. If you do dive in Cozumel then you won’t have a hard time finding a dive shop, they’re all over the place.
If you fancy some excellent scuba diving or snorkeling around spectacular coral reefs then one of the best places to visit in the whole world is the island of Cozumel on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera.
The west side of Cozumel is quite different from the east side. The west side of Cozumel gets almost all the tourism, the sea is calm and safe,
it’s where all the coral reefs are, it’s where the big cruise ships dock, and where all the infrastructure is. If you feel like seeing something a little wilder with empty beaches you should check out the east side of Cozumel. There doesn’t seem to be any public transport outside of San Miguel, which is the main town of Cozumel, so if you want to get around on the east side you’ll need to hire a taxi for the day (expensive), rent a car (ditto), or rent a scooter or moped, which is what I did. The weather is great for it and it’s much cheaper. You just need to watch out for potholes and speed bumps and probably not ride around after dark if you can avoid it. Anyway, if you have your own transport you can get out to some beautiful blustery beaches with decent sized waves, but you have to be very careful with the force of the waves and the undertow. Back on the west side of Cozumel, with the calm, translucent, Caribbean waters you don’t really need to worry about anything apart from maybe being stampeded by masses of tourists when a cruise ship arrives. But the cruises move on and it all calms down again, particularly in the evening.
Most divers dive away from the coast, where the reefs are best, but you can still see a lot of beauty and color just by snorkeling along the coast of Cozumel Island. If you prefer to observe underwater life without getting your feet wet there are some very cool glass-bottomed boats which allow you to do just that. Try the kite-surfing too, it’s great fun. The other thing that people go to Cozumel for is the fishing; apparently that particular piece of sea between Cozumel and Playa del Carmen squeezes its way through and somehow brings more fish to the surface – or something like that. Cozumel is a lovely island and we had great visit; it’s definitely worth staying for a while.
