Cozumel Mexico – Warm Beaches & Cool Diving
Beachclub and cantina, Punta Sur Eco Park, Cozumel.
Cozumel is a magnet for lovers of warm weather, sunny beaches, and great diving. This includes my immediate family – all three generations of us. The youngest likes nothing more than building sand castles; we all love swimming; and the adults get really excited about snorkeling around exotic marine life.
I’d heard of Cozumel, but never seriously considered going there because I thought it was close to the city of Cancun – renowned for its frat-party atmosphere. Luckily, my friend and colleague Maribeth Mellin set me straight:
“No way,” said the author of a dozen Mexico guidebooks. “They’re nothing alike.”
I also was put off when I saw that Cozumel has an international cruise ship terminal, but Maribeth assured me that visitors staying on the island rarely cross paths with cruisers and daytrippers. As a result of this insight, our family spent two weeks in beautiful Cozumel in December 2014.
Cozumel is Mexico’s most popular diving destination.
Cozumel 101
The island of Cozumel is 26 miles long and 8 miles wide. The east coast faces the Caribbean Sea, while the west is 12 miles from Cancun and the Riviera Maya on the mainland. Most of the 90,000 unfailingly kind and helpful residents live in the town of San Miguel. Moreover, Cozumel is easily the cleanest, safest place I’ve ever been in Mexico. Hotels abound, but we rented a house so we’d have plenty of space and our own pool (more about that later).
Two weeks sounds like a long time, but it was barely long enough for us to sample all that Cozumel offers.
Our buddy Rene Mena of Chili Charters demonstrating the fine art of eating guacamole and chips.
Snorkel / dive Cozumel
Cozumel is surrounded by the second longest reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia). We did a few shore snorkels, but had the most fun going out with Rene Mena on his Chili Charters boat. The first time he took us up the coast north of San Miguel where we saw lots of fish and several sting rays. We snorkeled with the current, and his captain followed us in Belinda while Rene helped spot marine life. He simply couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating.
Another day, our sortie with Rene included spots farther from the coast, including Cardona Reef and Columbia Shallows. This was a great experience with air and water temp about 80°F and visibility excellent. On this drift snorkel, I spotted lots of fish, a manta ray and – most surprising – quite a few huge conch shells. After snorkeling, Rene took us to his favorite spot – El Cielo, a low island surrounded by shallow aquamarine water, where we played in the sea and devoured copious amounts of his mother’s homemade guacamole and pico de gallo.
Best Cozumel beaches – west side
Because we had our own wheels and no particular timetable, we could drive around the island and look at lots of beaches.
We checked out many of the “beachclubs” on the west side of the island that charge a set fee for admission and impose a minimum purchase for food and beverages. These places cater to cruise ship passengers and daytrippers from Cancun. I thought the beaches themselves were nice, but the cheek-to-jowl floating bouncy houses made it hard to see the water. Also, I doubt that the loud music would appeal to many travelers looking for an authentic experience. Of the beach clubs, San Francisco was the worst and Paradise, which had a very nice pool, was the best.
The Playa Carona beachclub and cantina has a low-key, funky appeal (and pretty good snorkeling)
Playa Corona is technically a beachclub, but I liked it because it’s too small and funky to be a cruise ship shore excursion. The management here doesn’t charge an admission, but they do stipulate a minimum purchase. We snorkeled at Playa Corona one afternoon and enjoyed their hammocks strung between palm trees.
Mayan Arch, Chankanaab National Park, Cozumel.
Chankanaab National Park
I was very impressed with Chankanaab Park, which is an expansive reserve covering both land and water. Here, we toured a beautiful botanical garden with stunning (reproduction) Mayan sculptures. The youngest among us loved the sea lion show and kayaking with her parents. We all snorkeled and watched others swim with dolphins and manatees.
Punta Sur Eco Park
This ecological reserve is located on the southern tip of the island. We had hoped to see nesting sea turtles at Punta Sur, but it was the wrong season. However, we did see a crocodile in the lagoon and some beautiful flamingoes. Punta Sur’s long sandy coast is great for walking, snorkeling, kayaking and building castles.
Chen Rio Beach on Cozumel’s “wild” east coast.
Cozumel beaches – east side
The locals go to the beach on the east side where there are no admission charges or minimum purchases required. We also really enjoyed this undeveloped area of the island. I especially liked the area around Chen Rio, where we had a great meal in the shade of a palapa overlooking the beach.
No frat party. No daytrippers from Cancun. Just a welcome slice of authentic Mexico.
Bienvenidos a Cozumel!
Category: Mexico, Snorkeling and Scuba Diving
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Cozumel is a great island, especially “The sky” the beach with a beautiful view from the road, I think the friends of cancun shuttle and tours, guided us very well, very good article