Cozumel
By Jaimy de Vries
Cozumel is a great island for a vacation. It’s not too small and not too big. The locals that live here, most of them grew up here and still love living here: it’s like living in a vacation. We can understand why. There are fun things to do on the island, like snorkeling, diving and driving around with a rental scooter.
We arrived in Playa del Carmen and took a ferry to Cozumel. I think it was a good decision to not stay a night in Playa del Carmen, because we saw so much sargassum on the beaches. And Cozumel doesn’t have this. The ferry took 40 minutes and on board we were entertained with some live music. It was warm and sunny on the island. We saw a big boulevard with some cafes and souvenir shops.
We had an Airbnb 10 minute walk from the harbor, close to the city center and the boulevard. We had a nice little room and our host was amazing. She was born here on the island and she’s still so passionate and enthusiastic about this place. She says it’s like living in a vacation. And she was not the only one who said that, more locals said to us it’s like living in a vacation.
Leaving Playa del Carmen, in The ferry
Cozumel is quite a big island, the town itself is small but big enough to stay here for months. The houses look cute, there is lots of green and colorful decorations. This was the best place so far to buy souvenirs, they were quite cheap here. I bought a concha shell, because you can make a funny call with it and the Maya’s used this for ceremonies. A cool but heavy souvenir that I probably will regret buying. We still have some months to travel. Cozumel was also not expensive like Isla Holbox. If you go a bit from the main and touristy streets you have cheap restaurants and big groceries stores..making it an ideal island for budget travelers.
We had an Airbnb that was s ten minute walk from the harbor, close to the city center and the boulevard. We had a nice little room and our host was amazing. A verry happy and positive person. She was born here on the island and she’s still so passionate and enthusiastic about this place. She says it’s like living in a vacation. And she was not the only one who said that, more locals said the same.
Just arrived
Cute streets
Loved the cars and scooters here
Snorkeling trip to Cielo
At the island we had two fun activities. First we went on a boat & snorkeling trip to one of the best snorkeling spots: Cielo. We jumped out of the boat 4 times in tot at different spots. First at Palancar reef, second at Colombia and the last two at Cielo. And we were lucky, we saw a turtle! This site is especially famous for the big red sea stars, and we saw plenty! On our last stop we went to shallower water. When we stepped out it was full of sting rays. They don’t do a thing if you’re not touching then or chasing them. But it’s hard not to touch them….they come so incredibly close. They can have a venomous and very painful sting. So you need to be careful. My idol when I was young was Steve Irwin, but he died because of a stingray’s sting. I was not scared, but precautious. It was really cool how close they came and give you a big look. We stayed there for a while, got some drinks and fresh fruit.
Jut & Juul
Photographer surrounded by fish
Barracuda came really close
A turtle!!
Me and my turtle friend
Hello, hello? Hola my llama Concha
Cute streets
Snorkeling between stingrays
Scuba diving
The best activity on this island is scuba diving. It’s probably the best spot for diving in Mexico. It’s located at the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the world’s 2nd largest barrier reef system. Lots of bloggers were enthusiastic about this place. They call it a paradise with beautiful reefs, cave systems, drift dives and lots of wildlife like turtles, (nurse) sharks, eagle rays and many tropical fish. From November till March you can even dive with bull sharks.
Before Jaron left to join me on my world trip he got his Scuba dive certificate and finally the day came we can go scuba diving together! It would be his first fun dive! There are many dive schools that offer tours and day packages. We decided to go with Blue Magic, they’re customer service was good, and well Jaron is a magician. So sounds like a good match, right? The first dive was at the Palancar reef garden and caves. It was really pretty, especially the cave-systems. You go from one cave to another, but it had many openings so it was not scary. And Jaron did a great job! It was so nice diving together and share exploring the underwater world.
The second dive at Tormentos we didn’t like that much. There was a lot of current, something Cozumel is known for (ideal for drift divers). But it was a bit too much, we didn’t see much and our dive master stopped several times to show us some small underwater creatures. That’s nice, but with a big group and nowhere to hold on to, there was a lot of bumping involved. But we did saw a barracuda, a pipe horse and a blue-yellow pufferfish.
Beautiful corals
Palancar coral reef
Diving between coral reefs
In the Palancar caves
A coral crab
Getting out of the caves
More things to do
On our last day we wanted to rent a scooter and drive up to the national park (Punta Sur Eco park) and relax at a beach club. But that’s the con of travelling long-term, you can’t always have the best season. We are in the middle of rain season and it rained all day. So we stayed inside and did some work on planning the rest of our trip. What was quite nice too!
With the help of our amazing host we found some good restaurants. We really liked Tentaciones (good lunch spot) and El Pique (best taco’s!). We also did some cooking ourselves in the outer kitchen. We put our life at risk with that, there were so many mosquitos!! But we survived! On the night of independence day we also tried paloma, that’s orange juice with tequila. But it was not really our thing. I’d rather have mojito or Piña colada.
My guide for your Cozumel trip
We stayed here in Cozumel for 4 days. But we surely come back one day for a scuba diving trip. Then a week would be better.
- Recommended duration visit: 4-6 days
- Best places to eat: Tentaciones (lunch spot and good coffee & pastries), El Pique (best taco's!)
- Favorite locals drinks: nice Mexican drinks are: Horchata (sweet milk drink, Jamaica (Hibiscus flower drink), Pina colada and of course tequila shots.
- Highlighted things to do: Diving, snorkeling trip to Cielo, driving with a scooter, day at a beachresort.
- Our accommodation: Lupita's B&B
- My favorite activity: Diving and snorkeling trip to Cielo.