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Cozumel
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Overview of Cozumel In Mexico
by Clint Leung
The island of Cozumel is only 12 miles (19 km) off the Mexican Yucatan
Peninsula's east coast and 44 miles (71 km) south of Cancun. For years,
Cozumel was a quiet sleepy island that didn't get many visitors until
Jacques Cousteau did a documentary on it after discovering the world
class scuba diving at the Palancar Reefs nearby.
Since 1961, Cozumel has been known as one of the best scuba diving
destinations in the world. In fact for decades since that time, the only
tourists visiting the island have been primarily scuba divers.
Mainstream tourists went to the resort intensive Cancun in the mainland
instead. However, Cozumel became a regular cruise ship port of call in
recent years and today it is one of the busiest with two separate
terminals. It is common to have five or even six different cruise ships
at port on any given day. I've been to Cozumel twice, the first time
staying several days on a scuba diving vacation and the second time for
a day via cruise ship (also scuba dived during my second visit).
As a result of the cruise ship boom, there has been lots of retail
development along the main waterfront road of Avenida Rafael Melgar in
the island's only town of San Miguel de Cozumel. There are countless
jewellery and t-shirt shops most with staff standing in the entrances
enticing visitors to enter their stores. Both silver and liquor can be
good bargains here. There are also some nice Mexican crafts shops too.
The one problem that we found was that after about 4 jewellery shops,
they all started to look the same. It was almost a retail overload. For
those who came for a wilder time, there are some bars such as Carlos 'n'
Charlie.
The town's main outdoor square, Plaza del Sol, is just opposite
the main ferry dock to the mainland. There are usually street vendors
and artists in the Plaza as well local entertainment during some
evenings. The artists do some amazing artwork with spray paints and
their prices are very reasonable. San Miguel's main tourist area can be
very busy during the day when the cruise ship passengers are in town but
since most ships depart at dinnertime, the evenings are actually very
quiet. The only tourists left at night tend to be the scuba divers
staying in Cozumel.
Most of the hotels and resorts are south of San Miguel and are not
within walking distance. However, there are numerous white taxicabs that
are readily available. The larger and more luxurious resorts tend to be
even further south of town along the south-western shores. This is
actually not surprising since most of the best scuba diving sites are
southwest of the island. An easy way to see the 33 mile (53 km) by 9
mile (14 km) island is by renting a scooter or a 4x4. I once rented a
scooter and zigzagged along most of San Miguel's streets to see the
neighbourhoods. Then I went on the main road leaving town and went
south.
After passing by the larger resorts and going around the southern
tip of the island, I found the beaches along the south-eastern shores.
The shores near San Miguel along the crowded west coast are not known
for beaches but the southeast part here have some really spectacular
ones. Even better is that there is very little traffic here so the
beaches are pretty quiet. Sometimes people can park their scooters and
enjoy a beach all for themselves. There are a few stops with
refreshments and more souvenirs at prices even better than in San
Miguel. After travelling north again, there is a road about halfway up
the island that goes across and takes you back to San Miguel entering
the town's east side. My scooter tour of the island took just over 2
hours and cost $25 US for the rental. Cozumel has several ancient Mayan
ruins but they are not nearly as large or spectacular as the ones on the
mainland. After seeing some photos of them in advance of my trip, I
didn't even bother to see the ruins.
Cozumel is a nice port of call for cruise ships as there are many
shopping opportunities. Passengers who scuba dive or snorkel can easily
book directly with the many dive shops in San Miguel without going
through their cruise ships which will cost much more. For cruise ship
tourists who do not intend to do any water sports and have some time
after shopping, it is highly recommended to rent a scooter or 4x4 to
tour the island. This is also a nice way to spend the last day of a
scuba dive vacation in Cozumel.
About the Author
Clint Leung is owner of Free
Spirit Gallery, an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and
Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints.
Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with
photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.
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