Our first glimpse of Cozumel was the fluorescent lighting of the many high-end shops on the shoreline. Disappointing to say the least; we had heard tales of natural beauty and tranquillity. Alas, consumerism has spread to even the most remote of islands.
Our AirBnB host agreed to meet us outside the Starbucks, something I had not expected to hear upon visiting Cozumel. The ferry point lies amongst brightly advertised upmarket shops and restaurants; not quite the welcome I was hoping for. On our short walk to the Starbucks we passed a Cartier and a Tag Heuer, reminders that tourism has become the main source of income for the once fishing town.
Upon picking us up our hosts gave us a short tour of the main town. Unfortunately it was too dark to see much, nevertheless we gained a perspective of the local geography. Thankfully, our new home was a 20 minute drive from the main town; the latter half being in near-total darkness. This is what we had come for. Away from the hustle and bustle of the main town we started to get a feel for the nature of the island. That night we went to bed eagerly awaiting the morning sun.
A quick Google search had told us that the going rate for a scooter rental was around $40-50 a day; so you can imagine our joy when our host offered us his for only $25! The taxi prices on the island are crazy expensive and so having the scooter was a huge money saver. If you’re used to American prices for fuel then the price of gas in Cozumel will probably be quite expensive. However, coming from England I was shocked at how cheap it seemed. We drove quite a bit each day and yet we spent an average of only $1 a day on fuel!
The first thing we did was hop on the scooter and head to the local supermarket; a Chedraui. Here we picked up the basic supplies we would need for a few days, some bran flakes, a few bits of fruit and a 5L bottle of water.With this chore taken care of, we were able to really begin exploring the island!
Our AirBnB was located a 20 minute drive South of the main town, and we drove another 15-20 minutes further south to try and find something less touristy. Unfortunately, every beach we came across was private and relatively vasty amounts of money or trade were needed to gain access.We walked on to one, and set up camp, only to have a waiter come and tell us we needed to buy a $5 beer just to stay there for a bit. The real disappointing thing on top of this was that none of them were as beautiful as we had expected. Few had the white sand we’d come to expect of Mexican beaches, and in many the water was a brownish, unappealing colour.
Tired and disheartened we headed home. We are travelling on a budget and so we hadn’t wanted to spend a lot, however after a day of searching we resigned ourselves to having to pay for one of the nicer beaches the next day. To cheer ourselves up we headed back towards the main town for an evening meal. We had read on TripAdvisor of a restaurant serving great, locally-caught lobster burritos. The food at the LobsterShack was good, not great, but fresh lobster for $11 each isn’t something to turn down!
After our evening meal, we went for a stroll by the seafront before heading home. Although it was only 8:30pm we were both pretty jet-lagged from the flight and the town looked like it was winding down for the night. Our drive home was a little disconcerting. I’d never driven a motorbike of any description until Cozumel, so doing so in the dark had me a little on edge. My mind was filled with stories of the crazy roads found in foreign countries. Although, other than remembering to drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, I didn’t have a single problem. Even the taxi drivers were very respectful of the scooters.
The next morning we headed straight for one of the bigger beaches, Chankanaab Beach Adventure Park. The entrance fee was $21 plus an extra $9 for the rental of snorkelling equipment. It was certainly more than we had been wanting to pay, but equally, neither of us were prepared to face another day like the one before. The beach itself was glorious, finally we had found the white sand and blue ocean we had been looking for! The place itself, however, was a little touristy for our liking, there was a sea lion show, and waiters that took your order from on the beach and brought the food and drinks to you. A great atmosphere for relaxing but we were itching to explore.
After a fairly reasonably priced meal, we went and claimed our snorkelling gear and got ready to swim. Neither of us had ever worn the fins before so it took sometime to get used to swimming with them, but eventually I got the hang of it and was able to swim with minimal effort. As for the marine life, for the price it was a great experience. The snorkelling area was a huge part of the ocean and filled with various species of fish and underwater plants. We spent around 2 hours snorkelling and only stopped because of tiredness, rather than boredom.
We were both pleasantly surprised with how empty the place was. The reviews on TripAdvisor seemed to present a dichotomy; half were from cruise-patrons hailing the beautiful setting, great service and respectable prices, and the other half were returning travellers lamenting the introduction of Cozumel, and Chankanaab, to mainstream tourism. Nevertheless, whether it was the time of year we visited I don’t know, but for the latter portion of the day we had a huge stretch of the beach entirely to ourselves!
In the evening we again headed into the main town area for dinner. This time stopping at another highly recommended local restaurant called El Coctelito, or The Little Cocktail. We got there just in time to enjoy 2-for-1 margaritas, which tasted more like one margarita diluted enough to fill two glasses! The food however was great, the octopus was especially delicious! By the time we got home we were both so tired we fell asleep with the lights on!
For our final morning in Cozumel we had our own personal alarm clock. A thunderclap sounded at 7am sharp and the heavens proceeded to open. For the next 2 hours we could do nothing but look out the window as the storm surrounded us. By the time it had passed it was time to pack our bags and head back to the mainland for the next leg of our journey! Our gracious host had agreed to give us a ride back to the ferry for half the price the taxi drivers would have offered us, and we arrived just in time to catch the boat!
All in all we both enjoyed our few days spent in Cozumel. We both arrived with illusions of natural grandeur. The stories of natural beauty may be true, but in our short stay we struggled to find much evidence. Tourism has well and truly become the main source of income for the island and it truly shows. It is by no means an ugly place, quite beautiful actually, but I think we both felt we had seen more beauty in the Yucatan Peninsula. Having said that, the island is definitely a must-visit for anyone visiting Mexico, the heart of the old fishing village can still be found in the restaurants for sure!
We hope you enjoyed this article and the pictures of the beautiful island of Cozumel! I've seen many pictures of the island over the years but the opportunity to actually visit was truly something else. Hopefully you'll get the opportunity to visit soon too!
We are currently staying in Bacalar on the very edge of the Laguna de Los 7 Colores, or the Lake of 7 Colours. Be sure not to miss our article documenting our stay here, the pictures are absolutely stunning!!!