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Overview Of Cozumel In Mexico
By Clint Leung, Thu Dec 8th
The island of Cozumel is only 12 miles (19 km) off the MexicanYucatan Peninsula's east coast and 44 miles (71 km) south ofCancun. For years, Cozumel was a quiet sleepy island that didn'tget many visitors until Jacques Cousteau did a documentary on itafter discovering the world class diving at the PalancarReefs nearby. Since 1961, Cozumel has been known as one of thebest diving destinations in the world. In fact for decadessince that time, the only tourists visiting the island have beenprimarily divers. Mainstream tourists went to the resortintensive Cancun in the mainland instead. However, Cozumelbecame a regular cruise ship port of call in recent years andtoday it is one of the busiest with two separate terminals. Itis common to have five or even six different cruise ships atport on any given day. I've been to Cozumel twice, the firsttime staying several days on a diving vacation and thesecond time for a day via cruise ship (also dived duringmy second visit). As a result of the cruise ship boom, there has been lots ofretail development along the main waterfront road of AvenidaRafael Melgar in the island's only town of San Miguel deCozumel. There are countless jewelry and t-shirt shops most withstaff standing in the entrances enticing visitors to enter theirstores. Both silver and liquor can be good bargains here. Thereare also some nice Mexican crafts shops too. The one problemthat we found was that after about 4 jewelry shops, they allstarted to look the same. It was almost a retail overload. Forthose who came for a wilder time, there are some bars such asCarlos 'n' Charlie. The town's main outdoor square, Plaza delSol, is just opposite the main ferry dock to the mainland. Thereare usually street vendors and artists in the Plaza as welllocal entertainment during some evenings. The artists do someamazing artwork with spray paints and their prices are veryreasonable. San Miguel's main tourist area can be very busyduring the day when the cruise ship passengers are in town butsince most ships depart at dinnertime, the evenings are actuallyvery quiet. The only tourists left at night tend to be the scubadivers staying in Cozumel. Most of the hotels and resorts are south of San Miguel and arenot within walking distance. However, there are numerous whitetaxicabs that are readily available. The larger and moreluxurious resorts tend to be even further south of town alongthe southwestern shores. This is actually not surprising sincemost of the best diving sites are southwest of the island.An easy way to see the 33 mile (53 km) by 9 mile (14 km) islandis by renting a scooter or a 4x4. I once rented a scooter andzigzagged along most of San Miguel's streets to see theneighborhoods. Then I went on the main road leaving town andwent south. After passing by the larger resorts and going aroundthe southern tip of the island, I found the beaches along thesoutheastern shores. The shores near San Miguel along thecrowded west coast
are not known for beaches but the southeastpart here have some really spectacular ones. Even better is thatthere is very little traffic here so the beaches are prettyquiet. Sometimes people can park their scooters and enjoy abeach all for themselves. There are a few stops withrefreshments and more souvenirs at prices even better than inSan Miguel. After traveling north again, there is a road abouthalfway up the island that goes across and takes you back to SanMiguel entering the town's east side. My scooter tour of theisland took just over 2 hours and cost $25 US for the rental.Cozumel has several ancient Mayan ruins but they are not nearlyas large or spectacular as the ones on the mainland. Afterseeing some photos of them in advance of my trip, I didn't evenbother to see the ruins.
Cozumel is a nice port of call for cruise ships as there aremany shopping opportunities. Passengers who dive orsnorkel can easily book directly with the many dive shops in SanMiguel without going through their cruise ships which will costmuch more. For cruise ship tourists who do not intend to do anywater sports and have some time after shopping, it is highlyrecommended to rent a scooter or 4x4 to tour the island. This isalso a nice way to spend the last day of a dive vacationin Cozumel. About the author:Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery (http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca), an online galleryspecializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American artincluding carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Galleryhas numerous information resource articles with photos ofauthentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.
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