ISLA COZUMEL

Cozumel is Mexico's largest island measuring  28m long x 10m wide and 10+ miles off the coast of the Peninsular from Playa del Carmen.  There's only ten degree difference in the weather all year round - 95 degs in summer/85 degs in winter, it really is a great place to spend the winter.  We met several people aboard the ferry who were doing just that.

We were excited to be here, having heard so much about it,  and had this dreamy vision of a beautiful tropical paradise,  peaceful,  serene, clear blue waters,  waving palm trees, soft winds, not a tourist in sight but us - and it is lovely - but we had overlooked  the fact that Cozumel has grown to be one of the top cruise line destinations in the Caribbean.  There are THREE International cruise ship piers, one freight pier and two ferry piers all within a few miles of each other.

YIKES!!  reality has just kicked - this place is absolutely jam packed with visitors.  The Ships arrive at something like 8am, passengers disembark for the day ashore, reboard at 7pm and off into the sunset.  The system runs like clockwork.  There's much business for shops, restaurants and tour operators.

From our vantage point we can see only see the Punta Langosta International pier and take note of the two behemoths that sit there dreaming in the sunshine.  I look up their dimensions  :  Disney Magic (965ft long, 106ft wide, 11 decks, 2700 passengers, 950 crew) and Norwegian Epic (1080ft long, 133ft wide,  15 decks, 4100 passengers, 1738 crew).  There are four more ships alongside at the other piers.

The map below shows that most of the action is on the west coast, where outlying reefs are safe and easily accessed and 99% of all the islands hotels, shops and restaurants are crusted along this short section of the coastline. 

The east coast, known locally as just 'the other side' probably has the better beaches but is unfriendly - windswept, with high surf and dangerous rip currents.   There are no hotels but one or two beach bars open during the day.


 

Once you head out of downtown the roads are limited.  The north section of the island is almost inaccessible - there is a dirt road on the east side going up to the lighthouse on the northern tip and a shorter dirt road going to the lighthouse on the southern tip.

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Going south, there is just one road that accesses the lower hotel zone, crosses the island and loops back north again.   Within the borders of this road is the Parque Nacional Chankanaab which consists of a saltwater lagoon, an archaeological park, botanical gardens, ,Mayan ruins and much more.  Accessible only by foot, jeep or tour operator it is a wonderful day out.

The Isle of Man (UK) (irrelevant add-in)

As I wrote the above I couldn't help but see a similarity between the shape and size of Cozumel and that of the Isle of Man (UK)  - flip one of them over lengthways and they are definitely cut from the same mould.  Isle of Man dimensions 33 miles x 13 miles wide.

 

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