Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel is more than beautiful white-sand beaches. You can find many varied shore excursions available on the Shore Excursions tab under "more" on the navigation bar. Among its other attractions:
Punta Sur: Besides a historic lighthouse, this sprawling area includes the Faro Celerain ecological park and nature reserve where you can watch crocodiles, birds and iguanas from a lookout tower. Turtles come to shore between June and August to lay eggs. There also are beaches and a navigation
museum that explains the island's history of seamanship and navigation.
San Gervasio Mayan site: These Mayan ruins are considered the most important archaeological site in Cozumel and date back to 300 to 400 A.D. On the Transversal Road 5 miles east of San Miguel.
Museum of the Island of Cozumel: This small museum is three blocks north of the downtown pier in downtown San Miguel. Showcases the island's history and natural environment from its origins to wildlife migration patterns, archaeology and cultural history.
Chankanaab Park: Five miles south of San Miguel on the South Coastal Road, this park is within Cozumel's Reefs National Marine Park and features a rare inland coral-reef formation. Chankanaab Lagoon is home to more than 60 species of tropical fish, crustaceans and corals.Visitors can swim with dolphins, watch a sea-lion show, visit a reproduction of a Mayan village or hike through a botanical garden.
Discover Mexico: A new cultural park about Mexico includes miniature replicas of the country's most important archaeological sites and colonial buildings, video exhibits, permanent and temporary museum displays, an art museum, souvenir shop and snack bar. 5.5 miles south of San Miguel on the Coastal Road.
Mexico travel safety
The U.S. State Department has warned Americans to avoid travel in some of northern Mexico's border regions because of drug-related violence. However, Cozumel is far from the border and not known for violence. More information:
www.travel.state.gov
Here's a little travelogue of Cozumel, by Pamela Le Blanc:
My previous trips to Mexico's Cozumel have been spent mainly underwater,
sucking air from a scuba tank and making google eyes at colorful groupers and moray eels.
Not this time.
I have one day on the top side of this island near Cancún, and I'm going to make the most of it.
As soon as my husband and I trot off the Carnival Ecstasy, where we've been conducting a grand experiment to see how an active person fares on a cruise ship (so far it's been fine, but I need some decompression time pronto), we dash to the nearest car-rental desk, fork over $35 for a compact car (plus $40 forinsurance) and hit the accelerator.
We've had enough of the indoors; we want to immerse ourselves in what makes Cozumel special — and that's definitely not the little village of tequila, cigar and sombrero vendors that has sprouted by the cruise-ship pier.
The two-lane paved Coastal Road runs along the perimeter of the south half of the island, then cuts back across the center of the island back to the town of San Miguel. We head out for a little exploration.
In 30 minutes we're puttering past Punta Sur, where a picturesque lighthouse stands on the southern tip of the island.
Once we round the bend, the surf immediately picks up. Waves smash into the shore on the rugged, less-developed east side of the island with gusto.
We're looking for a little solitary non-confinement, so we keep driving past the reggae beach bar to a quaint little thatch-roofed palapa advertising cold beer and snacks.
It's in the middle of nowhere, and the sound of surf crashing is better than Mozart. We nibble seviche and absorb the view, which is bursting with white sand and turquoise water, just like those TV commercials for Mexican cerveza.
Bellies full, we hop back in our car (after enlisting the help of a waiter to restart the sluggish beast) and motor a few more miles to a wide spot in the road. We park, sprint down a sandy slope, shuck off our shoes and drop our towels.
Heaven!
There's no one around — or at least that's what we think until a beach patroller buzzes up on a four-wheeler. He warns us that the surf is rough, reminds us to be careful if we swim then leaves us be. It's nice to know someone's keeping a watchful eye out.
Cozumel is a popular destination for scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling, parasailing and kayaking, but just swimming in the surf sends me over the edge with happiness. We wade in up to our waists then spend the next couple hours body surfing and leaping into the waves.
(Non-swimmers note: The more-protected west side of the island, with its funky beach clubs and restaurants, offers a calmer, safer setting.)
Today Cozumel's permanent population hovers right around 75,000.
More than 2 million visitors come every year, but many never leave San Miguel or the beach resorts on the western coast of the 30-mile island.
By Pamela LeBlanc for the Seattle Times