Cozumel

After my successful cenote dives around Playa del Carmen, which I was lucky enough to do privately, one-on-one with my guide, I was feeling pretty good about my diving in Mexico. So naturally, I went to Cozumel.

I spent three days on the island and did six dives, and somehow I got ridiculously lucky with these ones too. The diving itself was great, but what really made the experience was the tiny groups, the people I ended up diving with and having a guide who had been working around Cozumel for years and seemed to know pretty much everything that moved underwater.

And yes, I basically went to Cozumel to dive and then… did almost nothing else. No regrets.

How to Get to Cozumel

One useful thing I discovered is that the ticket is valid for six months, so you’re not tied to a specific return date.

I actually bought my Cozumel ferry tickets together with my Isla Mujeres tickets, which brought the total to around 1,100 MXN with a small discount.

Once you have your ticket, head into the ferry terminal, go up the escalator and follow the signs for Cozumel. I’d recommend arriving at least 30 minutes before departure, because boarding can start surprisingly early. Upstairs, there is an area with an Ultramar sign where someone will scan your ticket. You then wait there until staff tell you when to board.

If you’re travelling with luggage, put it at the back of the boat before you go upstairs. You’ll be given a little ticket with a number, which you use to identify your luggage when you arrive.

The actual crossing takes roughly 30-40 minutes, so it’s a pretty easy trip.

Where to Stay

I stayed at Solana Downtown for four nights, which cost me around US$100 in total.

It’s roughly a 17-minute walk from the ferry terminal, although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend dragging your luggage that entire distance in the Mexican heat. Instead, you can take one of the little red mototaxis around Cozumel. They’re basically the island’s version of a tuk-tuk and are generally cheaper than regular taxis.

They’re also kind of fun.

If you’re staying further away from the centre or have a lot of diving equipment, getting a taxi or arranging transport through your accommodation will obviously be easier.

Diving

Let’s be honest: this is why I came.

After all the cenote diving around Playa del Carmen, I wanted to see what Cozumel’s famous reefs were like.

I booked my dives with Deep Blue, and I’m very glad I did.

I paid around US$400 for six dives, all of which were morning dives over three days. Cozumel has plenty of dive operators, but I deliberately went with a smaller centre rather than one of the bigger operations. And that turned out to be a very good decision.

Because Deep Blue isn’t one of the biggest or most famous dive centres on the island, the groups stayed relatively small. Our guide had already been working there for 14 years, so he had an absolutely ridiculous amount of experience around the reefs.

You know you’ve got a good guide when you point at something underwater and they immediately know exactly what it is, where it lives and probably what it had for breakfast.

I was also incredibly lucky with my groups.

Day 1

On my first day, I was diving with a couple and another diver who actually lived on Cozumel and apparently came diving with them almost every week. So basically, I had accidentally joined the local diving club.

We had two really good, long dives, and it was immediately obvious that Cozumel was going to deliver. We saw barracudas, sea turtles, trevallies, an eagle ray (even outside of the season you might be lucky!)...

But my favourite encounters were probably the nurse sharks. I have officially decided that nurse sharks are the cats of the ocean.

Our guide was spearfishing lionfish during some of the dives because lionfish are an invasive species in the Caribbean. The nurse sharks were very interested in this whole situation because, apparently, the smell of freshly caught fish was worth investigating.

And they would come right up to us. At one point they were basically trying to nibble our cameras. They’d swim around us, come back, investigate what we were doing and generally behave like giant underwater cats who had just discovered that someone was opening a tin of food.

It was ridiculously cute.

And yes, I know calling a several-hundred-pound shark “cute” probably isn’t how everyone would describe the situation, but I’m standing by it.

Day 2

The second day was a little more complicated because we had some less experienced divers in the group. That’s completely normal, of course, and it’s something you just have to work around when you’re diving with mixed experience levels.

Luckily, one of the divers from the previous day came back, I may or may not have convinced him to come again, so our guide knew that there were a couple of more experienced divers in the group. While he was taking care of the beginners, he allowed us to stay a little further away and spend a bit more time exploring.

It worked out really well.

For our surface interval, we stopped at Playa El Cielo, which is famous for its ridiculously blue water, sandy bottom and the number of boats that gather there. It’s basically where all the party boats come to hang out, except that underneath all the boats you’ll find stingrays casually swimming around.

So while everyone else was drinking cocktails and blasting music, we were sitting in the water watching stingrays.

Honestly, not a bad way to spend a surface interval.

Day 3

And then the third day was basically the dream scenario. It was just me, the guy I’d been diving with the previous days and someone from the office.

The guide basically looked at us and went: “Okay, three experienced divers. Let’s go.”

And we did. These were some of the best dives of the trip. We were able to go deeper, stay down for a long time and just explore without having to constantly adjust the dive around a larger group.

And the marine life was again fantastic. There are plenty of smaller creatures to look for around Cozumel. We saw large lobsters, big crabs, moray eels, leaf fish and nudibranchs, among other things.

Cozumel is also known for seahorses, although unfortunately I didn’t manage to find one.

What Else to Do in Cozumel?

If you’re spending more than a few days on Cozumel and don’t want to spend the entire trip underwater, there is plenty more to explore.

The island has several beaches where you can swim and snorkel, particularly along the western coast, where the water is generally calmer.

You can also rent a scooter or car and drive around the island. The eastern side is much quieter and more rugged, with fewer developments and some beautiful coastal scenery.

One of the popular stops is Punta Sur Eco Beach Park, the largest protected area on Cozumel. You can combine beaches, viewpoints, wildlife and some short walks there.

The island is also known for its Mayan archaeological sites, including San Gervasio, which is the largest archaeological site on Cozumel.

And, of course, you can go snorkelling if you don’t dive. You don’t need to be a diver to enjoy the reefs around the island, although I’d definitely recommend checking the conditions before getting in the water.

But me?

I had six dives booked.

So I went diving.

Obviously.

Final Thoughts

I had already been having an amazing time diving in the cenotes, and then I somehow managed to get equally lucky with my Cozumel dives. Small groups, an incredibly experienced guide, good conditions and some really memorable animal encounters made the whole three days pretty special.

As a marine biologist, I obviously came to Cozumel hoping for good marine life, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The reefs aren’t about one single spectacular animals, it’s the combination of turtles, rays, sharks, barracudas, morays, crustaceans and all the smaller reef creatures that makes every dive interesting.

Would I come back?

Absolutely.

Although next time I might actually leave the water occasionally.

Maybe.