Cozumel Travel Information

Cozumel, Mexico's largest island, is the fifth most popular vacation spot among the top Caribbean destinations for one simple reason -- it is the required stop for all western Caribbean cruises.

The island is the second most popular cruise stop of all islands, but it ranks a low 16th as a stopover vacation. No other island has such a high ratio of cruise visits to stopovers.

A visit to the island located 35 miles south of Cancun will make it easy to see why. San Miguel, the island's largest city, comes across as more hot and spare than other Caribbean cities and towns.

But Cozumel is more known for its beaches, snorkeling and diving. Because of its location, Cozumel often is a day trip for vacationers in Cancun.

Our own snorkeling experience was moderately good compared to many others -- not as good as Haiti, St. Thomas or Jamaica, but better than St. Kitts, Barbados and diving in Dominican Republic.

It is worth saying that diving and snorkeling experiences vary greatly in part based on luck, so our experience in Cozumel should not be taken as a recommendation one way or another.

See the Cozumel travel information below for more tips.


Visitors who aren't interested in snorkeling or diving the reefs can go more into the center of the island to experience the jungle and lagoons, including Chankanaab National Park. Punta Sur Ecological Reserve includes Punta Celarain and its historical lighthouse, along with the Colombia Lagoon, which has endangered species such as marine turtles.

Cozumel also has Mayan ruins including San Gervasio, known as a sacred Mayan center and also for the commercial and political development. Other Mayan sites are available for touring as well.


Passports are required for U.S., U.K. and Canadian stopover tourists. Cruise visitors simply need to have their ship IDs available when leaving the ship and returning.

Oddly compared to other islands, Cozumel is least popular during the year in January and most popular in February. But again, this is a major western Caribbean cruise stop, so the cruise schedule is the overriding factor.


Cozumel climate has an average annual temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the average annual variance is only 7 degrees, so temperatures aren't a factor in any time that people visit.

However, Cozumel is much more humid than most Caribbean destinations, which may be one factor in the low number of stopover visitors. Be aware that it lies in the path of its share of hurricanes, including Dean in 2007.


As a part of Mexico, the island currency of course is based on the Peso, but U.S. currency and major credit cards are widely accepted. But U.S. coins are generally not accepted. Tipping is much like the U.S. with the typical range being 15-20 percent for hotels, restaurants, dive guides and taxi drivers. Negotiate taxi prices before getting into one.


The official language is Spanish. We found English well spoken in town, but not well spoken outside of town. Regardless, we were able to get by. Tourism completely dominates the Cozumel economy. The terrain varies from semi-arid to jungle.

• Caribbean Tourism Organization
  
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration