When talking about diving and riffs most of the people might only come up with the Great Barrier Reef. That being said, you can ask yourself if you know any other big reefs around the globe. To help you out, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System or also known as the Great Mayan Reef is the second-largest Reef system in the world, stretching from Cancun down to Honduras, including the well known Belize Barrier Reef as well as Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park which was our next point of interest. While deciding where to go next we decided to skip Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, and other tourist Hotspots and only visit Cozumel to dive. Still, Cozumel with its cruise ferry docks is visited by thousands of tourists each year, but since it's also often mentioned among the best diving spots worldwide, it was for us nothing to discuss.
From Tulum, we took the ADO bus to Playa del Carmen from where every 30 minutes the ferries start to Cozumel. So the only impression we got of Playa del Carmen was the really crowded zone in the center - around Parque Fundadores with its impressive statue of two mermaids building a gate to the ocean.
For the ferries don't buy a round trip ticket, because then you'll be stuck to a certain company to come back with. After the easy transfer with live music on board of the ferry, we checked in to our hostel Auikyani. It's a good option to stay for a short stay over because it's directly at the peer, the hosts are lovely and the price is affordable. Still, the hostel has not really a great atmosphere and has the least space I have seen on my whole trip in some of the hostel rooms - kinda 4 people on 6 sqm. After having good tacos at Guisados (which serve their bills in a cute Mexican style box with cute skeleton decoration) and searching for appropriate diving opportunities and offers, we walked in the afternoon down Avenue Rafael E. Melgar, basically the beach strip, which has most of the time no access to the beach at all. It took us more than 20min and to pass the lighthouse to find a tiny spot of sand (Playa Caletitas) to enter the water and refresh.
We ended the day in Dicks Dive, a very American bar in the city center. Cozumel itself is a huge island that only holds one big city with the same name on the west side. The city itself is influenced by the arriving cruises, which is why the first three streets parallel to the seaside are very nice looking and clean, whilst beyond a more authentic scenery is appearing. This gives you also the easy chance to flee from the tourist center by just walking 5 minutes east passing three blocks. Still, I want to mention that Cozumel did not seem really crowded for us which might still have been related to the Covid pandemic. So Dicks Dive is focused on American tourists which you will definitely find there. I don't want to recommend the food there, but for the daily live music and a drink, it's worth a visit. The next day was the time for our first ever diving experience. We decided on Nirvana diving school because we just liked the people and the equipment looked proper. Arrived there we received our suits, goggles, and fins to try and left after some first instructions and trials to the boat. The first stop was a shallow beachside spot to stay and try for 10 minutes the techniques we were thought to get water out of our goggles underwater or how to breathe again after losing the regulator. After this short session, we went directly for our first dive and after a good hour of a break with fruits and guacamole which is mandatory between dives to prevent decompression sickness for the second one. Both were around 45-50 minutes up to 12 meters deep. The overall experience was amazing. Definitely one of the most impressive things I did in my life and if you didn't try yet, you should 100% try it. To fly like in zero gravity through these structures of corals while watching impressive plants and millions of incredible fishes is just stunning. The ability to move in all three dimensions easily, to see the reef as its own incredible ecosystem so close while being far underwater is just breathtaking. While mentioning that it is important that scuba diving comes with a lot of responsibility. To get your lungs and ears used to the pressure you need to slowly move up and down underwater while always equalizing your ears. Especially the way up needs to be taken with caution and if being further down there are necessary stops and waiting times at certain depths. If this is not properly working out or any other factor (illnesses, medication, etc.) is not perfectly fitting, you can get major issues. We even met a Greek guy in Cancún who went diving some weeks before, came out and paralyzed full-body. He was not able to move anything anymore and had to spend weeks around the hospital for daily visits in compression chambers. Even though he loved diving enormously, he told us he will never ever do it again and he assumes the issue was a vaccination rather short before the accident. Even though horror stories are all around, please don't stop yourself to try this experience. Hundreds of thousands of people dive every year and have the best time, so please be cautious, but go for it. On our dives, we were able to see two eagle rays, multiple pufferfish, a huge silver-colored snapper with around 1,5 meters, and a lionfish. The latter is not natural but invasive in the Caribbean which makes it special to see but it also needs to be hunted because it has no natural predators. This experience was a never-to-forget one, made me regret that I did not try it before, and makes me want to do it soon again.
After this underwater activity, it was time to get back on the street - with a scooter. We rented one at SharkRider Rental for 500$ and took the road around the island, first cutting from Cozumel eastern through the island. Cozumel has basically only one bigger street which is circling around the island and offers the easy possibility for a round-trip to explore the island in half a day. Along the whole eastern coast of the island, you'll find on around 20km coastline just 4-5 restaurants spread between long Rocky beaches and small calm bays with sandy beaches. We stopped at Coconuts which is a fairly special restaurant not only because of its lovely style when entering. First, you can get an amazing view of the water and the bay next to it and enjoy a ceviche and for example like me a refreshing Michelada or a Pina Colada. When receiving the check, we were 'educated' on why Coconuts holds its name. We received a photobook with the serious instruction to not take pictures of the inside. When opening you were flooded with many pictures of mainly woman flashing their breasts. For this, the restaurant offers free drinks, which is why this tradition is working and kept for years already. So maybe decide before if you want to see that or if you bring your kids.
To finally get in the water again we stopped next some meters further south at Playa Chen Rio which is a lovely small sandy beach with some rocks in the front, located next to a small tip reaching into the water with a cute wooden lifeguard cabin on it, which is photo-worthy.
After heading around 45 minutes back around the southern tip of the island while the sun was setting we went to Wet Wendy's for live music and a Margarita before getting burgers in Perro Loco which is a good option if you need food after most of the other places have closed already.
The next morning we used the scooter that we had booked for 24h to try to reach Colibrí peer which is the starting point for boats to Isla de la Pasión. Unfortunately, the streets get really muddy at one point and depending on the last time of rain and if you want to ruin your outfit you may not be able to pass the huge water holes that pop up in front of you with a scooter. Jeeps and ATVs may pass. So we had to turn around and did instead a stop at Playa Las Rocas which offers a nice view of the ocean from the different small rock formations. Also, you might find Iguanas bathing in the sun.
This was our last impression of an overall surprisingly nice experience on the island of Cozumel which made us "scuba divers".
Other Recommendations:
The Money Bar: Place to go into the water and the possibility to snorkel
Mirador Base Área: Another snorkeling place
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