Cozumel

Introduction

Iguana.Cozumel, México.Varo

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Cozumel means "Island of the swallows" in Mayan. Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea opposite Playa del Carmen. It is one of the 9 municipalities of the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula. It is the third-largest island in Mexico and the largest Atlantic Island of Mexico. It is 48 kilometres long from north to south and 16 kilometres wide from east to west.

Most people that live on Cozumel live in San Miguel which is on the western shore. The rest of the island is low and flat with just small towns. The island is densely vegetated. Biologist Jacques Cousteau spend a lot of time exploring the coralreefs around Cozumel and putted Cozumel at the map to be a perfect location for diving and snorkeling. Cozumel is an island where many cruises make a daystop. This means that during the day there will be many (mostly American) tourists on the island to do a tour or do some shopping. As soon as the cruises leave the island will be quiet again.

Sights and Activities

Cozumel is very popular for tourist to go Scubadiving and snorkeling. You can do this right of the beach since the coralreefs are very near. You will see beautifull fishes and coralreefs.

You can also go kayakking in a transparent kayak, fishing, horsebackriding, getting dirty on a quad and many other things.

Events and Festivals

Day of the Dead

Although the Day of the Dead is also celebrated in many Latin American countries except Mexico (and also in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa), the Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is most intensily celebrated in Mexciowhere where it is equal to a National Holiday. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. Although it is about the Dead, it is also a celebration where eating and partying both are common as well.

Other Events and Festivals

Grito de la Independencia - September 15th is Mexican Independence Day! A massive celebration involving plenty of singing, dancing and fireworks takes place in the Zócalo. Everyone here awaits an appearance from Mexico's president who rings a bell from a central balcony of the Palacio Nacional overlooking the Zócalo. The president then shouts out the Grito de Dolores, or the Cry of Dolores which was Father Hidalgo's famous call to arms against Spanish rule in 1810.

• Dia de la Candelaria. Candlemas is held February 2nd and commemorates Jesus being introduced into the temple 40 days after his birth. This nationwide celebration sees many different ways of celebrating and many towns hold processions, bullfights and dances. Of course, plenty of delicious, traditional foods are served during Dia de la Candelaria as well.
• Carnaval is held in late February or early March throughout all of Mexico. This big party is meant to celebrate the 40 day penance of Lent. Carnaval always takes place during the week or so prior to Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter Sunday. Mexicans celebrate this holiday with fireworks, food, dancing, parades, dancing and drinking.
• Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is a huge celebration which starts on Palm Sunday. This is a very popular time for Mexicans to take a short break; as a result, it seems most of the country is on the move, with buses and hotels often booked out. As for the celebration of Semana Santa, expect colorful processions and many masses at churches everywhere.
• Día de Nuestra Seňora de Guadalupe, or Day of our Lady of Guadalupe, is held December 12th. There is a week-long build up to this religious celebration in honour of the Virgin who appeared to the indigenous Juan Diego in the year 1531. Since then, the Lady of Guadalupe has been Mexico's religious patron and her veneration is very significant. It is traditional for young boys to be dressed as a Juan Diego and for young girls to be dressed in indigenous garb and brought to a special mass, held at many churches throughout the country.
• New Year's Eve. Mexicans celebrate New Year's Eve or locally known as Año Nuevo, by downing a grape with each of the twelve chimes of the bell during the midnight countdown, while making a wish with each one. Mexican families decorate homes and parties, during New Year's, with colors such as red, to encourage an overall improvement of lifestyle and love, yellow to encourage blessings of improved employment conditions, green to improve financial circumstances and white to improved health. Mexican sweet bread is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the dough. When the bread is served, the recipient whose slice contains the coin or charm is believed to be blessed with good luck in the new year. One can expect a lot of firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers being fired. At midnight there is a lot of noise and everyone shouts: "Feliz año nuevo!" People embrace, make noise, set off firecrackers, and sing Auld Lang Syne.

Weather

Cozumel is good to visit yearround but you might want to know that the hurricane season lasts from June to November. In 2005 Cozumel was hit directly by huricanes Emily and Wilma. They have left huge damage on the island but right now you don't see much of that anymore.

Getting There

By Plane

There is a small airport on Cozumel which is used by thousands of tourists a year. It handles both national and international flights. It is also used for military purposes.
There are numerous air taxi's hopping between Cancun and Cozumel, with companies like Aerotucan and Mayair. Aeromexico and Mexicana (some seasonal) have flights to and from Mexico City.
There are many international connections with destinations mainly throughout North America, like Toronto, Miami, Montreal, Dallas, Houston, New York, Atlanta, Denver, Charlotte, Calgary and Chicago. There are even direct flights to and from London-Gatwick with Thomson Airways.
Some more destinations have seasonal flights, like Memphis, Detroit and Minneapolis.

By Boat

There is a ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. It leaves from Avenida Juarez and is very easy to find on the seaside. the ferrydock has a waiting room and a small McDonalds. There are 2 ferry companies and the ferry takes off about every 40 minutes. The price of a roundtrip should be around 160 pesos. Both ferry companies have different prices but the difference is small. Both have the same comfort, speed and sell drinks and snack aboard. The trip to the island takes about 45 minutes. It can be a little rough so if you get seasick easily you might want to take precautions.

Getting Around

As soon as you get on the island people will ask you if you want to rent a jeep, car, golfcart or scooter. The island is small so it is easy to get around by scooter but with more than 2 mores a jeep or car would be nice. A golfcart might be a little to slow to see the whole island in 1 day.

By Foot

If you just stay in San Miguel you can do everything by foot but if you want to do a bit more it is better to rent some sort of vehicle or take a taxi.

Eat

San Miguel has many good restaurants.

Drink

There are many places to have a drink in San Miguel. There is even a hardrock cafe which is the smallest one in the world.

Sleep

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafe's are widely available and you generally can find one in the direct vicinity. Sometimes photocopy stores or photo processing stores will double as an internet cafe with a couple of computers. Look for signs reading "Acceso a Internet" or "Cibernautica" or "Cibercafe". Charges range from approx. US$1 an hour to US$3 an hour, depending on the location.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Phone cards can be purchased anywhere and are needed for the majority of public phones. To call any number outside your region you have to dial 01 then followed by the area code. If calling a cellphone from a normal phone start with with 044. If calling cellphone to cellphone just dial the 10-digit number. To make an international call dial 00 followed by the country code then the local number. To call to Mexico, also dial 00 (most of the times) followed by the national code 52.

Post

The Mexican postal service is operated by Correos de México. The post service in Mexico is pretty good although not very cheap. It is reliable regarding the sending of postcards, but it takes at least a week to send it to other countries (US/Canada), more so if you send it to Europe or Australia. For packages it is better to use international services like FedEx or UPS. If you are sending a package internationally with the Mexican postal service, take the package OPEN to the post office, they may want to inspect it. Seal it up at the post office. Post offices typically open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday, and 9:00am to 1:00pm Saturday. You will find post offices (Oficina de Correos) is almost any town or city in Mexico. To buy stamps it is best to go to the post office, although you can also get them at stamp machines, located outside the post offices, at bus stations, airports and some commercial establishments.