We visited Cozumel for the first time in February and had a great stay. We enjoyed it so much, in fact, that weather in Dallas canceled our flights home and we decided to stay for 5 extra days haha! Here’s a breakdown of our experience and some of my favorite spots.

Dates:

Feb 10-19, 2021

Itinerary:

Reno -> Dallas -> Cozumel … there is also the option to fly into Cancun and take a ferry but flying directly into Cozumel could not have been easier!

Experience:

This trip obviously coincided with a variety of covid shutdowns in the US, but we found the experience to be very safe and easy (and we felt very fortunate to go!) One plus of the restrictions came with the cancelation of cruises. Cozumel is known as a popular cruise port and no ships were running at this time. I think I’ve made this very clear before but T and I are not cruise people, so this was excellent new for us and actually part of the reason we chose Cozumel. We had read that the beautiful reefs there had really benefitted from time without the cruise ships coming in. Plus, we were excited to have a chance to see the island without hoards of tourists.

Tillman was certified to dive in November 2020 in the Maldives and wanted to get back in the water to get more comfortable as a diver. Because this was primarily booked as a drive trip we decided to stay at Blue Angel, a little dive resort about 6km from the airport with just 22 rooms. We loved this funky place! It’s a bit outside of the main downtown, and the location was great for us for two reasons: First, we didn’t want to be in the middle of town anyway, preferring distance from the hustle and bustle. Second, since the main part of booking this trip was to get a lot of diving in, we wanted to stay right where the dives start rather than traveling to a dive shop in the morning. The accommodations here are rustic, but were perfectly comfortable for us. I love that all of the rooms are ocean facing and the complimentary breakfast at the restaurant on property was perfect.

A few more things about our diving and then I’ll get into the rest of the trip 🙂 Cozumel is located on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (the second-largest coral reef system in the world) and the reefs here were right around the corner from the resort! We did the two tank morning dives most days. We’d do our first dive and then float around or dock for the surface interval before going for our second. We both wore our 3mil wetsuits. I was, as always, a bit chilly by the end of the second dive, but T was totally comfortable. I might throw on a sharkskin in the future for additional warmth.

The two tank morning dives were perfect! We’d get up, have a bite next door, and be ready to hop on the boat at 8am. Since the dive locations are all so close, we’d be in the water by 8:30 for our first dive and done with our second dive at noonish. This left us the rest of the day and evening to enjoy the island.

We’d usually clean up after our dives and head straight out to lunch. Our favorite find was a little taco shop called La Sirenita, I know we went there at least twice if not three times. Great tacos, I would highly recommend! From there we had all afternoon to explore. While the west side is primarily hotels and beach clubs, the east side is a paradise of remote beaches dotted with fantastic local beach bars. I could not get enough of riding our motorbikes along the pristine east coast, stopping at totally funky, cool beach bars on the way. I would 100% recommend renting scooters (or a jeep if you have a family.)

Restaurants & Bars:

There are plenty to choose from so I’m not adding everything, these were some of our favs.

• Blue Angel Restaurant – Only had breakfast and lunch here (breakfast was included in our stay). They have a really nice little patio. Loved their micheladas esp after a dive!
• Welcome to Miami Bar – On the east side, BEST mojito of your life. Beautiful ocean view (no swimming.)
• La Sirenita – Killer tacos, very simple restaurant – fresh juice too.
• Freedom in Paradise Reggae Bar – On the east side, surprisingly good food for being a rustic beach bar. Good stop for drinks and a snack on the ocean (no swimming.)
• Hemingway Bar & Restaurant – More upscale spot on the water in town. Good food and cocktails. They also have a DJ some nights that gets loud, but enough seating that you don’t have to be right in the action.
• Cielito Grill – Great, casual spot with good drinks and the nicest owner.

Activities:

A couple of our favorite things to do! We didn’t get into much night life, partially because of covid and partially because our days were pretty full w/ diving. Usually we’d have afternoon drinks, dinner and then hang at the hotel before diving again the next day.

• Scuba dive (obviously!) – If you aren’t certified, this would be a great place to do your open water dives.
• Motor bike to the east side of the island – We did this multiple times, you can go in a big loop all the way around or just out to a spot and back. The east side is dotted with little bars. There is no electricity on that side of the island so things close at sundown.
• Live music at Wet Wendys – Not our usual kind of place, but they had a live salsa band (usually on Wednesdays) that was super fun.
• Get a lift to Isla Pasion – You can basically ride until the road ends and then there are some guys with little fishing boats who will taxi you to the island and back. It was completely deserted when we were there, but I think when things are at full tilt it’s more of a “beach club”. There was tons of white sand beach and calm water for swimming.
• Grab a beer and a book and read on the balcony, relax, and enjoy!

I have to say that our experience may have been different than others because of the lack of cruise ships and overall tourists, but it was a great trip for us. I can’t wait to go back!