What a strange little island this is.
Cozumel sits about 12 miles from mainland Mexico in the Caribbean. The island is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. It’s incredibly flat with almost all the island being covered in mangrove forests, most of which are a part of the protected UNESCO “Isla Cozumel Biosphere Reserve”. Almost the entire population lives in San Miguel de Cozumel which is also where the cruise ships dock. The first few blocks are a terrible place advertising an “Authentic Mexican Experience” at Señor Frog’s which sits between a Starbucks and jewerly shop.
But nonetheless…
Tropical island here we are. And day 1 was tropical downpour. It rained so hard for so long. There was a brief respite and I managed to walk a little bit and check out my immediate surroundings. Definitely feeling the warm humidity that my body so loves, though so far Cozumel seems a bit less intense heat and humitidy wise than Puerto Escondido.
Not a lot in the immediate vicinity. Not sure if it was timing or weather related, but the beachside restaurants across the street were closed and the beach itself was rocky and not terribly inviting. There was an empty beachside massage place with one space, built with cream colored woven curtains and housing several bonsai and a buddha and on the other side had additional “rooms” that also housed a number of mannequin heads with tangled long hair and massage tables in ill repair, like if it had been night time this definitely could’ve been a horror movie setting.
The cloudiness made the sea more turbulent and less strikingly blue than I’d expected. And the rain returned to pounding down outside, so I beat a quick retreat, ordered food and watched a movie.
Day 2. I let myself sleep and managed to stay asleep until after 8am (granted I’m an hour ahead of Mexico City here). My bike rental had been dropped off Tuesday afternoon, so I crammed a little bit of food in my face, got a bunch of water and hopped on for the 40 mile loop around the south end of island, cutting through the middle (see island map above). I had very little intention of doing all 40 miles, preferring a “let’s see how this goes” approach. I took a left out of the condos and was on my way. The trail is on a two lane highway for a brief section and then you veer off to the “hotels road”. This follows the highway, but is closer to the beach and is quieter. I screwed up ever so slightly and stayed on the highway a bit longer than necessary before bouncing over to the quieter, much more pleasant hotel route. As a result I missed most of the hotels and was just in a beautiful jungle like setting all by onesy.
I heard a noise behind and twisted round to see a coatimundi crossing the street. A bit later, I passed upon a orange small weasel digging voraciously at the ground beside the road, it neither paused nor looked at me as I cycled on by. I was largely in the jungle on this easy paved road with glimpses of ocean to my right. But then I hit Punta Sur, which meant I was about to be goinging up the east coast. The west side of the island is a hop skip and a jump from Playa del Carmen and mainland Mexico and the wide channel is calmer and more protected. The east side is wild, largely undeveloped. Here the waves ride higher and sargassum piles on the beach. While a bit smelly and not terribly attractive it’s a vital nursery for young sea life. And it keeps away the tourists. The overcast day added to the sense of wilderness.
It turned out I had somewhat misread the info on this bike ride and actually should gone down the east side rather than up as it boasts a hefty headwind in this direction. This was some slow bike riding. I saw other people just enough to not be worried. Maybe every 10 or 15 minutes I’d pass another biker or come across someone on the beach, but mostly it was beautifully isolated. It was also somewhere around here that I lost any cell service. Which meant that when I started to really get tired I had no idea if it was shorter to go back or go forward.
I stopped at the beach for a bit. I walked for a bit just to have my body in a different position. And while my legs felt strong, my butt had clearly lost whatever bike calluses it once held and my back was unaccustomed to being in a such a pose for a prolonged time. And the bike seat shoulda been a little higher, but lacking tools, I didn’t have the option of adjusting.
Eventually I asked a fellow biker where the turn across the island and whether it was obvious, cause my all trails was no longer functioning. She let me know it was a non optional hard left and that it was about 4 miles ahead. So, now I was at least quite certain that forward was quicker, that I had no other path and, despite whatever misgivings I held, I would indeed be biking all 40 miles.
The road ended in a tourist trap of plastic crap, ponchos, and tequila tastings. I followed the sharp turn away from the beach and back into the low jungle. Stingless Mayan bee santuaries (almost definitely meliponas) began to pop up, a sign to a Mayan ruins site, mini supers, and a church. The road had more traffic here and while there was an ample shoulder, it lacked the peaceful solitude of the earlier parts of my ride. The sun had come and it was hot now, so I grabbed another bottle of water and then peddled on.
After more time than anticipated I arrived in the town of San Miguel de Cozumel. Initially it felt very Mexico, a bunch of pharmacies, taquerias, trucks selling produce, but as I rode further I came up wide pedestrian only streets paved in flat stones with a pinkish hue. There were stores selling brightly colored Cozumel shirts, floppy sun hats, sunscreen and a giant Senor Frogs. I had entered the cruise ship land and it was terrible. Fortunately, in my eagerness to get out of there I found the energy to pedal a bit faster. I arrived home dirty and tired, but pretty damn proud of myself. So I took a nap.
In the evening we went to a restaurant where normally you can swim, however the weather meant the waves were more dangerous and the current strong, so they were not allowing swimming. We an indifferent and somewhat overpriced meal, however, we also had Pablo. Our server. Who Fran told it was my bday and continuously lied himself and us with watered down shots left over from Cancun’s spring break. They were sweet and not very alcoholic – thank god on the latter. They also made me wear a very bright hat and sang happy birthday. And brought us some really disgustingly sweet cake that we did not eat.
One nice thing about tourist land is how much they appreciate Fran’s and mine’s Spanish. In the city, it feels inadequate, like we should be further along. Here it feels like we’re rock stars of the Spanish language and we reap the benefits with recommendations to more local places (part of this is also me demonstrating a fair amount of familiarity with local cuisine) so we have a few places to try that “look like houses”.
The next day we went on a helluva adventure trying to find the correct dosage of my prescribed antibiotic, which I now suspect does not exist. Eleven pharmacies later, I at least found a place that had pills rather than capsules so I can at least cut it down to size.
Then we grabbed a quick bite and headed down to Sky Reef. A beach club that boasts of being the world’s best snorkeling. The wind was still up so we got a lot of cautions around snorkeling and swimming. And of course I’m wrapping my hand in a ziploc with a hair tie and trying to hold it out of the water, so it was complicated. The snorkeling was not great, which apparently was wildly different than when Fran had visited last and once again we were told that it was the cold front. There were an abudance of fan coral and some cool brain coral as well.
Friday, we headed north to the ferry that would take us to Isla de las Pasiones, the top rated beach in all of Mexico. North we went past cruise ships, past high end hotels and fancy palm laden medians, till we traversed across a narrow “2 lane” road with mangrove jungling encroaching on either side and a long forgotten bike lane. Finally we reached the end of the paved road, which featured something between a puddle and a lake at its onset. We decided to brave it, although Fran made me drive. The road continued like that for about a mile, with me zig zagging and being very uncertain if this was mud you plow through or water and bumps you gentlly tread through. But we made it! To a very empty parking lot and a very rickety dock where we were told the beach was covered in seaweed, the lagoon is still available, but none of the restaurants are open so there’s no where to lie down. Back down the road we went.
Having now been to the very north, we decided to go all the way to the south where Fran assured me awaited sandy white beaches in the park at the south. To show Fran the east side, we went the long way and cut through the island, reversing my bike route.
The park she was referring to was actually a nature reserve and I wished we’d gotten there much earlier in the day to enjoy the trails through mangroves and the lighthouses you can visit. Instead, we just hit the beach club, where they have tables and chairs and a sandy space. There was still a fair amount of seaweed in the water, but the Caribbean was pleasantly calm and cool without being cold. Still holding my hand above the water.
On the way back out I made Fran stop a boardwalk and hopped down for a quick visit. Kinda an amazing view from the tower, from mangrove clearances to the ocean and up the island. So much green.
We watched the sunset before heading to dinner. Food may have been one of the biggest let downs, but a lot of it just feels unexplored. Fran is a bit more sensitive of stomach than I am and was therefore more conservative in her eating than I would likely have been if left to my own devices. Like the mercado and we didn’t manage to make it to the local places we heard about from some of the folks we talked to. Although I will say, speaking Spanish somewhere no one expects you to and speaking a decent level at that, really brings out the friendliness and recommendations.
And scuba day!
I was super excited and Fran was super nervous. This was her very first time and she handled it like a champ! Our divemaster, Luis, was a rockstar. He’s from Mexico City in the north and finally moved to Cozumel to dive. He was very chill and patient and willing to explain all the things, which was just what Fran needed. They started in the pool and then we all moved to the immediate bay for a shore dive. This was really just taking a big step off the dock. Fran definitely took a moment. There was not a ton to see there, so I used the time to practice clearing my mask, retrieving my regulator, and all that good stuff that I had at least kinda forgotten. In fact, Luis complimented my form and how I was nearly perfectly horizontol. Phew. This was also my first time getting my freshly injured finger wet. All went well!
After a very short time, we got on the boat with another group to head to our first site. Luis was still ours for the voyage and the other group had another divemaster, Carlos, with them. Cozumel’s diveable reef lies largely on the east side, facing Playa del Carmen and features a sharp wall. The characteristics make it great for both beginner and advanced diving with most dives being drift and you get picked up wherever you happen to be. This reef is part of the Mesoamerican Reef which is the second largest in the world.
First stop was Santa Rosa. The coral was pretty, but not especially abundant here. Fran hung out to Luis’ hand the whole time during this 40 minute dive. I got my dive muscles back, it’s a bit like riding a bike. Here we saw a number of fish, a young turtle, the nurse shark below (yes that’s me!) and an eagle ray.
So I did not know what an eagle ray was. Omg.
The spotted eagle ray can grow to be 9 feet wide and 8 feet long. Their spots are stunning, they look like lace almost. They aren’t as flat is appearance as other rays and have what appears to be a distinct head and mouth. The shape of their seems a bit like it’s in a smile. They’re majestic and friendly looking. According to Luis, they’ll shy away if you chase, but if you stay still and just observe they’ll often come nearer taking you in before going back to feeding. It was so beautiful, just purposefully and slowly flapping (it feels like their should be a more elegant word for flapping) their fins to glide through the ocean seemingly effortlessly.
After 40 minutes, too short a time, we emerged from the water and clambered back on to the boat to head to our second site, Paradise Reef. This site is known for a coral garden, but it is awkwardly close to the cruise ships. And indeed when we got underwater, it was stunning. Parrotfish, angelfish, tangs, trumpet fish, some kind of puffer, and damsel fish abounded. Above us, below us, all around us. I’m pretty sure one ran into me. This site was a lot more crowded and also had quite a bit of noise pollution from the boats passing over head. We saw another eagle ray, unfortunately chased away by the pursuit of other dives and a huge loggerhead turtle. It was a beautiful place to explore. Fran eventually let go of Luis’ hand.
The next day we had to exit the airbnb by 10am. I was up before 8am and drove myself down to an area called El Cedral. This is like a mini town inland toward the south of the island. It featured homes, shops a plaza and a sign for a cenote. It felt slower paced, or at least, somewhat less commercial. Granted nothing was open Sunday morning at 8am, but it was charming.
Then we packed up and hit a beach club on the theory that we could eat, swim, tan, and shower there. We were right. And their ceviche was solid and mezcalitas were pretty potent. I did not want to come home to the city.
Year One Project 
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