Cozumel for non-divers!

Cozumel      Feb 2013

Temp in Feb- average 80 F or 27C but always a soft breeze. Evenings are warm and pleasant.

Our tour was with Nolitours, flight CanJet and Hotel Fiesta Americana  

No complaints at all.

Cozumel for non- divers !!!!

Well known as a haven for scuba divers, Cozumel has much to offer tourists that don’t dive.

Cozumel, (Land of the Swallows) is an island, 11 miles off the east coast of the Yucatan. It is 16 million years old, 32 miles long and 9 miles wide. The base of the island is composed of marine sediment, frequently covered in fossils and marine life. There are no fresh water lakes or rivers on Cozumel however there are many underground rivers and ponds known as ‘cenotes.’

Our Hotel the Fiesta Americana

Service is excellent!  Check in was quick and efficient. Friendly, sincere staff, treat you like royalty and make your stay a pleasurable experience.








The food is well prepared, lots of variety and very good. There are two buffet restaurants, The Reef and The Tropical Forest and one dining room. Waiters are humorous and very friendly, remembering your name after only one day!  Our favorites were Baltazar, Jeremy, Jose, Marcial and many more. 


 Bars offer premium liquors as part of all inclusive package.  A cappuccino bar in the lobby is a very nice addition and the cappuccinos are delicious. Rooms are spacious, well-appointed and spotless.  Beds are comfortable. There is no evening entertainment, but several local bars including the world famous Money Bar are within walking distance. This is an older,  smaller resort and has a more intimate feel.

 
There is a sandy beach area but the natural beach is rocky so water shoes are a must. Snorkeling right off the hotel is excellent and there is a dive shop and pier for scuba divers.



Two pools, one with swim up bar will round out your water activities and there are many excursions offered at the hotel for free, including a guided walking tour, bicycling tour and snorkeling tour. FREE Wi Fi everywhere in the hotel.

Nature-

 Cozumel is the largest inhabited island in Mexico. It was launched as a tourist destination fifty years ago when scuba divers discovered the crystal clear water on the reef. San Miguel was the first tourist destination, a small village by the sea.  On the coast,  1192 marine species have been recorded, amongst which are 62 species of coral, 289 fish, 42 echinoderms (sea urchins, star fish) and 67 species of sponges not found elsewhere in the Mexican Caribbean.

In land, in forests, mangroves and coastal dunes, live about 550 species of plants and 300 species of invertebrates, 28 of which are found nowhere else in the world. Pygmy racoons and coatis, are half the size of their continental counterparts. Mice however are twice as large as those on the mainland.

Federal,  State and local governments have chosen habitat protection through Natural Protected Areas in order to maintain Cozumel as a major tourist destination, and at the same time,  maintain conservation and promote responsible tourism. Cozumel  Reefs National Park and Chankanaab  Lagoon National Park ($21 US for admission)  are just two of the five natural preserves on the island.

Excursion-

A snorkeling excursion was not necessary as the snorkeling off the shore of the hotel was excellent. If you walk about a kilometer to the Money Bar and get into the water there, the current will bring you back effortlessly to Fiesta Americana. Beautiful fish abound and it is a wonderful experience for beginners as well as seasoned snorkelers.

We went on the Dune Buggy Adventure and we were most impressed. It was a blast !  Our guide was Santiago.   Each dune buggy holds four people and there are about a dozen buggies in one excursion. You travel in a convoy around the island to many interesting locations. One of our favorites was the Tequila Museum where you learn about the Blue Agave plant, the distillation process and of course, you get to taste many types and flavours of tequila. You can also buy tequila at the museum for reasonable prices. Next we drove along the coast past Play Bonita, El Mirador,  to Punta Sur (South Point) where we entered the park and went to the Faro Celarain, lighthouse. It has 140 steps but the view from the top is magnificent. The Columbia  lagoon is full of crocodiles and it was fun watching them sun themselves on the shore from the safety of the boardwalk. We snorkelled off the beach at the Veradero Restaurant and then enjoyed a nice Mexican lunch of fajitas.  We discovered at the end of the tour that the four of us, had actually paid for and booked the “Jeep” tour and not the Dune Buggy tour that we had just completed. The tour company told us that since we missed out on the excursion to the Mayan ruins in San Gervacio, they would take us the next day. We were most impressed that they would go out of their way for us. The following day, we were picked up by Santiago and driven to San Gervacio. There we had a guided tour of the ruins,  a sanctuary for the Goddess Ixchel, built more than 900 years ago. Our guide, Angel was knowledgable and of Mayan decent. The tour was very interesting.  The five important structures are connected by the Sacbes or white roads. The temple, honeymoon hut, Medicine man’s house, school and observatory were fascinating and we were very glad that we didn’t miss this tour. The Jeep Tour is $100 and the Dune Buggy Tour $80 US, admission to various parks, museums etc, included.

Shopping-

Cozumel is known as a shopper’s haven. There are several manufacturing outlets and retail stores such as Diamond International, Ultra Femmes, 4 C’s international, Touch of Gold, and some of the largest duty free shops in the Caribbean.  Shopping is close to the cruise ports and downtown Cozumel. Many taxies  are available to take you into town. But a word of advice, go after three p.m. when the cruise ships depart, the prices drop!   The rest of the island is a nature reserve.

Transportation-

Two cruise ports, one in Cozumel proper (Punta Langosta Pier) and one at Puerto  Maya.

Airport at north end of island, new and air conditioned. Lots of shuttles available.

Ferry to mainland is a 30 minute trip and costs about $12 US  one way.

Only one taxi company on the islands but hundreds of cabs. Car, jeep and scooter  rental available.

Rating        *****

This was one of the best week’s vacations we have experienced and Cozumel is definitely on our repeat list, as is the Fiesta Americana!

 

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