Cozumel is a reef with an island attached. Book the water first.
Which El Cielo boat lingers at the sandbar. What a beach club pass actually covers. Whether the Jade Cavern ATV loop fits between docking and all aboard. Reviews of the tours you can book on the island.
Turtles, the El Cielo sandbar, a dive at Chankanaab, a beach pass, the Jade Cavern.
The five days most Cozumel trips are built from, one per arm of the starfish above. What each one costs and what the people who went say.
- 1The turtle morning4 Hour Cozumel Turtle Sanctuary Experience on a Luxury CatamaránA catamaran to the seagrass where green turtles graze, then a swim stop on the reef. Four hours, back by lunch.
- 2The sandbar dayEl Cielo, Palancar Snorkel & Beach Party ExperiencePalancar first, then El Cielo: waist-deep water over white sand with sea stars on the bottom. Look, never lift.
- 3The first diveCozumel Scuba Dive at ChankanaabTwo hours under the water at Chankanaab, the west-coast park where the reef starts close to shore.
- 4The lazy dayMr. Sanchos Beach Club All-Inclusive Day PassThe island’s most-booked pass: lounger, pool, lunch and the drinks on the west-coast sand.
- 5The jungle runJade Caverns and Mayan Village Cozumel ATV TOURATVs on dirt tracks to the Jade Cavern, a cenote you swim in underground, with a stop at a Maya village.
Cozumel’s reefs four ways: sandbar, wall, turtles or tank.
The water off the west coast is the clearest in the Mexican Caribbean and most visitors spend at least one day in it. Choose the kind of reef day first; the boat follows.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · Cozumel Snorkeling Tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo Reefs
The El Cielo sea-star bankShallow white sand and sea stars, usually paired with a reef stop.
Palancar and ColombiaThe big coral reefs off the south-west coast, swum from the boat.
Turtles in the seagrassSeagrass shallows where green turtles come up to breathe.
Scuba, first or fiftiethTry-dives from the shore and two-tank boat dives for certified divers.
All 60 snorkel and dive days →
The Cozumel days travellers book most.
All island tours, top to bottom →Beach passes, reef boats and jungle loops: the island’s most popular days out, and why each one earns its place.
1
Mr. Sanchos Beach Club All-Inclusive Day Pass
Mr. Sancho’s Beach Club gives you up to nine hours on Cozumel’s south coast, with buffet food, unlimited mixed drinks, a locker and an ocean kayak included. Take a taxi from the cruise pier, then choose between the beach, hammocks and pool areas. Towels, transportation, liquor shots and aquatic park access cost extra.
From · $79
Read our review →
2
ATV 4×4+Snorkeling+Beach Club+ Lunch+Sabores de Cozumel
from $89
3
Cozumel Snorkeling Tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo Reefs
4
3 Reefs Boat Tour with Drinks and Snorkeling
from $57
5
The Cozumel Turtle Sanctuary Snorkel Tour
from $65
6
Submarine Atlantis Cozumel Adventure by Day & Sunset
from $120
7
Private Jeep Excursion in Cozumel with Lunch and Snorkeling
from $74
8
Discover Scuba Diving in Cozumel Paradise Reef
A Cozumel beach club is a whole day for one ticket.
The west coast south of town is lined with clubs that sell the day as a wristband: loungers, a pool, lunch and an open bar, sometimes kayaks and a reef off the sand. Compare what the pass includes before comparing the price.
Jeeps, ATVs and buggies to the side of Cozumel the ships never see.
Inland is jungle and caves; the east coast is surf on limestone with almost nothing built on it. Four wheels and a dirt track is how most people get there, usually with a cenote swim and a fish lunch on the way.
Cozumel’s plan B for a day the wind closes the port.
From late autumn into spring the nortes blow down from the Gulf, and when they are strong the harbour master closes the port to small boats. Snorkel and dive trips stay tied up. Book the reef early in your stay, and keep one of these land days in reserve.
- 01Jade Caverns and Mayan Village Cozumel ATV TOURUnderground and inland, the cenote swims whatever the sea is doing. from $79
- 02Cozumel Mayan Ruins and Beach BreakMaya sites and caves in the jungle, a long way from the waterline. from $149
- 03Chocolate & Margarita WorkshopA cacao workshop in town: grinding, tasting, a margarita at the end. from $45
- 04Authentic Mayan Cooking Class in CozumelA Maya kitchen class that ends as lunch, under a roof. from $60
Three Cozumel places you will not find anywhere else.
Reefs and beach clubs line the whole Riviera Maya. A sandbar of sea stars, a lighthouse park on the island’s last point and a temple to the moon goddess do not.
El Cielo
Off the south-west coast the reef gives way to a bank of white sand under a metre or so of water, and cushion sea stars lie on it by the dozen. The boats anchor, everyone stands up in the sea, and the guides ask the same thing every time: look, photograph, but leave them in the water.
- 1Cozumel Snorkeling Tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo Reefs★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,462 reviews
- 2Lagoon 39ft Private Catamaran 5hr – El Cielo Full Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 600 reviews
- 3El Cielo, Palancar Snorkel & Beach Party Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 535 reviews
Punta Sur
The island ends in a protected park: the Celarain lighthouse you can climb, a lagoon where crocodiles bask, a small Maya building called El Caracol, and beaches with no clubs on them at all. It is the far end of the coast road and most visits come by jeep or buggy.
- 1Private Buggy Tour and Punta Sur Park: All-Inclusive★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 238 reviews
- 2Private Jeep to Jade Cavern, Punta Sur & ATV Tour: All-Inclusive★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 225 reviews
- 3Cozumel Jeep and Snorkel Adventure with Lunch at Punta Sur Park★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 56 reviews
The Maya sites
Cozumel was a pilgrimage island. Maya women crossed from the mainland by canoe to honour Ixchel, goddess of the moon and of childbirth, and the temples at San Gervasio in the jungle were the heart of it. Tours pair the ruins with a cenote, a village kitchen or the beach.
- 1Jade Caverns and Mayan Village Cozumel ATV TOUR★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 507 reviews
- 2Authentic Mayan Cooking Class in Cozumel★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 344 reviews
- 3Island Buggy Tour & Mayan Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 305 reviews
What a day out on Cozumel actually costs.
Every tour on the island, sorted by price. Plenty of the best water here costs less than a beach club lunch.
Glass-bottom boats, park entries, chocolate workshops and the shared snorkel runs.
Beach club passes, the El Cielo boats, ATV and jeep loops to the Jade Cavern.
Two-tank dives, private boats and the long tasting menus.
Cozumel after the boats come in: tacos, tequila and cacao.
San Miguel is a small town with a long table. Walk it with a guide who knows the taco stands, learn a Maya recipe in a family kitchen, or sit down to a tequila flight and a chocolate workshop on the waterfront.
- 1Cozumel Food Tourfrom $110
- 2Authentic Mayan Cooking Class in Cozumelfrom $60
- 3Chocolate & Margarita Workshopfrom $45
Round Cozumel in one loop: town, reefs, lighthouse, wild coast, ruins.
San Miguel
Chankanaab
Punta Sur
East coast
San GervasioBy place, from the sandbar to the jungle
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