Cozumel!!

I had this huge desire to go back to Mexico and try my hand at snorkeling.  I really never had any hobbies when I went traveling so I figured we should pick this one up.  After researching different places in Mexico, I decided that the best place was Cozumel.  I searched Expedia for about 2 months looking for the best fares from Calgary to Cancun (direct flights to Cozumel are waaay to expensive!!) and in May I booked 2 round trip tickets to Cancun for $1200!  Our flight left on Dec 30th and returned Jan 7.  Pretty good price for the high season, right?  The secret is booking well in advance, people always told me to do the last minute deals but I wanted to go to Cozumel specifically.  The next step was to find great accommodations for a reasonable price.  I hate all inclusives.  Boring food, stupid shows in the evening and fat ignorant people left and right.  First stop, TripAdvisor!  Since this was my first real kick at the can booking a relatively cheap vacation, I really didn't know where to look, but TripAdvisor rang true.  I looked and found a place called AMARANTO BED & BREAKFAST    http://tamarindoamaranto.com/

 

This guy named Jorge designed and built it with the emphasis on the traditional Spanish style, thatched roofs, great stone work.  It was a great place and the staff (Jorge plus his dog and cook) were excellent! They helped us out with snorkeling put ins, restaurants and general questions.  We booked 7 nights for under $500!! Total trip so far...$1700 for 2 people.  Great price, all we have to worry about is the food and booze.  First, we needed to get from Cancun to Cozumel...we split a cab (no buses for 3 hours after we landed) it cost us $50 plus we need to board the ferry over to Cozumel, that was $20 too.  Not bad so far.

You would think that because it Mexico, you'd be able to get food and booze for cheap.  Beer is about the same price or maybe just a little cheaper and food...well the restaurants were waaay to expensive for what we got.  Our first foray into the Cozumel restaurant scene was a little Taco restaurant called LOS OTATES
it doesn't have a website but you just ask the locals, and you can find it.  What a gold mine!!  We had 6 tacos and 2 Dos Equis and it only cost us $10!!  If you're all about 4 star restaurants, this is NOT the place for you. But damn, they were the best Tacos el pastoor you'll ever have, and the price...
Too bad almost every other restaurant we went to paled in comparison to the quality, freshness, service and the price...I know, I know, I keep rambling about the price, but when you're a budget traveler, that's all that matters.

Here's the run down of all the other restaurants we tried:
Playa Azul beach Club - 2 beers, 1 pineapple rum & 1 pina colada = $25  too much
Wet Wendys -  we spent our new years here! Great people and theeee best Margarita/Pina Colada's on the island, but for $7.50 a pop....meh.
Coffee Express - Great Omelettes and coffee = $5.00
Pancho's Backyard - They advertise the best margarita's but they lie.  Bad service and $9.00 Margs... go elsewhere.
La Cocay - The swankiest place on the island.  This is where we spent our New Years Dinner.  Crap food, crap drinks but great service and the backyard is a romantic setting.  Guess what? That's what you pay for.  With tip our bill ran to $250.  OUCH.  AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!
Dorados De Villa - 2 for 1 Caronas, 8 Tacos 1 bottle of watter, chips and guacomole = $30  Meh.
Especias - THEEE best "high end " restaurant in town. Great Food, great service and a good private outside patio (if you can score it) We had Onion soup, bread & oil, 4 zucchini boats, chorizo plate, 1 Margarita, 2 Sol's, shrimp and bacon and 2 shots of this liquorice tequila for $50 with a generous tip. YOU GOTTA GO HERE!!
EL FOCO - The same kind of food as Los Otates, but for triple the price.

Long story, short...if you want to find great local food at great prices, stay away from the downtown core. Go up north of the core and hang with the locals.

OK, now for the snorkeling experience.  Our first snorkel was at Palancar beach.  It's free admission but the shore snorkeling is crap.  You gotta go out and hit up the reef to see stuff.  We did the tour and it cost us $30 per person, but I think it was worth it.  We saw spotted eagle rays, turtles, tons of bermuda jacks and a few others I really couldn't put my finger on.

Palancar beach

We didn't have an underwater camera, so no pics...sorry.

Dzul Ha - Great shore snorkeling!! Lots of stuff to see and the best thing its FREEE!!!

Playa Azul  - Poor visibility and an overprice bar but it was a lovely beach.

Chakanaab Parque - WAAY TOO EXPENSIVE!! It's for dumb tourists and unfortunately, we got sucked in.  $21 per person entrance fee, great snorkeling as it's a national park but the food is overpriced and the booze is too. AVOID AVOID AVOID.






The low down on Cozumel is this: If you want a cheap vacation go here and do what we did but don't do what we did. learn from our mistakes.  Plus the taxis will suck the money out of you here.  Anywhere you wanna go is going to cost you $20.  Then when you need to get back, don't be surprised if the say it's $25-30.  Jorge called them the "Taxi Mafia"  So True.