Skip to Content

Why the East coast of Cozumel is way better than the west coast.

The Five Dollar Travellers discover why Cozumel is worth a visit… Hire a jeep and escape the tourist west coast to explore the unspoilt east coast, eat awesome sea food and visit Mayan ruins…

KMs of untouched beaches!

 

The Island of Cozumel is just a short ferry ride off the mainland near Cancun. If you are visiting “Chichen Itza” one of the great wonders of the world, you are not too far away from Cozumel, so if you have a couple of days its a possible stop on your itinerary.

The open coast road… not much protection against tsunamis!

The west coast is touristy, full of resorts and basically designed as a little mexico for americans to believe they are travelling abroad, when really they are in a tourist bubble… However, for those who look to step outside the bubble, the East Coast of Cozumel is a few KMs of untouched shoreline and beaches with a few bars and restaurants dotted about. With the best grilled Snapper I’ve ever eaten, i only hope these places stay as non-touristy as they were in 2009, it would be a tragedy for this coast to become as over-developed as the west coast.

You’ll need to hire transport, which is easy to do on the spot, but maybe a little expensive… Visit on a day when less crusie ships are in and you can probably negotiate a good deal. Grab some friends and share the cost of a jeep, or just get a scooter. We got a jeep between us for under $60 total, although that was 2009…

We stopped for lunch at one of the only places on the route.

Simply driving along the coast is a pleasure, we passed only a few other vehicles on the route and most of the beaches were empty. no life-guards out here, so swimming is very much at your own risk with no one around to see you if you get into trouble… but with water that inviting it is a little difficult to resist at least paddling your feet!

Get Ruined

For a little bit of history you can also visit Cozumel’s Mayan ruins….. We stopped off at the San Gervasio ruins. After following a rather dodgy track we eventually reached the entrance, probably wouldn’t have been as much fun on a scooter! or maybe more fun, depending on your idea of fun. lol.

This one got a new door. To keep tourists out apparently.

“Ruins” is certainly the appropriate word, compared to other locations (like Chichen Itza) they have not survived the test of time so well, still a few buildings are still free standing.

At a cost of $8 entry (2012), its a little high for what you get, but not insane. Depends how much you like ruins I guess, and whether you’ll get a chance to visit Chichen Itza on your trip.

A complete loop of the island is easy in a day, with time for plenty of stop offs. Access to Cozumel from the mainland can be done by ferry for around $8 each way (2012).