Cozumel : Getting Around

Getting Around | Lodging | Tours & Excursions | Diving | Bars & Restaurants | Shopping | Sightseeing | Inside Cozumel

Continental and U.S. Airways provide year-round service to Cozumel from Houston, Newark and Charlotte; also available is ferry service from nearby Cancun.

How To Get There

Air: There are numerous daily domestic and international flights into Cozumel, including domestic flights from Merida, Playa del Carmen and Cancun. Non-stop flights from the United States depart from Newark and Houston on Continental Airlines, and from Charlotte, N.C. on US Airways. For travel between Cozumel and the mainland, Aerocaribe, the regional airline for Mexicana, offers 'island hopper' flights several times a day.

Ferry: The 'Mexico Water Jet' ferries passengers back and forth between Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula and Cozumel. The ferry operates continuously and takes about 45 minutes.

These are some of the airlines that fly To and From Cozumel.

Cozumel

Aerocozumel - (987) 872-34-56
Continental - (987) 872-08-47
Mexicana de Aviacion - (987) 872-29-45

Cancun

American Airlines - (998) 884-14-17
Aviacsa - (998) 887-42-11
Continental - (998) 886-01-69
Cubana de aviacion - (998) 887-73-73
Iberia - (998) 886-02-43
Lacsa - (998) 887-51-01
Northwest - (998) 886-00-44
Taesa - (998) 887-43-14

What (else) to do

Diving: Unless you have a trustworthy referral, the best strategy is to shop around for and book with a dive operator only after arriving in Cozumel; that way, you get a chance to meet the people who’ll take you out, and get a feel for how they do business. A good place to start, however, is Sea & Sun Divers (Avenido Salas; 872-6488).

Maya Ruins: San Gervasio and El Cedral are easy to locate on maps. At San Gervasio, there is a small charge to use the site’s only access road; the gate is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ruins at El Cedral, being in the center of a village, are perpetually accessible.

Shopping: San Miguel is full of shops offering standby Mexican souvenirs like multicolored woven blankets and blue-rimmed margarita glasses. More distinctive is the jewelry. The Cozumeleños produce wonderful silver bracelets and necklaces. Duty-free, name-brand watches are perhaps the island’s best bargain. Also popular are jewelry and small sculpture fashioned from the island’s black coral.

Parks and Museums: Chankanaab is open daily from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Carretera Sur, Km. 9; 872-2940). Another ecological park, Punta Sur, features elaborate lagoons, the island’s tallest lighthouse, and a museum of navigation (872-2940). If you go, be sure to make the stunning drive along the island’s undeveloped, uninhabited east coast. Back in San Miguel, Museo de la Isla de Cozumel is open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Avenido Rafael Malgar; 872-1434).