10 Reasons to Visit Cozumel, Mexico

I keep mentioning Cozumel and our trip. Are you sick of hearing about it yet without hearing about it? Yeah, me too! haha. So here is 1 of a couple posts on Cozumel… But this one is Why You Should Visit Cozumel!

1. The SCUBA Diving! Oh my gosh, the SCUBA diving in Cozumel is amazing. The water temperature is like 80-84 degrees F year round (26-29˚C). The sealife is out of this world. There are reef and nurse sharks, turtles galore, fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and so much more, including if you’re lucky a potential Hammer Head Shark AND Seahorses. No, the sharks aren’t scary. At first I thought they would be, but they aren’t. When people yell or give the Shark sign, others go running, camera in hand. The visibility seems endless. You could be at the surface, see the ocean floor, take off for it and it’s sitting at 80-100 feet down. I mean the visibility is a dream.

2. SCUBA Diving isn’t your thing, No Problem! Check out these Gorgeous Sunsets! I’m sure the Sunrises are just as amazing, but we tend to stay on the West side of the island so sunsets are what we get. There are views galore both from hotels, restaurants, shorelines, and even downtown. The sun tends to set around 7pm, roughly. They don’t do daylight Savings Time like we do in the United States, so in the winter months they are Eastern Standard Time and during the Summer months they are on Central Daylight Savings Time.

3. Okay so you say Sunsets and SCUBA diving don’t do it for you… Try this one… The Food! The food is amazing. I’m fully on the mindset that if you go to a new place, eat their local cuisine. Submerge yourself in their culture as best you can, I mean you chose to go there on vacation after all, right? So, the first one is Chocolate Ice Cream, Grady style… 2 bowls… lol. The second photo is a Chile Relleno from La Mission. The Third is a Lobster Sandwich from Le Chef. I’m not a huge fish person and that Lobster Sandwich was good (I tasted a bite). There are a lot of local restaurants, plus those chain restaurants all throughout the island so plenty of food options to try.

4. Not sold yet? Okay… how about Vitamin D & Vitamin Sea. We all joke that we need more Vitamin Sea in our life… well truthfully, there have been studies that say that vacations (or Holidays if you prefer) do the body good. I doubt we were put on this earth to pay taxes and die only. There is a large world out there and vacations are a necessity. Now if we can all figure out how to make enough money in 2 days to live the rest of the 5 in a week. You know… 7 days per week…. Maybe work 2 24 hour shifts? Probably not.

5. The Memories and Stories. When you go with a friend, a spouse, a group, or by yourself, there are always memories and stories to be had. On our trip, there were 22 of us at one point or another. Can you just imagine the stories. They range from sprained ankles (guilty),  to dive computers not working (guilty again), to not setting up dive gear properly (not guilty), to wearing the wrong dive suit (guilty), to getting a car towed (guilty), to telling the two year old she can drink chocolate milk until midnight (not guilty but I helped with that one). And those are just a few of the stories. It’s always best to keep a running log of the days activities so you don’t forget. That’s sometimes what this blog serves as, but also I now have a travel journal because there is always way to much to be able to record here or just in my brain. The stories and memories are endless. After recently losing my husband’s grandmother, it’s just another reminder as to why we need to get out and enjoy and live life!

6. Stamp on your passport. Watching TV, it seems like everyone whether they live in the United States or Europe, or South America own a passport, when the reality is it seems like I know more people who don’t have one than who do. I do. I’ve been to Cozumel Mexico twice now and Costa Rica once. 3 stamps in 2 passports. I wish they lasted longer than 10 years, that way my old passport would have all three stamps but I guess I did have a last name change in there…. Anyway… This goes back to the previous one. Travel. Experience Life. There is so much out there to learn. Hey, I have a goal to visit all 50 United States. I’ve been to like 27 or something like that so far. Take away… Travel and while you’re at it, get that passport and visit Cozumel because why not.

7. Real Coca Cola. In the United States finding the Coke with real sugar is almost impossible. Hey, at this point you’re on vacation so eat within reason, but don’t just totally diet and not experience stuff. If you have to, go exercise a little more. What better way to exercise than SCUBA diving which in my opinion is the #1 reason to visit Cozumel. Bam. Full circle, even though I have 3 more points to address.

8. Punta Sur/Mayan Ruins. Punta Sur is the South Lighthouse area. There is a beach, there is a crocodile pit (is that what you call it?), there is the lighthouse, and more. It cost us like $14 to enter (May 2017). Not bad, right? I learned that the Lighthouse has 134 steps. Hey, there’s that workout so that you can have that Real Coca Cola. See, they all tie in together. And that view from the top of the lighthouse is AMAZING! The history that lies around this place both with the Lighthouse and the Mayan Ruins. I’m sure I could visit these places again and be amazed every time while learning something new. They say you’re supposed to learn something new every day, right? Well, I have you covered with this one… what more could you ask for?

9. Shopping/Negotiating. The shopping here is great. Now I heard one person say that once you’ve been in one store you’ve seen it all, and while sometimes that is true, it’s not always true. I think they get a rush in negotiating as much as the tourists do. I have to tell you though… I always feel bad trying to negotiate. Guilty. I would also say, carry low bills. Most places accept American Dollars, but you can also convert to Mexican Peso’s and sometimes that might work in your favor. Whatever you’re paying with, carry small bills, especially if you’re into that negotiating. If you negotiate down to a couple dollars and try to pay with a larger bill… they might not be so happy with you… just saying.

10. Finally you can Kiss a Mexican Girl. haha. That’s what they told us when we went to Dolphinaris. It’s one of the places on the island where you can swim with the dolphins. In fact, The guy who was our dolphin trainer, my husband was the only guy in our group, he brought him up and said, have you ever kissed a Mexican Girl. Then when the rest of our group got dolphin kisses, he reiterated that statement.

So if you’re not sold yet, let’s chat. I’ll see what else I can do to sway your opinion. Adiós!