Clear Waters

Shannyn in the clear water
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Cozumel, our third port of call in the Caribbean, is quite expensive and a little difficult for backpackers. You either have the option of staying in expensive beachfront resorts or staying in the town which is quite far from the beaches. Obviously we stayed in the town and the place we stayed in called Hotel Marruang was average as the roof leaked on us all night and it was a little on the dark and smelly side. Try other rooms there though as the owner was really friendly and the location quite good. I think you need to spend 300 pesos (US $25) plus to find a decent backpackers place to stay in here. The place we stayed in was about 250 pesos.

Looking out from Playa Mr Sanchez
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We spent the first day just looking around town. There are numerous silver shops here with some nice stuff but be careful some of the ones along the waterfront street will lie to you about what the jewellery is made of and what the stones are. I found the same item in two stores and one of the stores was selling it for 10 times more than the other and some how believed it was acceptable to tell me that earrings made from stainless steel were in-fact white gold!!! Their more reputable neighbour set me straight and was selling them at the real uninflated price.

The water here is completely clear like a bath

Playa Mr Sanchez
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We spent our second day at the beach called Playa Mr Sanchez. This is one of the closer beaches to town and cost 150 pesos in a taxi each way. We actually caught the taxi to another beach called Playa San Francisco which had been recommended however we found this beach to be difficult to swim in as it was full of large rocks. We then walked for about 15 minutes just past Mr Sanchez which we found to be the best beach in this area. The water here is completely clear like a bath (look at the pictures of me floating in it!!) and there are no waves at all. The sand is very white, however there is quite a lot of coral both in the water and washed up on the sand.

Entertainment on the ferry to Cozumel
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Although the beach is very beautiful this area is best for snorkelling. Cozumel is rated the second best snorkelling spot in the world (behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef). We were advised that for swimming the more northerly beaches were even better but unfortunately you need to hire a car and drive to those yourself. Although we found the beach here to be beautiful we rate it as the 4th best out of the 5 Mexican Caribbean beaches we visited. Those rated higher had brighter coloured water and finer sand without the coral. However those points aside Cozumel definately has the clearest water - apparently it has visibility of over 50 meteres. Its worth going to especially if you can hire a car to get around in. Shannyn