Cozumel is an island off the coast of mainland Mexico home to beautiful beaches, fresh seafood, ancient ruins, and is a very popular cruise port destination. I visited this island for the first time on a Western Caribbean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines on their ship the Norwegian Joy. It's a simple port with a long walkway between the dock and the entrance. There are plenty of shops if you're interested and isn't overwhelming like the port at Costa Maya.

I spent some time walking around the port before setting off on my adventure for the day. Here is my list of recommendations for what to do in Cozumel!

Things to Do in Cozumel

1. Take a Picture with the Cozumel Sign

Upon getting to the port, there's a huge Cozumel sign. Personally, I love these kinds of things even though they're stereotypical. If you like them too, I would knock this out first thing in the morning so you don't have to worry about it the rest of the day!

2. Book a Tour with a Local Port Vendor

We didn't book an excursion through Norwegian Cruise Lines on this island so we were on our own to find an activity. Fortunately, there are plenty of excursion vendors in the port & if you're interested in doing something they don't have advertised, believe me, they can make it happen. You can haggle with these vendors but be prepared to have cash, because otherwise you have less bargaining power & will have to pay tax on what you book. Sadly, this is what happened to us as we were running low being this was our fourth port. I'm always confident & feel safe with port vendors, but make sure to not get ripped off & fully understand what you're paying for and what might not be covered such as meals or extra entrance fees.

3. Do a Tequila Tasting

Our tour took us to Tequilera Reyes where we received a small tour on how tequila is made & got to try about 12 different kinds and flavors. I genuinely enjoyed the tour and trying what we were told was a 12-year aged tequila was an eye-opening experiencing. Upon researching this company for this post, I found some people saying they're a scam & that the bottles are cut with sugar and almond flavoring. I have no evidence for this but did want to mention it since it came up many times. In my own experience, I enjoyed the little tour and tasting but did not buy any of the bottles due to their cost. 

4. Visit Mayan Ruins

We visited the San Gervasio Mayan site which was filled with some amazing ruins! It cost $13 to get in which had to be paid at two separate booths, $7 & $6 as one is state run and the other is federal. Tours were available for $35 a group for 45 minutes but we opted to walk ourselves. The history of this place is fascinating and you can learn a lot from the information plaques, so don't worry if you're trying to save some cash. I would highly recommend wearing long socks, long pants, or having some sort of bug spray as the ants crawled onto my ankles and tried to eat me alive. Otherwise, there's a pretty decent amount of area to cover and it's great for pictures. An hour to and hour and half here should be plenty!

5. Tour the Secret River

I'm recommending this based on the feedback I was given by people I took this trip with. Cozumel has a crystal water river inside of a cave & after looking at the photos, I'm jealous I didn't do this! You have to shower and wear a wetsuit to be able to enter the water, but it's perfectly clear and your only lighting is a head lamp. The journey to get to this location I was told was extremely rocky & the cave does have cave walkers on the walls (a warning for people who don't like large bugs or creatures with a lot of legs). Phones and cameras are not allowed, but there is a photographer that will take your photos which you can then buy at the end. I was told the photos would be $100 so that's up to you if it's worth it. If you book this through NCL, it came with a full Mexican lunch afterwards.

6. Have Fish Tacos 

We were taken to a restaurant at Playa de San Martin. It was elevated off the ground and had an amazing view of the ocean. I have looked everywhere to find the name of the place and have sadly failed in that mission. This restaurant was included on our tour and we had the option of chicken fajitas, beef, or fish. Naturally, I went with fish as it was the catch of the day. It was incredibly soft and perfect with just a bit of lime juice! Appetizers and drinks were extra, this comes back to the note of make sure you know what's covered and ask lots of questions! 

7. Have Fresh Guacamole

Like most Americans, I love avocados, and they're best form is guacamole. The freshly made guac is better than probably anything I've had in the states. We did wind up paying extra for this (because we didn't know it was included, seeing a pattern here?) but in the end it's ok because it was SO GOOD!

8. Visit a Beach

The day we were in Cozumel the water was quite rough, but we wanted to spend some time by the water anyway. We went to a spot with rocks which help break the waves and it was really beautiful. I always think about an hour is the perfect amount of time.

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