Where should I stay if i want to go to Cancun but also visit Cozumel?

Question

Would it be wise to get a hotel on the island for a couple days to save on transportation costs or would it be okay to stay in cancun to visit the playa area and cozumel?

Answer 1

Partly depends on when you go. If you go now, like I did you will have your choice of hotels because summertime is the slow season for the Mexican Riviera. Hotels are also cheaper too and all have vacancies at this time of year.

I stayed in Playa Del Carmen (PD) for 6 nights and then Cancun for 2 nights. I wish I had spent a couple nights in Cozumel because I had to buy a ferry ticket each day ($24 round trip).

If you can, I would definitely get reservation to stay on Cozumel Island to save on transportation costs and time. Where to stay and for how long depends on what you want to do. If you like snorkeling and scuba spend more time on Cozumel because they do that better than anyone else. Rent a moped for $25/day and drive up and down the island at your own pace, stopping at an occasional beach to do snorkeling.

Each beach stop (at least most of them) offer bars, food and drink, and showers (how convenient!). On Cozumel there are a couple points of interest (besides the great beaches). Chankanab is a sort of water park that offers swimming with dolphins (at a pretty stiff price too). Basic entrance fee is $16 though, ask for the historical tour and you'll get a good hour long talk about the area and it's ancient Mayan roots. Bring your own snorkeling gear too, you'll save money in the process.

The other point is San Gervacio which sadly I did not get to visit. You can drive around the whole island probably in less than 1 1/2 hours on a moped since the total distance is probably between 30 and 40 miles of straight road.

Playa is a nice small town but it's not very large. You can walk from one end of 5th ave to the other in a little over 20 minutes since it's approximately 1 mile long (I did this several times). It has the feel and charm of a small town. I didn't meet a single rude or nasty person or someone who tried to take advantage of me the entire week I was there unlike Cancun.

Cancun is a bit more exciting because of the hotel zone, but even it, like PD has a small town feel. Cancun really isn't that large of a city. It takes about 10-15 minutes by bus to drive down Tulum Ave, the main drag connecting downtown Cancun with the hotel zone but it only takes that long because of all the stops in between.

The problem with staying in Cancun is, to get to Cozumel, you would have to take a bus to PD (about $7 or $8 US one way), then take a ferry to Cozumel ($12 one way) which takes a long time. You're looking at approximately 50 minutes from downtown Cancun to PD (not including wait time for the bus), and then the ferry takes about 40 minutes from PD to Cozumel (not including wait time for the ferry which leaves on the hour every hour).

I estimate it would take about 3 hours to get from Cancun to Cozumel via these routes which are the cheapest if you are going for the first time. For me personally since I already know what to do and where to go it might be quicker but either way, you're spending a lot of time and energy (something I would not do personally).

I suppose if you wanted to pay for an island excursion to Cozumel you could do so easily from Cancun. There are lots of tour groups that leave Cancun to goto Cozumel for snorkeling and other things, but you will pay more, and time will be on their clock, not on yours. Expect to spend about 40 minutes max at a snorkel site and perhaps an hour lunch. It's not quite the same as exploring the island at your leisure, but this is up to you.

Answer 2

Hi

check this page http://www.cancunwonders.com/eng/cozumel...

or to see hotels and plans

http://www.cancunwonders.com/reservas-li...

Hope it help you

Have a great vacations

PD: there can use de help button to see the 01 800 number for asistance