Cozumel On A Budget - How my family of 5 toured the entire island for under $100

My family of 5 spent last Thursday in Cozumel. Our ship was in port from 11:00am until 8:00pm (ship time - local time was 10:00am until 7:00pm). We had an AMAZING day and saw most of the island. Exclusive of souvenirs, we spent a grand total of $93.11 (which includes $40 for five admission tickets to San Gervasio). I decided to post a photo review of our day, so that other families who are trying to vacation on a budget can see that you CAN have a wonderful day without spending a fortune!

Before we left on the cruise, I reserved a car. Before anybody says it, I am very well aware of the horror stories people have posted about renting vehicles in Mexico. However, virtually all of the stories I read about people who had problems brought it on themselves by not purchasing ALL of the "optional" Mexican insurances. In addition, MOST of the accidents which occur in Mexico are with people who rent mopeds, scooters, and off-road Jeeps. While there were certainly a few crazy drivers in Cozumel, it was no worse than driving anyplace in the US. And most of the island was close to deserted...the only place there were more than one or two other cars on the road was right near the port! The only thing I'd be careful about is the speed limit...the speed limit is way too high and could cause accidents since sometimes the road is a bit curvy on the east side of the island. We frequently drove below the speed limit.

We opted to rent from a global company, rather than a local rental establishment (we figured it would be safer to stay with a company that's in the US in case we ran into a problem of some sort). Alamo was the cheapest I could find. The car rental cost was less than $10, but it came to $53.13 after we added in taxes and all of the insurances (comprehensive, collision, and deductible waiver). When renting in Mexico, be very careful about making sure you check the deductible. Most of the companies have a 10% to 20% copay if you wreck the car. Alamo was the only company I found that had a waiver option (it cost $10, but brought the copay down to zero in the event of any damage).

Ok, so now let's jump ahead to the morning of the cruise. Since the ship didn't arrive in Cozumel until 11am, we ate a late breakfast on the ship.

About an hour before we were scheduled to get off the ship, I called room service and ordered five sandwiches. We packaged the sandwiches in ziploc baggies which I brought from home. The sandwiches were a bit smaller than we expected, so I sent my husband down to the buffet, where he grabbed some croissants, lunch meat, and cheese. He also grabbed a few cookies and pastries. We packaged these items up in baggies as well. We filled a 6-pack cooler with cans of soda (we were on Carnival, so we were allowed to carry 12 cans of soda per person on to the ship). I also brought a one gallon water bottle on the cruise, since I knew we'd need to carry water in Mexico. We filled this water bottle, as well as a one-quart water bottle. We carried a large soft-sided bag off of the ship with us, which was packed with our lunches, towels, sunscreen, camera, etc.

These are some of the views we saw as we approached Cozumel:

As soon as we got off of the ship, we found ourselves surrounded by a lot of different performers:

We made our way past the performers and ended up in a typical tourist area, filled with souvenir, alcohol, and jewelry shops. We didn't spend any time in this area. We knew we'd have to return the car by 5:00pm local time, and that would leave us with several hours to explore the tourist area before we had to re-board the ship.

We walked toward the left and all the way to the back of the tourist area. All of the car rental facilities are located in this same area. We found Alamo and secured our vehicle. I was VERY careful during this process. I took photos of every single document that the Alamo representative showed me. He only gave me a copy of one document, so I wanted to be safe by having a "copy" of all of the other ones.

The cars in Mexico are not not kept to US standards. The vehicle we were provided had some damage. The exterior was covered in mud and the interior was full of sand. I took some photos of the car and then I took a narrated video of the car, both inside and out, noting all of the damage. I also photographed and videotaped the gas guage, so there would be no question that we returned it with the correct amount of gas. The representative saw me taking the video, which I thought was a good thing. When the representative gave us the little form where he noted damage, we made a note on the form that a timestamped video of the vehicle and all damage is available.

Here is a pic of the small, damaged, dirty car we received. Trust me, it looks a LOT better in this pic than it really was, but the price was right and we all fit in it just fine :)

We got into the car and drove off. First stop, the San Gervasio ruins. This was an interesting drive, because we got a chance to see some areas where the locals live. The conditions weren't too bad right near the port, but they got progressively worse as the drive progressed. It was sad to see how some of these people live. Here are some pics taken through my car window during the drive. You can see how bad the conditions became as we got more inland on the island.

It took about 35 minutes to get to San Gervasio. It probably should have been closer to 25 minutes, but we drove slow and took one wrong turn.

When you arrive at San Gervasio, you'll pay $4 per person to enter the little shopping area (this is a mandatory payment), then you'll pay another $4 to enter the ruins. You can pay an additional $18 (plus tip) for a tour guide. We opted to do it on our own.

Do not forget to pack bug spray!!! I lent some to a man who didn't know that he would need it...he almost had to pay $13 for a tiny bottle of OFF!!! My family loaded up with the spray, reapplied it after about an hour, and we still all left San Gervasio with a few mosquito bites!

The ruins were interesting, but they were all very similar. There are descriptions of each site posted in English. We spent about 2 hours total at San Gervasio. For those who don't like history, but DO like hiking and nature, I'd still highly recommend visiting San Gervasio. It's a beautiful hike and you will see no less than 50 iguanas of varying colors and sizes. The iguanas are so tame that you can actually touch them (not that I'm recommending this lol). We also encountered lizards, a very large hermit crab, some "tame" bright yellow birds, and some of the most beautiful butterflies I've ever seen.

I wouldn't recommend this trip for anybody who has mobility problems. It involves a lot of walking through rocky and wet/mushy terrain.

The next few posts are a few of the many photos I took at San Gervasio:

When we left San Gervasio, we ate the lunch that we packed from the ship. We then set out to explore the east side of the island. The east side of the island was almost completely deserted and it was absolutely beautiful!!! There aren't any commercialized beaches on the east side and, for the most part, it is too dangerous to swim there; however, there are a few places where it is very safe to wade. We parked along the side of the road several times for photo opportunities and we stopped at one "beach" for about an hour to wade in the water. Unfortunately, I have no clue what the name of this beach was, but we came to it right after we passed Coconuts. What an amazing place it was!!!

First, some photos from the beachy area where we stopped:

And now some photos taken at random places that we stopped while driving along the east side of the island:

When we reached the bottom of the island, we saw the lighthouse. For some reason, I never got a photo of it!

We then experienced two weird things in a row. First, we had to yield to a giant land crab crossing the street. I couldn't get the camera ready fast enough to photograph it, but it was really cool. The crab was larger than a football.

Then we saw the only crazy drivers we saw all day. We were passed by two vehicles at the same time! We were driving in a 2-lane road (one lane in each direction) and we were passed on both the left and right at the same time! I managed to get a quick photo of that after they passed us.

We had about 2 hours left before the car needed to be returned. The kids wanted to check out one of the sandy beaches on the west side of the island. We stopped at Paradise Beach, since I knew it was free. We drove in and walked past the beautiful pool to get to the beach. The pool was appealing, but we didn't go all the way to Mexico to swim in a pool lol.

Once I saw the "beach," I was sooooo glad that we opted to spend the day touring the entire island, rather than wasting our time on the west side beaches. I've read so many wonderful reviews of the west side beaches, but this was probably the worst beach I've ever been to (and I was raised on Long Island, where some of the beaches aren't very nice!).

I really wish I took photos of Paradise Beach to post, but I didn't take very many because it was ugly and I was focused on taking nice photos!

First off, there is almost no sand to "play" in. The beach is very narrow and all of the sand is covered by lounge chairs. The lounge chairs are so close together that they almost touch. Is that supposed to be relaxing? Good thing I wasn't planning to rent a chair!!!

The water was grey and murky. You could hardly see the bottom. When we tried to walk a little bit to the side where it was slightly less murky, an employee told us we had to move back into the area where the crowds were.

We stayed on the beach for about five minutes total. The kids complained the entire time and asked if we could go back to the beach on the other side of the island. I told them that there wasn't enough time, so they opted to spend some time in the Paradise Beach pool instead.

Here are the only photos I took while we were on the beach. Note the color of the water in these photos, versus the water in the photos from the other side of the island!

The Paradise Beach pool redeems this location from its HORRIBLE beach. The pool was very large, visually appealing, and the water temperature was perfect (refreshing, but not cold). The inside edge of the pool was lined with free lounge chairs (no rental necessary).

We hadn't set out to spend an hour wading in a pool, but once the beach didn't work out, this was a nice alternative.

What I really liked about this area is that food and drink were available if we wanted them, but there was no hard sell. We were never approached by anybody who tried to sell us food or alcohol.

Here are some pool photos:

More photos taken near the pool area:

After we dried off from the pool, we headed back to the port to return the car. We stopped off at the only gas station on the island to refill the tank. There was no line. Gas prices were in pesos, but Visa and Amex were accepted. It cost less than $5 to replenish the gas. Hmmmm...I forgot about that in my cost estimate for this trip, but even after the gas it was still less than $100 for the entire day's activities.

The process for returning the car was quick and painless.

We then spent the next hour or so walking around the tourist shops, where we spent a lot of money, but most of it was money well spent!!! For $73 total, I bought 2 liters of Kahlua, 2 liters of Malibu Coconut Rum, and 3 liters of Bacardi. Don't let the first photo below fool you...the "small" bottles are 1 liter each and the Bacardi is HUGE! They don't even sell this size in the US...my husband is now trying to convince me to keep it sealed as a conversation piece rather than use it lol. I would have bought more alcohol at these prices, but it would have become too heavy to carry everything off the ship!!!

I also bought a few bottles of Mexican vanilla ($8 for a 32oz. bottle). It is AMAZING! Just make sure you pick out a brand that doesn't contain cumarin!!!

And then there were a few $4 t-shirts and small trinkets for the kids, and a collector's spoon for me (since I get one everyplace I visit). Overall, the souvenirs were cheap, cheap, cheap in Cozumel. We didn't buy anything at all in Grand Cayman other than my collector's spoon...way too expensive there!

So there you have it...proof that you can have a full-day, fun-filled excursion for less than $100 for a family of five...plus your souvenir costs, if any!

And one last post, because I can't believe I forgot this photo! We passed this man along the side of the road on the east side of the island. I have no clue whether this was his pet, his transportation, or if he was selling rides, but I found it interesting. You don't see things like that in the US!

Great review & wonderful pics! Your opinion on Paradise beach does make me have 2nd thoughts about spending time there. We will be in Cozumel in May 2012 & haven't decided how we'll spend the day yet. Thanks for posting.:)

thanks for showing all the pictures. Is mr sanchos near paradise beach? im looking foward to cozumel and that huge bottle of barcardi has my name on it ;)

What a terrific review! Great tips for saving a few bucks, and wonderful pictures of the Cozumel I love so much. Like you, I especially love visiting the east side of the island--it's always so beautiful there. Sounds like you had a great time.

A couple of questions:

At which pier did your ship dock?

Your rental car didn't look bad from the outside, but did you feel safe in it? I ask because you mentioned that there was some damage and the cars are not kept up to US standards.

Sorry you didn't like Paradise Beach. I always enjoyed it myself. Loved the food, the beach and the toys (haven't had the chance to try out the pool yet). If the beach was messy and the water murky, it can only mean that a storm blew through, and that means every other beach on the west side had the same issue. My experience was (and the vast majority of the reviews are) positive. Could it be possible you hit it on a bad day?

Again, thanks for the terrific post!

What a terrific review! Great tips for saving a few bucks, and wonderful pictures of the Cozumel I love so much. Like you, I especially love visiting the east side of the island--it's always so beautiful there. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

A couple of questions:

 

At which pier did your ship dock?

 

Your rental car didn't look bad from the outside, but did you feel safe in it? I ask because you mentioned that there was some damage and the cars are not kept up to US standards.

 

Sorry you didn't like Paradise Beach. I always enjoyed it myself. Loved the food, the beach and the toys (haven't had the chance to try out the pool yet). If the beach was messy and the water murky, it can only mean that a storm blew through, and that means every other beach on the west side had the same issue. My experience was (and the vast majority of the reviews are) positive. Could it be possible you hit it on a bad day?

 

Again, thanks for the terrific post!

We docked at Puerta Maya. The car we rented was very safe. The damage consisted of lots of little dents on the outside, missing buttons on the radio, and lots of mud/sand. I was just very concerned that they'd try to blame the damage on us, so I videotaped it in advance with a timestamp.

It is extremely possible that we hit Paradise Beach on a bad day. I never saw rain all day. However, it was overcast at times and somebody else who was on my cruise said she spent the day at Nachi and it rained all day. I suppose if there was a lot of rain before we got to Paradise Beach, it may have contributed to the water being ugly and murky. I still would never choose to go there though, because there really wasn't any beach to speak of. The thin strip of sand was almost entirely consumed by lounge chairs that were so close together that they almost touched. That's just not my idea of relaxing. The pool was beautiful, but it was almost empty when we were there. I'm not sure how relaxing the pool would be if there was a larger crowd.

What kind of camera did you use? Your pictures are great! I'm still agonizing about which camera I want to take when we leave next week. I really want great pictures, but not at the expense of my cameras. I have a Nikon DSLR, a nice little canon S95 point and shoot, and I just ordered a waterproof Kodak cheapie for scuba diving. I'm hoping maybe the Kodak will be decent enough that I can get away with using it on shore excursions...

What kind of camera did you use? Your pictures are great! I'm still agonizing about which camera I want to take when we leave next week. I really want great pictures, but not at the expense of my cameras. I have a Nikon DSLR, a nice little canon S95 point and shoot, and I just ordered a waterproof Kodak cheapie for scuba diving. I'm hoping maybe the Kodak will be decent enough that I can get away with using it on shore excursions...

I used a Sony TX10. I looooooooooove it! Here's the review I wrote a few months ago. I updated it this week with some of the photos from this trip. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1467458

Wow, thanks so much. Very interesting post and loved seeing the photos. I'm sure this will be very helpful for those who haven't been to Cozumel.

It was interesting seeing Paradise Beach. I've seen posts on it but that water does look yucky!

Just to clarify..you said the chairs at the pool were free? I've read there is a $2.00 fee and that there is a minimum purchas requirement per person:confused: Does anyone else know anything about that?