Are the Cozumel Beaches safe?

[Askshorty]

I'm curious how safe my belongings are on the beach/lounge chair? I know some beaches have lockers, but has anyone had any problems with their not-so-valuable stuff being taken? Also, if anyone has used a locker, is the key like a normal locker key or do they include wrist banks or pins that can be easly held onto in water? :confused: Thanks!

Askshorty

Carnival Holiday 9-15-07

[cloverseeker]

We were in Cozumel at Paradise Beach last Saturday. They offer lockers and the keys have a wristband attached to them so you can put in around your wrist or ankles without worries.

 

 

Enjoy your trip

[MnTnga]

I'm curious how safe my belongings are on the beach/lounge chair? I know some beaches have lockers, but has anyone had any problems with their not-so-valuable stuff being taken? Also, if anyone has used a locker, is the key like a normal locker key or do they include wrist banks or pins that can be easly held onto in water? :confused: Thanks!

Askshorty

Carnival Holiday 9-15-07

 

We were in Cozumel just last Friday (Aug. 31st). Security was a concern for us too.

 

We'd heard good things about Nachi Cocom being relatively secure, quiet, and more private that most, so we booked day passes to there. Our day pass was all-inclusive, so lunch (from their menu) and any drinks we had all day were free.

 

On the plus side, you can see your belongings and your beach chair easily from the water. If you decide to use the pool, I'd suggest you move your belongings along with you.

 

And it was quiet, but only until around 2 pm. Then a group of parents with about lots of children came in together. We left about an hour later, about 2 hours early, due to the noise.

 

As a further endorsement, several of the ship's crew were there. I'd say probably 20 of them. That's usually a good sign for it being both a secure and popular location.

 

The only other piece of advise I could give is to get there early if you want a palapa (a thatched umbrella covered beachfront location). By 10 o'clock local time, just one hour after opening, all of them were gone on the day we went to Nachi Cocom. And it does stay H-O-T there all day, especially so if you've not got the shade of a palapa to help out.

 

We docked at the International Pier and one-way taxi fare was $14 and each taxi (car) can take up to 4 people to be able to split the fare. If you take a taxi van I think they said the one-way fare was $20 for up to 6 people.

 

When last I checked, Island Marketing is the only one that offers the all-inclusive day pass. Here are some links.

 

Island Marketing - Beach Break at Nachi Cocom

http://www.cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelBeachBreak.htm

 

Nachi Cocom Beach Club

http://www.cozumelnachicocom.net

 

We paid $49 per person, with a 25% deposit payable by credit card. The balance was due in cash when we arrived at Nachi Cocom. I think we tipped our server $8 as he went well over and above the average service during the course of our stay.

[thecruzer99]

Cozumel is the safest place in the entire Caribbean, no doubt about it. No matter which beach you choose to go, your belongings will be safe. It is always good to keep an eye on them (same as if you were at a public park in New Hampshire), however I can assure you that your belongings wont be stolen at any beach in Cozumel by any local. For the other Islands, I cannot say the same, as unfortunately I am the living example of it... This is one of many reasons that makes Cozumel such a wonderful and friendly stop. Relax and Enjoy

[Askshorty]

:) Thanks everyone for your great advice!! Thank you especially to MnTnga for all the specific info, much appreciated!! I will certaintly be there early to get some shade!

 

Askshorty

Carnival Holiday 9/15/07

[1kycat]

Just put your valubles in your shoe. And don't forget to slide them up to the toe. No one will ever suspect that. :p

 

Seriously though...I had my digital camera swiped from me last year in Cozumel...on the beach. Thankfully, it was the first time that I purchased trip insurance...and I was reimbersed. Reporting it at the police station and paying for the report was not fun...but it's not supposed to be.

 

Perhaps the locals on the island would not steal(and I believe that)...but many come over from the main land for that purpose...and unfortunately it happens.

 

If you leave your chair, ask those next to you to keep an eye on your stuff for you...and you can return the favor later. If you go to your own beach...which we like to do...and you enter the water...try to always face the beach...as we failed to do on our last visit.

 

My .02

[atcsat64]

It's not the locals you worry about, Cozumel is safe. We have had our belongings and even my wife's purse many times in plain sight in VW convertibles while shopping and eating and nothing ever taken. Unfortunately, it's other tourists in the mainly tourist areas you have to worry about when not watching your belongings.

[FishermanJim]

lol.

Cozumel has a jail. They did not build that jail because nobody here will steal. Common sense is crucial to your safety anywhere.

Cozumel is not just Cozumeleños: Other posters mention other tourists, though I've never heard of one being arrested for stealing another's property here. A couple of "thugs" were recently arrested by the tourist police after ripping a back pack right off a lady tourist here a few months ago. It’s a very rare event and the immediate action of the security apparatus in the island in cases like the one above is part of the reason. Most crime is against locals, not tourists.

Since the hurricanes two years ago there are also a lot of "peones" that do hard labor who've come from Tobasco, Oaxaca and Chiapas among other states. There are some folks in this group of transients who have taken to stealing and robbing as well as mixing cement.

I probably concur that Cozumel is safer than most other places, certainly more so than Cancun for example. Still, Cozumel has a jail and opening a newer, larger one, if that tells you anything at all.

I wouldn’t leave a change purse just in open view unattended; it’s not worth tempting someone with.