Port Day in Cozumel: 6-8 Hour Itinerary, San Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico

Are you heading to Cozumel, Mexico, on a cruise? Perhaps you’re not quite sure what you can or should do in just one day. Actually, just part of a day, because you may only have 6 to 8 hours. Maybe you’re wondering if you should stay close to the ship and browse the shops there? Are there places on Cozumel you shouldn’t miss? Or should you ferry to the mainland to explore Playa del Carmen?

I’m going to share what we researched, what we wanted to do, and what we actually did, plus any tips we learned in the process, so just keep reading. Hopefully this will be of some help to you as you plan your own Cozumel port day.

Initially we had decided to stay on the island of Cozumel. We were worried about the time it might take to get to the mainland and didn’t want to lose time to transportation.

Carnival had several shore excursion options, but in our mind, they were pricey, and we prefer to do things on our own rather than be part of a large group. We looked into renting a jeep to drive, and it was reasonably priced, until we remembered we would need additional insurance. So we decided to use taxis. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).