Cozumel, MX, Guide and Information

Cozumel’s delightfully tropical climate means that you can enjoy outdoor activities year-round. It’s no wonder this island, located in the Caribbean off of the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula, ranks as one of Mexico’s top tourist destinations. At thirty miles long and almost ten miles wide, it weighs in as Mexico’s largest Caribbean island, an idyllic playland both on the coast and inland.

Snorkeling, diving, charter fishing and a wide variety of other water-fun doings rank among the top attractions in this resort paradise. And, of course, the island boasts plenty of beautiful beaches for all kinds of beach play and quiet relaxation. Most of the more challenging diving spots are in the waters off the northern part of the island whereas in the south, you’ll find more tranquil beaches and shores.

It is believed that the Maya people settled in Cozumel toward the early part of the first millennium AD. Many of these indigenous people still live in Central America and Mexico today, however, Classic Maya civilization the likes of which dominated this land back in ancient times disappeared toward 900 AD. The exact reasons for this demise are not clearly known although it appears that it was due to a significant environmental change such as a drought. The Mayan culture is fascinating: Not only did they devise a complex calendar, but they were the only people from the Stone Age that developed a writing system from their spoken language. They also excelled in mathematics, skills that surely helped them in building their distinctive, stepped pyramids, palaces and plazas. And as you may have heard, the Maya practiced human sacrifice, rituals that thankfully died out (couldn’t help that pun) along ages ago. (Thank God for that!)