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Other Information about Life in Cozumel
Town: The City of Cozumel (formerly San Miguel) is a nice little town of about 60,000 Mexicans and about 10,000 foreigners (mostly Americans and Canadians). Most of these people, 95% or so of all those on the island live in or near town, in the two hotel zones to the north and south of town, or on the transversal road that crosses the island to the east from the ferry pier. Only a handful people live in scattered ranchos or developments else where on Cozumel, such as the small hamlet of El Cedral near the southern beaches or Mariposa Estates, which is nearby. The City of Cozumel has beautiful town center with shops and restaurants, including many jewelry and other tourist oriented stores along the waterfront as you can see in the following three pictures compliments of Flickr.
Cozumel waterfront
Great place for weekly festivals
Famous Cozumel clock tower
There are several supermarkets, including one large store called Mega, which is sort of like a Costco. It is easy to get around, and everything you need is nearby, which is proably why most people choose to live in town. The cost is also less than living at the beach or in rural areas. Below you can see the City of Cozumel at the top of the picture, with the international airport at the upper left, the El Presidente hotel at the lower right, and the international cruise ship pier at Puerta Maya in the middle.
Panorama of the north west side of Cozumel
North hotel zone complete with 18 hole golf course
International cruise ship pier south of town at Puerta Maya
Beaches: The beach areas of Cozumel have some very nice condos and homes. Many of the foreigners live there or in town near the beach in an area called Corpus Christi. Both the town and beach areas feature high density living and are always bustling with activity. The picture below shows a large area south of town, and all of it is an underwater national park.
Cozumel west coast beaches and many dive sites
Nearly deserted Cozumel east coast beaches
Cozumel Forest: A few people live on ranchos or small developments outside of town in the jungle or forest which grows very thick. In Mariposa Estates, for example, where the author lives, it is wonderfull to wake up in the morning to the sound of the birds and the rustling leaves. The forest also offers protection from storms and privacy, yet our home is only about 5 minutes by car or 10 minutes by bike to the beach. This is the view from the air just off shore. Notice the proximity to the beach in the picture.
Forested development very near the beach
Cozumel dogs like forest living too!
Underwater: No one in Cozumel actually lives underwater, though there are some SCUBA divers who would probably like to. Many of us do go diving frequently, and Cozumel diving is unique because the island is like a Texas butte ( or flat topped mountain) that sits in the middle of the Caribbean current. On the west side, the wall drops off about 1500 feet (457 meters) in the 12 mile (19 Km) wide channel between Cozumel and the Yucatan, and to the east the wall drops off about 3000 feet (914 meters) to an abysal plain (see Google Earth pictures above). The beautiful coral reefs discovered by Jacque Cousteau, such as Palankar, are located right at the edge of these cliff walls at about 60-80 feet (18-24 meters) down from the surface and nearly always washed by a current of 1 to 4 knots. So it is possible to "driftdive" with the current, sometimes for miles. A typical dive consists of going down the wall to between 80 to 150 feet (24-46 meters) or so, and then doing a staged assent over the time of the dive which can last about 70 minutes, all while drifting along the reef and the wall. The water is usually so clear in Cozumel that it is possible to see hundreds of feet. So for example, the author has been down the wall 160 feet (46 meters) on a sunny day and could see the waves at the surface, and the wall fade to black over 100 feet (30 meters) below him. One drift dive by the author and friend shown in the photos below to reached a maximum depth of 125 feet (38 meter) for about 10 minutes followed by a staged assent of 2.2 miles (3.5 Km) down current. Our longest dive dive to date with a divemaster Luis was done with a 100 cubic inch tank and occurred on April 21, 2009. The dive had an average depth of about 80 feet, lasted about 75 minutes and went a distance of about 5 miles (8 Km) from the Palmas Reales condos to about the end of the first third of Barracuda wall.
Famous Palancar reef at about 60 feet (18 m) with a 1500 foot (457 m) drop off
A diver drifting north at about 60 feet (18 m), while looking down the wall
Sea turtle tag
Colorful reef fish
Spotted eagle ray
Angel fish pair
Blue angel fish
Checking out the reef with a buddy
Contact Instructions and more information from the Site Author
The author has been a home power enthusiast for over 15 years, and would welcome more off-grid people to Cozumel.
This is an informational website intended for people who think they might like to move to Cozumel in the relatively near future. The topics above are intended to answer our visitors' general questions about Cozumel and what it is like to live here. Having lived in Cozumel for 6 years, the author knows a lot about what it takes to live here, but there is always more to learn.
The webmaster will be improving, adding information to, and updating this site as time goes by, so check the site again later if the information you want is not yet on the site the first time you read it, or email us and ask your question.
Acceptable questions are any pertaining to MOVING to Cozumel to build your own home power project within the next year or so. You may just be interested in home power or have other reasons. Many people are concerned these days about US debt and other financial issues from reading books such as Crash Proof by Peter Schiff. They are looking to hedge their investments. Keep in mind that buying land in Cozumel and having your own home power getaway is one way to do so.
Please do NOT ask for advice for 5 years from now, vacation reservations, tour information, diving information, to rent condos or homes, or any other similar request, as these types of emails will be ignored.
We will, however, be happy to answer questions from those who are serious about moving to Cozumel to build your own off-grid cottage or home to live here full-time, or merely to enjoy living here part of the year while you finalize your plans for full-time in the future. If that is you, email: Get Answers and you will get a reply soon.
Thanks for visiting our site.
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Rojo Vivo Consultores, S.A. de C.V., Cozumel, Q. Roo, Mexico