What to Do at Cozumel Besides Scuba Diving

Cozumel's combination of convenient air links to North America and spectacular coral reef drift diving have combined to make it one of the world's top dive travel destinations. Many American and Canadian divers travel to Cozumel for weekend or week-long trips again and again, but often these divers are not alone. Girlfriends, wives, friends and family follow in tow, and in many instances these travelers are not really that interested in underwater adventure. Thankfully, Cozumel has activities on land for the non-diver.

The Mayan Ruins of San Gervaso
The Yucatan Peninsula is famous for its Mayan ruins, and Cozumel has its own little piece of that legacy: San Gervaso. The island was once a center of worship for Ix Chel, or "She of the Rainbows," a fertility and healing goddess. The ruins consist of the remnants of several stone buildings, mostly in the form of walls and columns, but there is a fine archway and several of the ruined buildings are clustered around a recognizable ancient plaza. The ruins are populated by iguanas, some of which are four feet long.

The Beaches
Cozumel might be dive-oriented, but it is still something of a tropical island paradise. Whereas the corals that are the focus of the island's scuba diving industry are all on the western side of the island, facing towards the mainland, the beaches are all on the wind-swept eastern side of the island, facing out to the Gulf of Mexico. However, beach-goers should pay careful attention to the marker flags, since the surf on the eastern side of the island is strong and some areas are unsuitable for swimming, but great for surfing, kite-surfing and -flying, and wind-surfing. The west side has some small beaches as well, and on that side the waters are more placid.

Deep Sea Fishing
Second only to Cozumel's reputation as a diving destination is its reputation as a fishing destination, and the island routinely ranks on Top 10 lists for both sports. This is a place where sport fishermen can catch barracuda, mahi-mahi, wahoo, marlin, sailfish and tuna. Fishing charters catering to novices and seasoned fishermen alike abound.

Golf
Like virtually anywhere in the world which is both sunny and a place where tourists go, Cozumel has a golf course. The Cozumel Country Club is an 18-hole Nicklaus-designed course that blends into the local environment so well that golfers might see everything from seabirds to crabs to crocodiles while playing their round.