Cozumel Pocket Port Guide

Cozumel is easy to underrate. It handles more cruise passengers than almost anywhere in the Caribbean, and the part of it you meet first — the shopping built around the southern piers — is the least interesting thing about the island by some distance.

What's actually here is a reef that divers travel across the world for, a Maya pilgrimage site in the jungle, a town that eats well and cheaply a few streets back from the water, and a wild eastern coastline with almost nothing on it. None of it is hidden or hard to reach. It just isn't at the pier.

What's inside — 28 pages:

• Port at a Glance — the three piers and how they differ, currency, tipping, and why ship time and local time catch people out here
• Getting Around — taxi zones and typical fares, hiring a car, and an honest word about scooters
• Things to Do — San Gervasio, Punta Sur, Chankanaab, El Cedral, San Miguel and the wild east coast
• Snorkelling & Diving — its own chapter, because it's the reason to be there: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo, where to start if you've never snorkelled, and the marine park rules that matter
• Beaches & Beach Clubs — how the day-pass system works, which clubs suit which sort of day, the truth about sargassum, and where it isn't safe to swim
• Food & Drink — Yucatecan cooking, what to order, and where the town itself eats
• Shopping — vanilla, mezcal, hammocks and a note on silver
• The Mainland — the ferry to Playa del Carmen and Tulum, with the honest arithmetic on what it costs you and what can go wrong
• A One-Day Port Plan, Practical Information, What to Take Ashore, FAQs and a closing note

Who it's for: Anyone with a Cozumel call who wants more from the day than the shops by the gangway.

Format: PDF, 28 pages, sized 5.5 × 8.5in. Reads comfortably on a phone and prints as a neat half-page booklet. Yours to keep, no subscription.