From our hotel in Riviera Maya, click here for my review,  we made our way via taxi to the port in Playa del Carmen.

From the little I saw of the town, the beach and water are stunning but the rest is not. It’s not somewhere I would want to stay for a holiday due to the crowded beaches. There’s lots of hawkers selling their toot! The area we drove around looked slightly run down.  I haven’t stayed here, or spent time in a hotel, so I can’t really comment on what a holiday would be like in this area.

The ferry port was very well organised. We had a lot of luggage between us or should I say I had a lot of luggage.  I made this ‘our’ responsibility.  After a while of wheeling, putting everything on a small baggage security belt and getting our tickets scanned, we arrived at the ferry. 

We opted for a more boutique style hotel here and chose the Hotel B Unique adults only for 4 nights and the Hotel B for the rest.  Mostly because there was no availability after New Year at the B Unique.   I would love to highly recommend both of these places but I’m not sure I can.   The actual spot was lovely, the outside areas tastefully done with stunning views.  Except when the cruise ships floated past around 6am and lit up the room like a firework! 

Instead we spent one day hiring a car and another day at another beach club (day passes essential) Car hire was $50 including drop off and pick up from the hotel.  The island is tiny and doesn’t take long to drive round.  Although once you get to a point the road stops so you actually have to drive across it. 

The sad thing about Cozumel is that every day, except the odd Sunday out of season, there are at least 2 cruise ships in the port.  There were often as many as 5 a day. We kept away from downtown during the day because it was so crowded.  We ventured to beaches we hoped were more secret.  Bottom line: if we wanted a day at any beach we had to take a day pass! That meant either pay for an all inclusive day pass or pay for the beds and there was a minimum spend on food and drinks. 

I would perhaps return and stay somewhere different, where we could lounge about all day and go out at night when the island is quieter.  But I won’t be going with the husband.  Maybe a girlfriend or two.  My husband had a vision when we arrived, said he wouldn’t return before he had even got out the taxi.  I think he’d been here in a former life!

We stayed:  Hotel B and Hotel B Unique

We ate: K’ooben Lab, Guidos, La Monina and Jeanie’s Restaurant

We visited: Punta Sur Eco Beach Park, Buccanos Beach Club