Cozumel Attractions

Venue: Cozumel    When: Daily

Cozumel is the largest island in Mexico (28 miles by ten miles), situated just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, lapped by the Caribbean sea and surrounded by fantastic coral reefs.

Until 1961 this Caribbean island was inhabited by fishermen and its Mayan remains were known only to the local inhabitants. Then Jacques Cousteau turned up, hailing the coral reef which surrounds the white beaches as one of most amazing he'd ever seen - and let's face it he'd seen a few. With up to 200 feet visibility, hundreds of species of tropical fish and pristine coral reef where Cousteau even discovered the "sleeping sharks" resting in the many limestone caves beneath the waves, Cozumel has been well and truly appropriated by the tourist.

It's not hard to see why. The Mayan ruins of the San Gervacio Restoration Project contain a site sacred to the Mayan goddess of fertility (or medicine depending on who you ask), who was called Ixchel. Local women would come to ask her for children or cures. Besides this site there are 34 other archaeological sites including Castillo Real on the northeastern coast, El Cedral in the south and El Caracol, where the sun, in the shape of a shell, was worshipped. As well as ruins, there are the amazing reefs and beautiful beaches.

Thanks to Jacques Cousteau, Cozumel has developed with an eye to its ecotourism revenues and the fragile ecosystem of the reef is taken seriously by locals and tourists alike. The amazing diving is legendary, making this a marine enthusiast's paradise. If cavern diving is up your street, then make sure you go diving in the Dos Ojos and Bat Caverns, which form part of one of the world's largest underwater cavern systems.