Cozumel is about 29 miles long and 9 miles wide, and almost everything a visitor wants sits either on the western third of it or across one road in the middle. That geography makes getting around easier than it looks, provided you understand two things: taxis here run on fixed zone pricing with no meters, and there is no rideshare app to fall back on.
Taxis are the default and they are not a free market. Fares are set by zone, published, and enforced by a powerful local union. There are no meters. A driver will quote you a number, and the number is usually the correct one — but you agree it before you get in, every time, and you agree it in the currency you intend to pay in. Rates are posted at each cruise pier where you can photograph them. From the International and Puerta Maya piers, expect roughly $8 into downtown San Miguel, about $12 to Chankanaab, mid-teens to Paradise Beach, high teens to Playa Mia, around $25 to Playa Palancar and around $35 to Punta Sur, for up to four passengers rather than per person. Punta Langosta, being downtown, adds about a dollar to those. A short hop inside the downtown zone runs a few dollars, often quoted in pesos in the mid-twenties.
There is no usable public transport for visitors. Colectivos and small buses serve residents on fixed local routes, not the beach clubs, the parks or the east coast. And rideshare has never established itself here in the way it has in Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Do not plan a day, and absolutely do not plan a return from the far side of the island, on the assumption that you can summon a car with your phone.
Rent a vehicle for one day, not for the week. The case for a jeep is specific: the east coast, Punta Sur, San Gervasio and El Cedral on your own schedule. For everything else — a dive boat that collects from your hotel, a beach club, dinner in town — a taxi is cheaper than a day's rental plus insurance plus fuel plus the parking problem. The cost people miss is the mandatory Mexican liability insurance, which is never in the headline daily rate and can add a meaningful amount per day. Ask for the total with insurance before you compare quotes, and take photographs of every existing scratch at pickup.
Scooters deserve a straight warning. They are cheap, they are everywhere, and they are the most common way visitors get hurt on this island. The coast road has loose gravel at its edges, the speed bumps are unpainted, the east side has no lighting, and everyone else on the road knows it better than you do.
Getting here. From the mainland, the passenger ferry from Playa del Carmen takes 35 to 45 minutes and is run by two operators, Ultramar and Winjet, from the terminal at the end of Quinta Avenida. One-way fares sit around $20 for adults and about $12 for children, with combined departures roughly hourly from early morning to late evening. The crossing is exposed and can be genuinely rough; a winter norte can close it entirely. By air, Cozumel International Airport sits about ten minutes from downtown, and arriving passengers are generally routed to the airport's own shared shuttle service rather than to taxis, which is worth knowing before you stand in the wrong queue.
