Things to do
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El Cedral
Inland from the southwest coast, a farming hamlet keeps a small stone Maya building beside the plaza, and a chapel hung with painted crosses. An annual fiesta of the Santa Cruz fills the village with dances, rodeo and fair rides, and the plaza sits quiet for the rest of the year.
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Museo de la Isla
Housed in a building on the waterfront avenue facing the mainland, this small museum covers the reefs, the forest, the Maya shrines and the chewing-gum and fishing past of the island in a handful of rooms. It stands in the centre of San Miguel de Cozumel, close to the cafes of the seafront, and tickets are sold at the door.
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Palancar Reef
Coral towers, arches and swim-throughs drop away along the island's southwestern edge, part of the reef national park, and the current carries divers along the wall while the boat follows above. Turtles, eagle rays and big groupers are regular sightings. Dives run from boats only, and the shallow gardens suit snorkellers on calm days.
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Parque Chankanaab
A saltwater lagoon fed by underground tunnels from the sea sits at the heart of this park south of town, ringed by gardens. Beyond it, the shore drops onto a reef reached by snorkellers straight from the beach. Taxis wait outside the ticketed gate, and the park lies a short ride from the cruise piers.
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Punta Morena
Open sand and limestone run along the windward coast here, where the surf breaks heavy and rip currents make swimming dangerous on most days. Sea turtles nest along this shore in summer. A beach bar and a few palapas stand by the road, and there is no fuel on this side of the island.
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Punta Sur Eco Beach Park
Celarain lighthouse stands at the southern tip of the island, with a small maritime museum inside and a climb to the lamp for the view over reef and lagoon. Crocodiles and wading birds share Laguna Colombia, watched from a tower beside it, and the tiny Maya shrine of El Caracol whistles when the wind is up.
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San Gervasio
Maya women once crossed from the mainland by canoe to this inland shrine to Ixchel, goddess of fertility, and its small temples and platforms are scattered through low forest, linked by stretches of white causeway. The buildings are modest in scale; the shade, birds and quiet are the draw. It lies in the middle of the island, reached by car or taxi.
