Paradise at Paradise Beach, Cozumel

A free beach umbrella, free beach chairs, and free admission. Located on a Caribbean island near the Yucatan Peninsula and Cancun. Buckets of cold Dos Equis. Nachos covered in gooey cheese--with hot peppers on the side.

An enticing ad? No, it's the real deal. This is the winning recipe at Paradise Beach, Cozumel, one of the bargains of the Western Caribbean.

Just a short taxi ride ($14 for two people) south from the town of San Miguel, Paradise Beach is a strong contender with Playa San Francisco and Playa Palancar. When you cab pulls up, you are greeted by one of the staff and invited to choose a place on the beach. A waiter will soon be there to ask you if you want to order. On the plus side--they don't hard sell you. It is a very easy going atmosphere. There is no fee, but they do ask you to spend at least $10 per person while you're there. The owner, Tom, is a from Canada. He makes sure that the atmosphere is friendly and the bathrooms and changing areas are immaculately clean.

What are its weaknesses? If you are interested in snorkeling (one of the main draws of Cozumel), there are no close by reefs and thus not a very interesting sea bottom. The best place to snorkel is right off the dock. There are a fair amount of fish there and the sea bed has an earthquake style rip in the bottom. It creates a miniature valley which the fish are attracted to. You can rent snorkel equipment and pay to use some of the water toys, but we just brought our own snorkel equipment. This, I think, is a good idea if you're going to spend any time in the Caribbean. (Unless you are a very strong swimmer, be sure to purchase a vest as well.)

Cozumel has become one of the major stops for the cruise line industry. The big draw is shopping and snorkeling. There is a small Mayan ruin on the island, but it isn't very impressive. The island originally belonged to the Mayans and was used as a ceremonial site for Ixchel, goddess of fertility.

What put Cozumel on the map in modern times was the French underwater explorer and inventor, Jacques Cousteau. He claimed that Cozumel's reefs were some of the best in the world for scuba diving.

Paradise Beach