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 DINING
Despite its density, Cozumel boasts more than 90 restaurants and cafes with
a vast variety of cuisine for tourists of every palate. Seafood is aplenty
and fresh. Recommended seafood restaurants within the vicinity of the city
are Popeye, El Capi Navegante, La Cabana del Pescador, and Lobster's
Cove. Traditional Mexican food are also easily found at Los Otates,
Sonora Grill, La Choza, Bar Costa Brava, Casa Dennis or Pancho's
Backyard. Also, the increasing presence of international visitors has
prompted the origination of many restaurants with refined and neutralized
international cuisine such as Palmeras, Rock and Java Cafe, A Cuario Bar,
Ambientes Cozumel, Casa Mission, or Tony Rome. The more
limited-in-number national cuisines such as Italian, Mediterranean and Japanese
can be ordered at Prima Rest, Guido's and Midori, respectively.
American fastfood chains like Pizza Hut, Domino's, and McDonald's are
also available in San Miguel. If in any case you are exploring the city
and happen to look for a place to sit down and enjoy some tea-time break, Diamond
Cafe, Coffeelia, Cafe Caribe, The Coffee Bean, and Cafe Europe are
excellent to pop in and order some fresh-baked pastry and tongue-tinkling
capuccino.
SHOPPING
The Town Market is the best place to capture the Mexican's village
life as well as a place to capitalize on your money for fresh tropical and
regional produce. Limes, bananas, oranges, avocado, pineapple, potatoes,
mangoes, sweet carrots as well as other spices and dried products are sold at
incredibly cheap prices. At the same time, Plaza Central is a good
stomping ground to explore for various kinds of shop. However, for serious
souvenir-seekers, markets that sell such specialized commodities worth taking
time to check out are Plaza Confetti, Arte Joyero and Mercado de
Artisans. At these places you'll find a dazzling array of Mexican
ceramics, tacky curios, colorful shawls and more screened souvenir T-shirts than
you can bargain for. Shoppers for quality watches, makeups, perfumes and
cigars may find delight in the duty-free stores such as the mega Pama,
Prococo and Luxury Avenue. For indoor shopping, Chedraui is
the newest and largest grocery/shopping department store in Cozumel.
NIGHTLIFE
When it comes to active nightlife, Cozumel is a paradise for night-lovers.
The outdoor cafes along the zocalo are great places to start the night with some
nightcaps before jumping onto other open-late and noisier venues. Some of
the most famous bars in Cozumel are Carlos 'n Charlies which sits just in
front of the Punta Langosta shopping mall. Breezy and busy, the bar serves
some great food as well as tasteful 70's-90's music and gets very crowded if
cruise ships are in town. Likewise, Viva Mexico lures a lot of
local as well as international followers with its dance and Latin music.
However, the only high-tech disco in Cozumel is Neptuno's which offers an
excellent mix of US/Latin soundtrack and spectacular laser and light show.
Coco Wook may be a bit on a quiet side since it's a new-kid-on-the-block,
but the plus side is the less crowded dance floor than most other places.
For Cuban music fans, Cafe Salsa on the 10th Avenida promises live Cuban
music every night, whereas Fat Tuesdays serves tantalizing daiquiri with
fabulous DJ and great music. The world renown chain of Hard Rock Cafe where
good music and American-styled burgers can be ordered is one of the first
establishments that greet visitors at the ferry docks. The Havana Club is
famous with its mellow live jazz, delicious cocktails and a wide range of
cigars.
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