Port Summary
Cozumel is an island off the coast of Mexico near the northeastern tip of the Yucutan peninsula. It is Mexico’s largest island and a major cruise port hosting up to eight ships per day and more than one million cruisers per year. San Miguel is actually the city on the island where the ships dock and it was a sleepy fishing village until a documentary by the late Jacques Cousteau highlighted Cozumel as one of the most beautiful areas in the world for scuba diving. The cruise port is full of bars, shops and restaurants and is buzzing with tourists while there are cruise ships docked in port. There are actually three cruise piers in San Miguel, the Puerta Maya pier (Carnival, Princess), the International Pier (SSA) (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity) and the Punta Langosta pier (Disney, Norwegian, MSC). The Punta Langosta pier is closest to San Miguel While the other two piers are right next to each other about 5 miles south of San Miguel in a shopping / tourist area. Passenger ferries to the mainland (Playa del Carmen) are available from the Downtown Ferry Pier near the Punta Langosta pier as well as a ferry pier between the International Pier and Puerta Maya pier primarily for cruise ship excursion passengers.
Time zone
Cozumel is located in the Eastern Time Zone, sharing a timezone with the majority of the Caribbean, Miami and New York.
Eastern Standard Time: GMT-5
Language
Since Cozumel is in Mexico, the official language is Spanish, although the English language is spoken throughout the region as it is a tourist region as well.
Money
The official currency in Mexico is the Peso, although much like the language, all prices in the cruise ports and most prices in the neighboring towns are in dollars, although you may be pleasantly surprised by giving someone $3 and getting $2.70 back as some smaller shops primarily deal in Pesos.
