Chichén Itzá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, is estimated to have been built between 400 and 600 AD. It is the second most popular tourist destination in all of Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors per year! It’s not only an iconic destination for international travelers—domestic Mexican citizens make up the majority of its tourists.
So it’s no wonder Chichén Itzá can be a very challenging place to visit especially if you don’t love crowds or paying top dollar (like me!).
On my visit to meet up with Ellen and Tori in Playa Del Carmen, we decided that organizing a trip to Chichén Itzá ourselves was more our style. This option meant we experienced more freedom, less crowds, and more comfort overall. We ended up spending about the same amount as an organized tour—maybe even a little less!
In this post, I share the step-by-step planning and insider tips that went into visiting Chichén Itzá by our own design. I feel lucky and grateful that I had Ellen and Tori with whom to share the costs and this wonderful experience!
I’m baaaack! I am back both in this being my first post in 2 months and in recently moving to the Northeastern corridor.
I mentioned in my 10 year blog-iversary post that I may have some additional life changes coming. Indeed! I was offered a new university job and I am now a New Jersian!
After 5 years in Miami working as the associate director of the Pride Center at Florida International University (FIU), I decided it was time to grow in my career and make a grand return to the New York-Metro area.
There were many motivations for this deviation or shift in career and location. I share some of it below, and how my new life has been going here in New Jersey just one hour outside of my favorite city on Earth—New York City! I also reflect on what I miss about Miami and what may be in store for future travel.
Next Wednesday, July 31, 2024, marks exactly 10 years since my first ever post on this blog. On that day, I was one month out from departing US soil for a journey that took me around the world over 15 months, from Reykjavik to Tokyo, and back home again. It was my dream trip—that I fully realized with my own planning and my own travel hacked budget.
Since then, I’ve worked full-time jobs in New York and Florida while documenting continued international travels to Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America and domestic travels to AZ, LA, MA, and UT. I committed to a blog post a week for the first 2.5 years of the blog. For the last 7.5 years, I’ve stayed 100% consistent in posting every other week to this blog, even through COVID-19 when travel opportunities became primarily localized to Miami and other parts of Florida.
10 years is a lot of time. I really can’t believe it’s been that long since I took that 15-month trip around the world. I think often about returning to some of the places I visited, especially New Zealand or to visit family again in Germany. Perhaps I will sometime soon! But life shifts. Five years ago, I moved to Miami marking an important change in lifestyle, career, travel, and more. Now, after 5 years living here, a new shift is coming. While there will hopefully be other news to share sometime soon, there is one big announcement I’d like to make on this 10 year anniversary of the blog. It begins with a reintroduction to me, your blog author.
So hi. This is me, and this is what is next…
This post kicks off what will be a few very brief stories about my trip back to Mexico for 7 days in late April-early May of this year.
My friends, Ellen and Tori, invited me to join them for a few just across the water on the mainland in Playa Del Carmen a few months after we met in Cozumel. I turned it into a week-long stay, including a few days on my own to try diving the world’s second largest barrier reef again.
This ended up being an extremely low cost trip at around $900 for 7 days. This was not only because of the generosity of my travel friends but also because I applied my usual, low-budget approach to my experience.
And I still didn’t sacrifice on doing what I wanted which included: roof top pool bars, a visit to the famous Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, a boat ride to see flamingos, four dives to the sea floor, swimming in crystal clear cenotes, and so much more!
I’ve been writing about my trip to Cozumel for a few months now. At this point, it’s time to wrap things up by sharing all of the highlights in one big post!
My hope is this post serves as a starting place from which travelers contemplating Cozumel or planning a trip to Cozumel can further solidify their plans. Each section provides links to launch further into my lengthier posts about each aspect.
There’s even a little exclusive bonus feature highlighting more of my free beach access experience!
Enjoy this overview of highlights from Cozumel!
Happy Pride Month!
This seems like the perfect time to talk about when I went to Cozumel’s recently opened and only gay bar! On New Year’s Eve, the two women staying across from me at my lodging told me that Pose bar just opened 3 months earlier. I vowed right then that I would go check it out before leaving Cozumel.
That’s exactly what I did. I went to Pose on my last night before leaving Cozumel. Ellen, Tori, and I traveled there together by taxi. We arrived in time to catch the main event—a drag show featuring Ru Paul’s Drag Race star Elliott with 2 T’s and another Vegas-based drag queen named Rocky Tacoma.
The booze flowed, the snacks ate, and the talent kept us laughing and singing along for hours. After the show ended, we danced with local queers and tourists alike. It was an awesome night out at Cozumel San Miguel’s main tourist area.
Eating is a favorite pastime of mine. What better way is there to experience a new country than to eat my way through it?
I believe you cannot know a people or a culture until you’ve tried their local cuisine—and not just from the tourist stops. The history behind their food or the nostalgia and pride they have in certain snacks is exciting to me.
Different from some of my other posts on “what I ate”—this one includes more focus on alcohol! I don’t usually drink in the countries I visit, but this time I did more than usual. I suppose New Years Eve and all of the tequila tastings around Cozumel lured me to partake.
In this post, I give you the highlights of my foodie—and drinkie?—experience in Cozumel!
Cenotes exist all over the Yucatan Peninsula. A cenote (pronounced “sen-NO-tay”) is a sinkhole that formed when limestone bedrock collapsed and exposed groundwater below. They are typically quite beautiful and popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Locals also love to go to them to cool down from the hot Mexican sun.
Cozumel has one accessible cenote: Jade Cenote. Jade Cenote is located in a small, historic Mayan town called El Cedral. To access, you must take a tour or pay a fee to enter and explore on your own.
I found my way in by motorbike to check it out. The experience didn’t take long. I managed to avoid the crowds, and I got to see the cenote for what it is: Not exactly the one you want to swim in!
Diving in Cozumel Mexico was at the top of my list. The Great Mayan Reef (Mesoamerican Barrier Reef) occupies its surrounding waters and is the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. It’s the second largest barrier reef in the world! The visibility is so good, divers come from all over the world to experience its spectacular biodiversity.
I was beyond bummed when my underwater camera stopped working the morning of my dive. I was not able to capture my experience diving the most popular dive site of all—Santa Rosa Wall. This drift dive is known for its beautiful colors, swim throughs, visibility, and marine life from big to small.
The dive ended up being my best dive experience ever—and a lesson in experiencing the moment. With over 60 dives logged at this point, to say this was my best dive ever is saying something! I even saw a spotted eagle ray which was the cherry on top! I am grateful that I at least have some low-quality video from my dive buddy to give a hint at how spectacular it was!
I heard that Isla Pasion, or Passion Island, is one of the major attractions in Cozumel. It’s known for its white sand beaches, clear turquoise water, and deserted island feel away from the main island.
I saw there were tours that went there when I initially researched the island. I wanted to find my own way there, however, so I immediately looked into self-guided access to Passion Island. The plan seemed simple enough especially since I would already be renting a scooter all week to get me to the taxi boat ride to the island.
What I didn’t realize was the tour groups that go there do not just show up to a deserted island. They show up to a bunch of integrated, resort-like amenities that I ended up stumbling upon—and benefiting from for no-cost. In the end, I had a really great time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful water and beach at Passion Island for a tiny fraction of the all-inclusive tour cost.
Punta Sur was by far my favorite place to visit in all of Cozumel. There was so much to do there including observing wildlife in the lagoon, climbing the lighthouse tower for epic coastal views, and snorkeling not one but two epic locations!
That’s right. In this post, I share two amazing snorkel experiences inside Punta Sur Eco Beach Park. One requires some swimming endurance and the other requires a short hike. Both are worth the extra effort to get there and you’ll save so much money not having to pay for a tour boat trip.
On top of it, you’ll get to indulge in the other amenities and experiences the park has to offer. If you have a scooter and your own snorkel gear and snacks, you’ll only spend about $20 and you can make a full day of it.
Growing up, my father used to talk about the Mayans and their culture all the time. He was a grade school teacher and annually taught a unit all about the Mayans. Despite so much education and awareness of the Mayans all my life, I never actually got to visit or see real Mayan ruins with my own eyes.
As a result, visiting Mayan ruins was a major bucket list item of mine for my first visit to Mexico. So of course I prioritized this for my first full day in Cozumel!
Cozumel has little hints of Mayan remnants all over the island. But there’s really only two places to go see it—El Cedral and San Gervasio. San Gervasio, however, is the most well-preserved and intentional archeological site of the two to see some of the Mayans remaining buildings.
The choice to see it self-guided not only saved me money, it also gave me the opportunity to see it at my own pace and without being herded around with a crowd!
San Miguel is a wonderful city to explore by foot. I managed to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of street art and sculptures in just a few hours one morning. Full exploration had me walking all over the city and seeing parts at night, too.
I never once felt unsafe walking around San Miguel—whether in the tourist areas in downtown or in the back streets away from the crowds.
I highly recommend taking a day to explore it. It cost me nothing and helped me better understand the culture of Cozumel and my part in it as a visitor.
I brought in 2024 in a very unexpected way while staying in Cozumel, Mexico. The street that my accommodation was on became a block party complete with a band and (drum roll)—a drag queen!
The evening started with a beautiful beach sunset and dinner. Then, I celebrated at midnight with locals in a low key bar-restaurant setting in the main tourist area of San Miguel.
While I thought the night was over, I was both shocked and elated to find that the real party was right on the street back home with the neighbors. Furthermore, their support for the LGBTQ+ community was palpable, going against my previous held notions.
This goes to show that travel outside of the tourist areas really does produce some of the most unexpected and wonderful experiences that may even challenge your assumptions about a culture.
I finally visited Mexico over New Years and managed to keep the cost down during this peak travel time. Mexico is not known to be an expensive country to visit. However, the price tag can skyrocket in an island cruise destination like Cozumel.
Not including travel insurance, I spent just over $1000 on 9 days in Cozumel, Mexico. That’s about $115 per day including airfare, accommodation, food, activities, transportation, and more.
I am quite proud of that price tag considering I did everything I wanted to do and even some things I didn’t know I’d do!
So how did I keep the cost down? Aside from travel points for my flights, many of the excursions and activities I did involved finding back ways to experience the same thing without the cost or bargaining my way to a better deal. Check out this full cost breakdown to understand how I spent my money in Cozumel.
The last two nights of my time in Costa Rica were spent in the city where it all started: San Jose. I purposely booked a relaxing stay with nice amenities so I could recoup from all the adventuring I’d done in the previous 2 weeks (best decision ever!).
It was time to sit back, relax, and take in some Netflix! Of course, the adventurer in me couldn’t sit still long. I had to get out and see a bit of San Jose. San Jose’s famous Central Market was the main attraction for me!
This 140+ old indoor market had everything I could possibly desire. I mention a few of its highlights but there’s one place in particular that had what I needed. This place had possible the most unique ice cream I’ve ever tasted made in 20 different ways. Read on to learn more as I close out my Costa Rica trip experience.
Many people go to La Fortuna to hike around Arenal, see La Fortuna Falls, spend a day at the hot spring spa, and more. All of these experiences require spending extra money for tours and access fees.
I spent just 2 nights in La Fortuna and managed to spend less than $55 the entire time there. The key? Find the right accommodation and don’t pay top dollar for hiking tours, waterfalls, and hot springs.
While staying low budget, I managed to enjoy clear views of Arenal Volcano, a garden labyrinth, a beautiful jungle hike, a swim at a secret waterfall, a dip in a natural hot spring, a cozy hostel stay, and some of the best food in town. These are my top 7 recommendations for a great, low-budget experience in La Fortuna.
Happy New Year! I am writing to you from Mexico! I’m finally here after canceling this trip 2 years ago due to the omicron variant.
This past year was filled with lots of travel. The world continues to open up and travel is operating more smoothly. My domestic travels shifted a bit as new circumstances arose, and international travel reminded me why solo trips are the most restorative for me.
I take some time to reflect on 2023 including some exciting, quintessential, local, South Florida water activities I had this year.
I also talk about what's to come in 2024 in the way of both travel and work! There's also a big shift coming for 2024 that I hope to reveal around this blog's 10th anniversary!
Science and nature are mind-blowing sometimes. That is what I concluded after visiting Tenorio Volcano National Park in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica.
I went for the sky-blue-colored waterfall, Rio Celeste. I left with so much more including views of 3 volcanoes, gorgeous river views, and a science lesson in sediment mixing.
There's truly nothing like immersing yourself in nature and knowing it's there for us to witness and appreciate at any time. We just have to seek it out and keep on protecting it!
Going, going, going! I was nonstop in Costa Rica for 9 days. With only 5 days left, I felt the need to slow down a bit, and Taramindo was the ideal place in which to relax.
The perfect start to my short stint in Taramindo was arriving for sunset. I got overjoyed by the zoom lens on my camera as I observed the surfers, sailors, and glorious setting sun against the sights and sounds of the perfect waves rolling into shore.
The next morning, I started off the day with my first Airbnb experience—yoga on the sandy beach. This turned out to include some unexpectedly special touches that made for an already unique experience even better! A tarot card pull to open the practice and fresh coconut water to close it? Wonderful!
