COZUMEL BY BIKE – PART I

We booked an electric bike tour with Beach Bums Tours & Charters, located right across from the Puerto Maya cruise terminal which was dwarfed by the behemoth cruise ship Celebrity Edge.

Let me try and put the size of these cruise ships into perspective. I served on the Essex Class aircraft carrier Oriskany in 1972. It was 911-feet-long. The modern Nimitz Class carriers are now 1,092-feet-long. The Celebrity Edge is 1,004-feet long. Our cruise ship, the Norwegian Escape is 1,069-feet-long. Royal Caribbean’s biggest ship, the Symphony of the Seas, is 1,184-feet-long. Picture something bigger than a city block in Manhattan sailing by and that’s what one of the larger modern day cruise ships looks like.

I found the bike tour company online after Googling, “best bike tours in Cozumel”, and didn’t really know what to expect for our $80 (per person) tour along the East Side of the island. It sounded nice, but you never really know until you do it. We have definitely taken some lame tours on our many travels around the globe.

According to the Beach Bum’s website:

With so many tour options on the island, try something off the beaten path and away from the big crowds! Book a tour to the east side of Cozumel and ride along a “bike-only” path on a Pedego Electric bike!

Glide along the undeveloped eastern side of Cozumel on a half-day electric bike tour led by our knowledgeable guides. You’ll ride on bike paths that run along 12 miles (19km) of the coast, which is lined with volcanic rock formations, white-sand beaches, and marine life. The electric bike gives you the option to pedal a little or a lot, allowing you to cover the distance with minimal effort.

Your tour includes a light lunch with a drink at the famous San Martin restuarant, all necessary gear, and time to stop at beautiful spots along the way.

With so many tour options on the island, try something off the beaten path and away from the big crowds!

East Coast Scenic Cruise Tour

Our two friendly lady guides were Sandy, who would be leading us on our ride, and Gris, who would shadow us in back as our sag wagon baggage vehicle from the comfort of her blue Tundra pickup truck. Gris had free bottles of cold water to hand out whenever we stopped and guarded our day packs while we rode our bikes. And she kept reminding us to use our sunscreen. She was very sweet.

We were joined on our tour by Scott and Sandy, from Minneapolis. They were sailing on the Norwegian Sun which had just docked that morning right next to our ship. This was their second time, doing the East Side ride. That made me feel better, knowing that our fellow travelers from Minnesota had liked the tour enough to do it again.

Gris and Sandy loaded the five electric bikes onto the bed of her truck and we piled into a brand new van for a twenty-five minute drive to the East Side of the island.

Both ends of the island are low-lying and very susceptible to storm surge. Consequently, they are both almost completely undeveloped.

The East Side features an 8-mile paved bike trail that parallels the seaside road and runs along the ocean with stunning views of white sand beaches, black volcanic outcrops, turquoise water, and blasting blowholes.

The trail was empty. We only saw two other riders the whole trip. And curiously, Beach Bums is the only tour company offering rides there.

I asked Sandy why there were no local riders and she said it was too far from town and most islanders have scooters rather than cars, so they have no way of transporting their bicycles. And she said the bike ride along the coast was the company’s least popular tour and none of the other tour operators in town thought it was worth the effort. That seemed really odd.

And so, we literally had the trail to ourselves, other than the somewhat disconcerting big army transport truck going slowly up and down the trail, hauling listless soldiers in tan camo uniforms, toting automatic rifles at the ready. I flashed a mock salute the first time they went by, but they just scowled at me. After that, I looked the other way whenever they passed.

Sandy said she had never seen any soldiers on the trail before and guessed they were guarding against drug runners coming in by small boat. The young soldiers looked incredibly bored and incapable of stopping anything other than maybe a few bike riders.

Every few miles we would come to an empty swimming beach or a funky oasis pit stop where there were grass-thatched restaurants and souvenir stands. Other than that, there were no houses, hotels, or stores. And the few structures along the beach. were clearly expendable.

The entire ride had the feel of cruising through a forgotten park. But when I asked Sandy if it was public land she said it wasn’t a park. Most of that part of the island was marshy and covered with mangrove swamps. Someone must have owned it, but other than a few sandy roads heading off into the swamps, there was no sign of life.

“One good storm — and it seems like at least one hits us every season now — and everything you own is gone in an instant. So, it’s really a big playground, just like over on the West Side.”

It will be very interesting to come back in a few years and see if both ends of this super-popular island getaway are still undeveloped. I’m betting they will figure out some clever ways to storm-proof structures around the marshes and beaches. There’s just too much money in play.