COZUMEL BY BIKE – DINING AND DIVING

After riding for about eight miles along a sparkling turquoise sea, we came to a hillside covered in palms and other greenery at the edge of the ocean where some resourceful business folk had carved out a goofy restaurant named Coconuts, following the natural contours of the rocky jungle shoreline. Now, this was funky old Mexico at its best. And the place was jammed with the ubiquitous dune buggies and scooters that cruise the East Side roads and sand trails in search of fun and games. This was as far as we would go on our bike ride and we turned around without stopping and headed back the way we came.

We pedaled and glided along for another four miles and ended the ride at San Martin Beach where we had a very tasty Mexican lunch (our choice of fajitas, tacos, or quesadillas) and a few frosty Coronas. while being serenaded by three wacky musicians with battered instruments. The lunch was included as part of the tour, as were the happy-go-lucky tunes. We had free Wi-Fi. And we had a stunningly gorgeous view of the blue-glass ocean from our shady picnic tables. We were living large.

After lunch, Sandy led us down to the soft, white sand beach where Inna and I swam like happy seals for the next thirty minutes. The waves were big and the ocean was the most amazingly clear water I have ever seen on earth — even clearer than the most pristine parts of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a translucent turquoise and when we looked at an approaching wave, we could see right through it, like looking at a diamond wave. Inna and I agreed that we could have stayed there forever.

After four hours of heavenly fun, cycling and swimming, Sandy loaded us into a small taxi van for the ride back into town.

We have done a lot of bike tours around the world, but the East Side beach ride on the island of Cozumel with Beach Bum Cozumel was by far the best.

Everything you might want to do or see in Cozumel is ridiculously crowded and cheesy. And yet we somehow managed to find an electric bike ride along the edge of the bluest ocean in the world with no one else around. The bikes were of the highest quality and easy as pie to master. They zipped along like mopeds and you never had to pedal if you didn’t want to. The guides were like mother hens, always making sure we were happy. We got to eat a no frills, authentic Mexican meal in an open grass cabana overlooking the shimmering ocean, and then went for an incredible swim in the most beautiful stretch of ocean imaginable. For $80 per person, it was a steal.