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.
About San Miguel, Cozumel
San Miguel is the largest city and seaport of the island of Cozumel with a population of over 77,000. The city is a tourism hub with ferries to the mainland running back and forth.
It’s also a major destination for cruise ships, taking in two at a time at its wharf. San Miguel is the 4th largest cruise ship port in the world by traffic numbers (3.3. million).
Not Just A Cruise Ship Port
While most people only see and access Cozumel by ship, I decided to fly right into the Cozumel International Airport and explore the city by foot, motorbike, and taxi.
For this post, however, I will be sharing all of the sights I explored solely by foot across a few different occasions.
I was staying in the Emiliano Zapata area of town about a 30-minute walk from the downtown cruise ship area. Luckily, my stay was only a 15-minute walk from the airport. So my exploration of the less manicured, touristy parts of this city began immediately upon my arrival.
Some of the first aspects I noticed about the area was how rugged the streets and buildings were. A lot of grey cement, crumbling architecture, broken pavement, and trash strewn in the streets.
There was so much to admire upon looking a bit more closely.
I began to notice the bits of Mexican pride that showed up, little front doorways with potted plants, brightly painted fencing, big flowering trees, and well-placed bicycles or motorbikes by colorful doorways. There was beauty to find between the rough edges of this unmanicured part of town.
I also quickly noted the old cars parked along the streets. For how long had they been on this island? Were they drivable? Did it matter if they added an old-world feel to the city?
Another aspect of San Miguel’s back-street charm are the inevitable pets and strays you’ll bump into in the street. Or sometimes, they’ll bump into you!
Both dogs and cats alike are seen just about everywhere, sometimes owned, sometimes not.
I also enjoyed all of the brightly painted homes—a welcomed distraction from an otherwise concrete jungle.
The streets make up an easy to navigate grid with ascending and descending numbers for mostly one-way streets and avenues.
When walking or riding, it can be easy to miss the small black and white arrows fixed to building walls or wooden posts.
I never felt unsafe walking or riding on these streets but it did require a lot of stopping when riding at the frequent stop signs at every crossing.
Street Art Exploration
On the morning of my first day in San Miguel, I decided to explore the streets and take photographs of street art before my friend Creg would be flying in for some New Years fun.
My first stop was Jugos de Coral, a cute walk-up juice bar with plants and flowers decorating the outside. I got a mix of pineapple, banana, mango, and coconut juice—my faves!
A quick note on San Miguel street art: There are mainly two types. There are murals that seem to be commissioned for the sides of various shops and restaurants. Then there are murals and grafitti that seem to be less organized and more random around town.
No matter the type, a clear and apparent ocean theme emerged no matter where I was viewing street art in the city. Sea turtles, octopi, whales, fish, sharks, seascapes, and more were the most common murals I found depicted throughout San Miguel.
One of most frequently found graffiti artists around San Miguel was Melhor Rolem (@MelhorCozumel). And I always really liked his work.
He seemed to be hired often to cover large blank areas on the sides of restaurants and bar buildings both in San Miguel and elsewhere on the island. It was neat to spot his work multiple times.
In keeping with the ocean there, there was a consistent affinity for mermaids!
Of course, other animal-themed art also showed up.
And plenty of other random nature and even machine-oriented imagery.
Sometimes the murals were so details it warranted a more focused look at its parts. I particularly loved the emoji and bee in the above mural.
I found plenty more from the abstract to the human and humanoid depicted in the street art around San Miguel.
Sights Along Rafael E. Melgar Avenue
The buildings always were renovated, newer, and with cleaner lines and fresher paint the closer I walked near the tourist part of town. This area was so apparently designed with tourists in mind. While nice to look at, it didn’t feel like the real San Miguel.
The locals depend on the tourism for their livelihood. Along Rafael E. Melgar Avenue, the main seaport road along the coast of San Miguel, people can access all the souvenir shops they could ever want.
North 5A Avenue is closed for pedestrians only. There’s plenty of tourist shops, bars, and restaurants here to fill any cruise ship day explorers time.
For me, the best parts of this strip of road is the artwork—from more graffiti to plenty of monuments and statues honoring parts of Cozumel history and culture.
The Mestizaje Monument depicts Gonzalo Guerrero, one of two surviving Spanish conquistadors enslaved by the Mayans. He married a Mayan princess, embraced their culture, and eventually died fighting against the Spanish.
This monument represents the combining of Mayan and European culture, representing the origins of the Mexican people.
The next monument is Los Carnavaleros which is a tribute to the Caribbean Carnival festival that has made Cozumel a famous place to visit.
A plaque nearby reads (translated from Spanish):
“To all the Carnivalers who generation after generation have made our carnival the most important popular holiday in the Mexican Caribbean.”
I really liked this next monument—two children playing leapfrog while one stands on the back of a turtle. Poor turtle!
I enjoyed this one, though, because I could line up the photo to make the girl appear to be standing on the distant ocean horizon!
My favorite of the monuments along this street is possibly the most famous in Cozumel: The Coral Reef Monument and Diver’s Fountain.
The fountain was turned off when I visited the first time. But that was ok because I got to get a close look at the details of this monument which pays tribute to the dive community that put Cozumel on the tourist map.
Yep. That’s why I was here, too, to dive. I think it’s a brilliantly sculpted piece of art. A plaque nearby it reads (translated from Spanish):
“Those who search in the depth of the sea the meaning of life and discover in the reef the presence of the creator. For you, Cozumel, island of unequal beauty, for you brave and generous people, land of my roots.”
It feels good to know that my hobby as a diver is so valued by the locals both spiritually and economically.
Later, I could see it lit up and turned on—beautiful!
Benito Juarez Park
A short walk from the Reef Monument is Benito Juarez Park. This park connects to the main tourist pedestrian street. It’s also a park filled with artistic displays that change depending on the season.
I was still visiting during the holiday season so there was a clear theme around that happening. But there was also plenty of other random or ocean-themed displays for tourists to post with in photos.
Benito Juarez Park also has a statue to Mayan culture and another of Benito himself (he was the 26th president of Mexico).
San Miguel Municipal Park
Much further down is another large park that was set up with stages and lots of large displays for the holidays. There were also multiple Mexican food vendors and lots of locals out getting food from the carts there.
I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to grab some churros. These were definitely the freshest, best churros I’ve ever had—unlike any I’ve gotten in NYC or Miami combined.
In Conclusion
I enjoyed exploring San Miguel so much. It’s rough edges are charming and help the colors and little accents throughout really stand out.
I learned just how important tourists are to this city and island. In particular, divers are incredibly welcome as the ocean is so consistently honored through the street art. Also, the Coral Reef Monument is basically a giant ode to divers themselves.
I was so happy that I chose to live away from all the crowds. It forced me to walk the streets and open myself up to the less traversed parts of the city. I welcomed how walkable this city was even while staying far away near the airport. If I return to Cozumel, I will definitely stay in the same area of San Miguel again!
