I know that this is going to be from the perspective of a foreigner, but El Mirador was the best part of the beach that I saw in Cozumel! The locals might not think too much of this place, but I loved this stop of our tour and would probably have stayed around longer if it weren't for the heat and all the upcoming sights along the way. There were four things about El Mirador that made it particularly stand out during the tour: the beach, the shops, the iguana, and the coconuts.
The beach is certainly a scenic sight to behold, but beware as it consists of many uneven rocks. You don't want to twist an ankle or fall into one of those holes! The rocks rise at one point to form a cliff overlooking the ocean, and you definitely want to get a picture of this astonishing view. The sand of the beach is smoother and more even of course. It also appears to host some interesting living organisms.
The shops are tiny but host a massive array of shell necklaces and other souvenirs. I'm kind of surprised that they were able to cram all these little trinkets into such a small space. Though I did not buy any of these gifts, I think this would be a really great place to buy stuff if you want to take something from the island back to your home.
The iguana here was absolutely fascinating. There is a guy here who will let you hold his pet iguana and take pictures with it; of course, he expects a tip for this service. The iguana is pretty big and weighs about seven or eight pounds. Holding it from below, I mostly felt its ribcage and body heat. Don't worry about diseases; the animal is clean and I saw the guy even kiss the iguana. He also draped a tiny gecko on top of my head for the picture. I washed my hands in the ocean afterward just to be safe.
Finally, we have the snacks. These consist of chips, bananas, and coconuts that you can buy. If you buy a coconut, one of the guys will use a machete to chop off an end of the fruit for you so you can sip out the milk through a straw. The coconut juice actually does not taste bad, although the quantity of the juice is surprisingly limited considering the volume of the coconut. If you ask, you can even have them chop the coconut up into edible bite-size slices to go in a plastic cup. This was a thoroughly cool experience that made an already wonderful vacation even better! read more