Mono

How did you get there? How long did it take, and how much was it?

I flew nonstop into Cancun from JFK, grabbed a Tecate at the airport Tiki Bar, took a sip and felt NYC’s icy grip on my softball-playing soul melt away. Ask Beebs, she literally saw my soul leaking through my ears. She may have a video.

The flight took about 4 hours. You can take a bus like Holland mentioned for $10-15, but we got a taxi right in the parking lot for about $100. What can I say, I’m BOUGIE. The driver was great and even stopped to get us more Tecates on the way! He dropped us off at the Playa Del Carmen ferry, about a 45-minute drive from the airport, and we hopped on a $9 ferry to Cozumel. 

How much was the lodging?

I’ve been going down to Playa Del Carmen/Cozumel for the last five years and I’m always amazed at how cheap these gorgeous, luxury buildings are going for. You can get great deals (like $30-$60) for a nice one-bed with pool/gym/outdoor areas all over the island. We stayed at this complex called Kippal – we rented a two-bedroom apartment (Kenny ditched us last minute) with a rooftop pool and bar that had a view of the sea and all of Cozumel. Ended up being about $250 per night. Location was in the center of town (most things are on an island this small), it was close to a Mezcal bar and it was around the corner from a local food spot where a woman was making delicious tacos out of her own front yard. The Airbnb host also offered free bikes, which we used to ride to the fields every morning for softball.

A pretty nice way of life.

Was it easy to find lodging?

If you go on Airbnb or VRBO, there are so many options to choose from. And, as I said, they’re all much better/reasonable than anything you’d find in New York/other vacation spots.

Did you feel safe in Cozumel?

Yes, Cozumel is safe. Compared to busy Playa, it’s sort of a relaxing, quiet break from the action. Mostly scuba divers, people fishing and I learned, after the WSL trip in 2024, voracious softball fanatics like all of us.

How did you get around on Cozumel?

The bikes were helpful this time around, but cabs are generally like $5-7. There are also little tuk-tuk carts that can be like $1.50-2. If you’re in the center of town, you can easily get to stores, restaurants, bars by walking.

Is it easy to get money?

It is a cruise ship stop (don’t worry, they mostly stay on the coast where they dock), so there are ATMs all over the place. Easy to get money, most places also take card/Apple pay.

How expensive was food and drink?

Food is cheap and delicious. Beer is also cheap and delicious. Beer can be like $1-2? A flight of Mezcal like $10? You can get three tacos for $5 or less, depending on where you go. Also, some fantastic seafood. I once caught a barracuda down there on a deep sea expedition (Matt Seeman didn’t catch it don’t listen to him), the crew cleaned it on the boat, and then they dropped us off at a beachside restaurant. The chef took the fish and fried it up with some veggies – all for like $80? (I’m not sure the exact price, we put it on Seeman’s card).

Anyway, those are types of days you can have down there when it’s 25 degrees in New York and snowing.

Overall experience:

I’ve been going down since early 2021 when Matt Seeman, Matt Silverman and I worked remote for a month in a 3 bdr, 3 bth apartment in Playa. It’s a trip we still talk/think fondly of. Beaches by day, bars by night and Silverman getting way too high on a 5 mg weed gummy and thinking the entire city was staring at him.

They weren’t, Silverman. Nobody cared.

The softball trip last year was something Silverman had brought up a few years ago, and, honestly, I was skeptical how it would turn out. If there was interest from Cozumel, if enough teams would want to play, if they even had softball fields. But it was awesome. Tons of fans showed up, they had announcers calling us out every time we came to the plate, there was music, there was food and drink and there was just a fun feeling of exchange and friendship. I remember standing in the infield at one point during a night game under the lights, looking around and just thinking how cool it was that we were all doing this. Then a groundball went through my legs.

If you’re on the fence, come and hop on over. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.