Ferry to Cozumel from Playa del Carmen: Schedules, Prices and Terminals

Departure times both ways

All three operators sail from the same Playa del Carmen terminal, so the choice comes down to frequency and crossing time. The times below come from the operators' own published schedules. Ultramar's timetable loads dynamically on its site, so the table does not quote fixed times for it: it runs throughout the day and the current times are shown at booking and at the terminal.

Xcaret Xailing warns that schedules are subject to weather and capacity, and Winjet notes the same. In practice the morning boats fill up on busy days, so arriving 30 minutes early matters.

How long is the crossing, really

Count on 35 minutes on Ultramar's open round trip, which the operator runs on 157-foot catamaran ferries, and about 45 minutes on Xcaret Xailing. Winjet does not publish a crossing time. When the wind picks up, any of them can take 55-60 minutes, so leave buffer in a day-trip plan.

Ticket prices compared

The card tickets below are open round trips, which means you can board any available sailing of the same operator within the validity period. Winjet has no open card ticket on this page, so its official fares are listed instead.

Both card tickets include the extras that sting at the ticket window: the Ultramar card price already covers the deck charge tax of 24.37 MXN per person, and the Xcaret card covers all fees and taxes plus travel insurance.

Children, residents and the DSA fee

The DSA is the Environmental Sanitation Fee that the municipality of Cozumel levies on visitors arriving by sea or air. Winjet prints it at $1.25 (22.63 MXN), and it applies only to departures from Playa del Carmen. Xcaret states the fee is not inside its fare and is added when you pay. Cozumel residents and workers are exempt.

Children pay reduced fares on every boat. Winjet charges $10.73 (195 MXN) one way for a child from Playa, with ages 0-5 free and 6-11 on the child ticket. Ultramar sets its child fare by height, under 1.20 m, and carries infants up to 12 months free. Xcaret takes children under 5 free and ages 5-11 at the child fare. Ultramar and Xcaret both sell reduced fares to Quintana Roo residents who show state ID, and Xcaret also discounts INAPAM seniors.

Ultramar

Ultramar runs the fastest crossing, about 35 minutes, on 157-foot JETLINE class catamarans with three decks, air conditioning, leather seats, a snack bar, live music and sockets. Its open round trip stays valid six months and includes the deck tax. First Class adds priority boarding, roomier seats and a lounge, though travelers who plan to sit on the open deck say it is not worth the extra.

Pets travel at no extra charge and each passenger can bring a bag up to 25 kg, per Ultramar's Cozumel route page. Children are charged by height rather than age, which surprises families with tall ten-year-olds. Bought at the Ultramar window the ticket is non-refundable, while the card above cancels free up to 24 hours before. Either way, pick your return sailing with the last boat in mind.

Xcaret Xailing

Xcaret Xailing, part of Grupo Xcaret, sails hourly from 8:30 am in Playa with an about 45 minute crossing. Its open round trip costs $43 with all fees and taxes and travel insurance included, and the tourist round trip adds free entry to the Scenic Tower in Cancún. On board you get WiFi, restrooms, air-conditioned and open-air areas, a luggage section and a pet area.

A no-show ticket can be used another day, which is a rare bit of flexibility.

Winjet

Winjet is the budget pick. Its adult fares sit below both card tickets (see the price table above), and you pay by card online or by card or cash at its office in the terminal, per Winjet's rate page. The timetable is the thinnest of the three, with a boat roughly every 1.5 hours, so missing one costs you more time than on the hourly Xcaret service.

Winjet charges the DSA fee on departures from Playa only and lists it on its rate table, which makes it the one operator where you can see the exact figure before you pay. There is no open ticket for Winjet on this page, so you buy it directly from the operator.

Quick picks

• Pick Ultramar if you want the shortest crossing, an open ticket and the deck tax already paid.
• Pick Xcaret if you want hourly departures, everything included, and pets or lots of luggage.
• Pick Winjet if you want the lowest fare and do not mind fixed times on a full timetable.

Finding the terminal and boarding

Every passenger ferry to Cozumel leaves from the Playa del Carmen maritime terminal at Calle 1ra Sur and the Zona Federal Marítima, postal code 77710, at the foot of 5th Avenue next to Parque Los Fundadores. Ultramar uses the Terminal Marítima NAVEGA side, Xcaret has its own ticket office in the terminal, and Winjet departs from Navega at 1 Sur y 5ta Avenida. There is no second passenger terminal in town.

Reseller touts work the area near the pier. Buy at the official windows of the operator or through the booking links on this page, then exchange your voucher as follows.

• Arrive 30 minutes before departure, earlier with checked luggage.
• Exchange your voucher at the operator's official ticket window: Ultramar booth, Xcaret office with photo ID, or the Winjet office.
• Keep your bag within Ultramar's limit of 25 kg and 142 cm in linear dimensions if you sail with them.
• Children under 18 must travel with an adult on Xcaret sailings.
• Check the current departure times at the operator's window, since Ultramar shows its timetable there.

Tickets are not interchangeable

The operators do not accept each other's tickets. An open ticket is valid only for the same operator and the same route for six months, so an Ultramar outbound cannot be used on a Winjet return. Pick one company and stay with it in both directions.

The ferry pier in San Miguel

Passenger ferries dock at Muelle Fiscal in downtown San Miguel, at the extension of Avenida Benito Juárez on Avenida Rafael Melgar, across from the Hard Rock Cafe and the Palmeras restaurant and about a block from Plaza del Sol. Ultramar uses Terminal Marítima San Miguel on the same avenue and Winjet docks at Terminal Marítima API at Melgar and Juárez.

The cruise piers are separate. From the ferry pier, Punta Langosta is a 5-7 minute walk, the International Pier is 10-15 minutes by taxi, and Puerta Maya is 15-20 minutes by taxi.

What a day on Cozumel can hold

Cozumel is a Pueblo Mágico, the fourth in Quintana Roo, and San Miguel's waterfront is walkable straight from the pier. A single day can cover the center, a beach club and one big excursion. El Cielo, the shallow starfish sandbar off the south coast, is reachable only by boat, with tours running 3-4 hours, so our El Cielo catamaran guide explains how to pair it with a ferry morning.

Punta Sur Eco Park, at the island's southern tip, adds the Celarain lighthouse, crocodiles in the Colombia lagoon and quiet beaches, and needs a taxi or rental car from the pier. Our Cozumel day trip planner puts a full itinerary together.

Watch the last ferry back

Miss the last return and you are stuck overnight. Winjet's last departure from Cozumel is 9:00 pm, Xcaret sails hourly from 7:30 am with the last time shown at booking, and Ultramar's current times are shown at the terminal. On days when several cruise ships dock, the afternoon returns get chaotic, so if you have a cruise connection leave a 90 minute buffer.

Cruise lines do not wait for passengers on independent ferries.

Who decides and what happened recently

The Capitanía de Puerto decides whether navigation is safe and when routes resume, and all three operators state this on their sites. During a strong norte the port can close with little warning. A cold front in late November brought gusts to 60 km/h and waves of 1.5-2.5 m: Ultramar stopped at 4 pm, Winjet after 5 pm and Xcaret suspended the 4 to 6 pm window, with all three resuming together once the port reopened.

Another cold front closed Cozumel's port from 8 pm in mid January.

If the sea is choppy

A normal crossing can turn choppy and stretch to 55-60 minutes in rough conditions. Sit toward the middle or rear of the boat, where the motion is mildest, and take a motion-sickness tablet about 30 minutes before boarding. The outdoor deck helps some people, but Xcaret asks passengers to stay seated during the ride and to use outside areas only if they are wet or sandy.

The Calica car ferry

Passenger ferries take no vehicles. Cars sail from Calica, also called Punta Venado, the Sac-Tun terminal on Highway 307 about 15 minutes south of Playa del Carmen, arriving in Cozumel at the Félix González Canto API terminal on Avenida Rafael E. Melgar and Calle 31 Sur, about a mile south of downtown. Transcaribe and Ultra Carga run alternating schedules, and the crossing takes about 1.5 hours plus roughly an hour of boarding procedures.

Arrive one hour before departure. Reservations lapse if you are late and doors close about 10 minutes before sailing, though Transcaribe holds open-bed pickup and motorcycle reservations until 45 minutes before departure.

Ultra Carga timetable

Ultra Carga sails Punta Venado to Cozumel Monday to Friday at 6:00 am, 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm, Saturday at 6:00 am and 4:00 pm, and Sunday at 8:30 am and 5:15 pm. The return runs Monday to Friday at 12:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 11:30 pm, Saturday at 12:30 pm and 9:30 pm, and Sunday at 2:30 pm and 10:00 pm. The 6:00 am sailings and the 9:00 pm weekday sailing carry hazardous cargo, so they take only two adults per vehicle.

Transcaribe publishes its own timetable separately.