Playa del Carmen to Cozumel ferry: times and fares

Eleven miles, two companies, one channel

The boat to Cozumel leaves from the foot of Quinta Avenida, and the island stays in sight the whole way. About 11 miles of open Caribbean, 30 to 45 minutes, a wake the color of a swimming pool. Two companies run it: Ultramar and Winjet, whose last boat of the night sails an hour after Ultramar's. ^{5, 1, 3}

Which one you pick changes two things. How late you can stay for dinner in San Miguel, and which Cozumel dock you walk off onto. The adult fares land within five pesos of each other, so the money barely enters it. ^{1, 3, 2}

Every fare and sailing time below was read from the two operators' own pages on 25 September 2026. Both print the same line above their tables: subject to change without notice. Pesos convert at the Federal Reserve's 18 September 2026 reference rate, 17.2454 to the dollar. ^{1, 3, 4}

The crossing links two municipalities where Maayat'aan, Yucatec Maya, is an everyday language. Mexico's national institute of Indigenous languages counts 774,755 speakers from the 2020 census, across a region that takes in Solidaridad, Playa del Carmen's municipality, and Cozumel. ⁷

How much is the Playa del Carmen to Cozumel ferry?

Every tier both companies published on 25 September 2026, in pesos, plus the municipal fee each one adds at the Playa del Carmen dock.

A walk-up adult pays 320 pesos one way on Ultramar and 335 on Winjet out of Playa del Carmen. Round trips are plain addition: 640 on Ultramar, 645 on Winjet. Add the municipal sanitation fee and the two all-in round trips come to 664.37 and 668.46 pesos, about USD 38.52 and USD 38.76. ^{1, 3, 4}

The round trip carries no discount on either boat. Ultramar's 640 is twice its 320 single, and Winjet's 645 is 335 plus 310 exactly. Buying one leg at a time costs the same and keeps your evening open, which matters on a day that might end with dinner in San Miguel. ^{1, 3}

Ultramar's First Class is the tier that puzzles people. At 380 one way and 760 round trip it costs 120 pesos more than Premium Plus, and what it buys is preferential boarding and a separate area with more space on this route. On a 40-minute hop that is a comfort purchase. ¹

Ultraplan is a membership, not a bargain hiding on the fare board. Ultramar's cheapest tier, 80 pesos one way and 160 round trip, belongs to its residents' program for Cozumel and Isla Mujeres: a smart card with QR tickets, resident rates, frequent-traveler mileage, a phone concierge and a discount network, run for Ultramar by Blu Asistencia. A visitor pays Premium Plus, four times that round trip. ^{8, 1}

What time is the last ferry from Cozumel?

Both timetables as they stood on 25 September 2026, and the hour that separates them.

Ultramar's last boat back from Cozumel goes at 8:00 p.m.; Winjet's goes at 9:00 p.m. Out of Playa del Carmen the pattern repeats an hour later again: Ultramar finishes at 9:00 p.m., Winjet at 10:00 p.m. When an evening is tight, that hour is the whole argument for Winjet. ^{1, 3}

Read the live page the day before you travel. Both timetables here are one day's sailings, captured on 25 September 2026, and both companies reserve the right to move them. Cruise days, holidays and weather all reshuffle a schedule that looks fixed on a screen. ^{1, 3}

Which dock do you leave from and land at?

In Playa del Carmen both companies board at Terminal Marítima Navega, at the foot of Quinta Avenida. Ultramar gives the address as Avenida Benito Juárez; Winjet gives it as 1 Sur and 5a Avenida. Same corner of town, a short walk from the cafés on Fifth Avenue either way. ^{1, 2}

Cozumel is where the two part company. Ultramar docks at Terminal Marítima San Miguel on Avenida Rafael Melgar. Winjet docks at Terminal Marítima Api, also on Melgar, at the Benito Juárez corner. Both land you in central San Miguel, and your return boat is the one waiting at the dock printed on your ticket. ^{1, 2}

1. 01

   Check both live timetables the night before

   Sailing times move. Each company prints 'subject to change without notice' above its own table, so the live page is the one that counts. ^{1, 3}

2. 02

   Walk down Quinta Avenida to the terminal

   The pedestrian street runs straight to Terminal Marítima Navega. Ultramar asks for 30 minutes before departure, which also covers the ticket queue in high season. ¹

3. 03

   Buy the leg, not the day

   A round trip is the two singles added together on both boats, so a one-way ticket keeps the evening open at the same price. ^{1, 3}

4. 04

   Have coins for the municipal fee

   Ultramar lists 24.37 pesos and Winjet 23.46 pesos as a separate sanitation charge on Playa del Carmen departures, outside the fare itself. ^{1, 3}

5. 05

   Pick your seat before the crowd boards

   Outside on the upper deck, toward the middle, facing forward, is the steadiest spot a passenger can choose on a windy day. ⁵

6. 06

   Note which dock you sailed from

   The two companies use different Cozumel terminals, and a ticket bought on one boat gets you nowhere on the other. ^{2, 1}

What can you bring: bags, children, bikes and pets

Both fares include 25 kg of luggage, and the two companies count everything else differently. Ultramar caps one piece at 25 kg with dimensions summing to 142 cm, printed as 45 plus 70 plus 27. Winjet insures up to 25 kg under its traveler policy and prices anything beyond that at the dock. ^{1, 9}

That height rule is worth a tape measure. A child a centimeter over 1.20 m pays Ultramar's full 320 pesos each way, while the same child pays Winjet's 265-peso minor fare out of Playa del Carmen. For a family of four, the cheaper boat can flip on one growth spurt. ^{1, 3}

• Ultramar's fare covers the deck of your choice, indoors with air conditioning or outdoors, plus live music, a device charging station and a snack bar. ¹
• Bikes and pets ride free on Ultramar, in the areas the crew points you to. Winjet accepts domestic dogs and cats, and guide dogs for blind passengers travel free. ^{1, 9}
• First Class on Ultramar adds preferential boarding and a separate area with more space, for 120 pesos more on a round trip. ¹
• Dangerous goods stay ashore on Winjet: flammables, gas canisters, explosives, weapons and drugs, under the rules an airline applies. ⁹

Will the crossing be rough?

What drives the swell in the Cozumel Channel, two dated closures, and the two levers that actually help.

Wind decides this crossing, and wind runs stronger in the afternoon. The channel is about 11 miles of open Caribbean and the boat covers it in 30 to 45 minutes. Through Nortes season, roughly late autumn into early spring, cold fronts push down the Yucatán coast and the water stands up. Swell from a storm far offshore can reach the channel on a clear day. ⁵

A Norte closes the route outright, and the port captain decides when it opens again. On Friday 28 November 2025, cold front 16 shut the Playa del Carmen to Cozumel run. Ultramar suspended every remaining departure from 4:00 p.m., Winjet's last boat left Playa del Carmen at 5:00 p.m., and Xcaret Xailing stopped between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. on the Capitanía de Puerto's instruction. ⁶

Mexico's national weather service logged gusts to 60 km/h and waves of 1.5 to 2.5 meters off Quintana Roo that day. The same season produced a second closure on 18 March 2026, when cold front 41 brought winds over 80 km/h and halted the Cozumel to Isla Mujeres crossings, with the front expected to clear the following day. ^{6, 10}

• Take a morning boat. Afternoons run windier than mornings in this channel, which makes the earliest sailing the cheapest seasickness remedy on offer. ⁵
• Sit outside, midships, facing forward. Fresh air plus a steady horizon is the best seat on the boat. A window seat midships on the enclosed lower deck comes second. ⁵
• Skip the enclosed seats at the bow and the stern. Those are the two spots where the hull's movement is largest and the view is worst. ⁵
• Take the tablet an hour before boarding. Over-the-counter meclizine or dimenhydrinate works best taken ahead of symptoms; ask a pharmacist or your doctor first. ⁵

One more line on the boats themselves. Ultramar advertises an 'advanced system of movement stabilization' without saying what it is or what it does, and neither company publishes a crossing time or a wave-height rating for the route. Read the stabilization line as the operator's own description, and plan around the wind. ^{1, 5}

What the fare leaves out

VISITAX is a state tax on your trip, and it rides along with this crossing. Quintana Roo's official portal says the charge is owed by every foreign tourist visiting the state, 'regardless of their way of departure', and its own FAQ confirms it applies to travelers heading for Cozumel. One payment covers the whole trip. The VISITAX page has the amount and the steps. ¹¹

Baggage handling at the dock is a separate transaction. Winjet charges for carrying luggage only at the Playa del Carmen dock, at a price its staff quote in person from a weight and volume tabulator, and it publishes no peso figure at all. The dockworkers' union handles bags in Cozumel, and Winjet places that union's fees outside its own responsibility. Carry your own where you can. ⁹

Two other pages sit close to this one. The Playa del Carmen guide prices the beds, beaches and cenotes on the mainland side, and the Cozumel diving budget covers boats, marine park fees and lodging on the island. For the wider route, start with the Mexico travel guide.

If your dates fall between May and September, read sargassum season before choosing which side of the channel to sleep on. And dinner on the mainland side has a page of its own: El Fogón.

Which boat should you take?

One adult's round trip on each, all in, and the four questions that settle it.

Take Ultramar unless the timetable says otherwise. It is 5 pesos cheaper on the adult walk-up round trip, it ran 15 sailings each way against Winjet's 14, and it opens the day an hour earlier out of Cozumel. Small edges, honestly, and they are the only ones on offer. ^{1, 3}

Take Winjet when your evening matters. Its last boat out of Cozumel at 9:00 p.m. and out of Playa del Carmen at 10:00 p.m. buys an hour that no fare difference can match. On a spread of 24 cents, the clock is the only argument worth having. ^{3, 1, 4}

• Choose by the clock. The last boat from Cozumel is 8:00 p.m. on Ultramar and 9:00 p.m. on Winjet. ^{1, 3}
• Choose by the dock. Ultramar lands at Terminal Marítima San Miguel, Winjet at Terminal Marítima Api, both on Avenida Rafael Melgar. ^{1, 2}
• Choose by the family. Ultramar prices children by height up to 1.20 m; Winjet prices them by age up to 11. Whichever rule favors your kids is the cheaper boat. ^{1, 9}
• Choose by the morning. Ultramar's 6:00 a.m. out of Cozumel is the earliest boat on the channel, which a dawn dive charter appreciates. ¹

Getting to the terminal is its own decision on the mainland. The Tren Maya, ADO bus and rental car comparison prices the ways into Playa del Carmen, and the Isla Mujeres day trip covers the other ferry a Riviera Maya fortnight usually picks up.