@Asrael -
Late to the thread but you're getting lots of sound advice. I'll add my 2 cents...
My first trip to Yucatan was in 1986. I drove down from Seattle along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and back via the east coast of Mexico, living out of my VW camper van for 3 months. I spent a good part of that trip around Yucatan, did my very first post-certification dives on Cozumel. Since then I've gone diving across a large part of the world (not everywhere, but some of the well-known bucket-list destinations divers crave most). Diving in Cozumel is not the best diving in the world, but it's probably the best overall diving vacation experience in the western hemisphere. To beat it, you would need to fly to the far sied of the planet (take about 2 days getting there) and spend big bucks. If you want great diving, and a really nice overall experience without the investment of flying to remote Indonesia or some flyspeck island in the south Pacific, Cozumel is where you want to go. It's easy, it's not crazy expensive, the food and restaurant scene is fantastic, it is as close to perfect as you will find.
Don't worry bout "drift diving" or your skill level - diving there is really easy (drift diving means: the current generally does most of the work for you, just stay with your group and enjoy the scenery as it goes by).
Cruise ship and crowds? Nobody detests them more than me. They are generally easy to avoid in Cozumel, as most of them are usually confined to specific areas and times. While crass commercialism is surely evident all over town, San Miguel somehow (and surprisingly) retains pretty much all the charm of any relatively small but prospering Mexican city. I like the place (once the cruisers leave, as they do every day). It's authentic. Not perfect (what town is?) but it's a good place. The restaurant scene is amazing.
Development along the coast of Yucatan has exploded in the past 30 years. I hardly recognize some places. In many places, it's Mass Tourism at its worst. But it's not like that everywhere. Some of the world-class gems are still gems (you just may need to be smart about how/when you show up).
I agree that just 2 days diving in Cozumel will break your heart. I made that mistake on my first trip; I've been back maybe 10 times across the intervening years (with some long gaps) and each time I go, I add more dive days. I'll be going in mid-February and will be diving for 7 or 8 days, which seems about right. It would be easy to stay and dive longer.
I've been throughout Yucatan. There's some OK-to-pretty good diving elsewhere, but IME no place else is so good, nor such a great combination. I've been pretty much everywhere in Yucatan with a coastline. I went to Xcalak about 20 years ago. Wanted to dive Chinchorro but was never able to (
I see a pattern here...). While it was cool to be in Xcalak (a true "end of the road, end of the earth" place) it was not well developed for tourism at the time (no central electricity, off the grid, solar/wind power + diesel generator). There's just not much to do there. I understand it has developed somewhat since then, but based on what I've seen/heard online, is still very much an edge experience. That said, they have built a cruise ship pier in nearby Majual, so...
For a wonderful "beach experience" Cozumel isn't utterly spectacular. The wild west side beaches are beautiful but the surf is often dangerous - it's beautiful but be careful. But there are enough beaches that are pretty nice so that when you're not diving or eating you can get your beach fix.
If you, like me, love diving
plus other cool things, it's tough to beat a trip that includes a dive portion on Cozumel, then ferry over to Playa del Carmen, rent a car, then drive around the Yucatan checking out the ruins (there are lots) and other interesting things. Mexico is a huge, diverse, and fascinating country (which has an un-deserved bad reputation). Yucatan holds many of its best attractions.
If you have two weeks...you can do a lot. My suggestions would be: first, see if you can add a few more days (sorry, there's just so much to see and do, all right there)...
Start with maybe 6 days on Cozumel. Ferry to Playa del Carmen, pick up your rental car, hit the road. With your second week, you should have enough time to cover some of the world's greatest ruin sites, beautiful beaches, caves, unspoiled little Mexican towns, and more. Yes, in some parts of Yucatan you will have to deal with crowds of tourists. If you're smart, you can avoid much of that (hint: most of them are lazy and clueless, so they are at the 5-star attractions from around 10 am to around 3 pm - worst time to be out in the sun anyway; go early/late and most of those dolts will be gone). For the biggest/best ruins (Chichen Itza, Uxmal), time your arrival for late afternoon (as the day-trip buses are leaving), check in to your hotel at the ruins, tour the ruins in the cooler late day.early evening hours, spend the night, get up early, hit the ruins again before the buses roll in, then move on to your next destination. Also mix in some lesser-known sites, maybe some that are too far for the cruise ships or Cancun-based day-trippers (eg Calakmul, Palenque) if you can - these require a nontrivial amount of driving, but they're spectacular.
Your toughest challenge will be which group of ruins, beaches and towns to include in your land excursions, but with 7-8 days (after diving), you can put a good dent in the peninsula's best places.
You will love Cozumel and Mexico's Yucatan. It's one of the world's most amazing regions to visit.
And thankful I posted here- lots of great info- and It feels like Cozumel is pretty chill- if we stay off the main drag... Will look at the budget and see what we can do for more diving- we don't have our own gear...
