We are staying at the Royal Mayan. We want to go to Playa de Carmen and spend a few hours. Then we would like to take the boat over to Cozumel. Is it hard to take the bus? How would I find bus schedules?
Last time we took the bus to downtown Cancun and spent part of a day, that was fun. Did some shopping. Took a cab back.
There is regular, frequent scheduled bus service between Cancun and Playa del Carmen from the bus terminal in downtown Cancun to the bus terminal in downtown Playa del Carmen. It is a short walk from the bus terminal to the ferry to Cozumel. The schedule can be found at
www.ticketbus.com.mx (it will load in Spanish but you can select English, French or German) but you don't actually need to by tickets in advance. I believe the trip takes between 1 and 1 1/2 hrs. The bus to Playa is nothing like the city bus in Cancun. These are over the road, put your seat back, freezing AC coaches.
Get an early start. Playa del Carmen plus Cozumel will be a pretty full day.
I don't know whether or not Thomas More will help you, or try to sell you a private van trip, but it is worth asking. If not, talk to your 'host' at the Mayan, or the front desk to find out how to get to the Cancun bus terminal. It is on Ave Tulum. From the Mayan, you would take the Ruta 1 or R1 bus which goes down Ave Tulum. Suggest you ask the driver to let you know when you should get off for the bus terminal. They are usually pretty helpful.