lifestyle, travel This is Cozumel

The beach clubs on Cozumel's west coast received a beating from Hurricane Wilma, but many have already performed miraculous clean-ups and will be open tomorrow.

Travelling south from downtown: Palm Beach is a small club with few buildings and hence less damage. They will look more or less as they did before. San Francisco - just next door - has tidied up the beach, but still has some damaged structures and a make-shift bar and restaurant.

Paradise Beach - next door again - looks the best out of these three. Their office building was damaged but has since been knocked down, so the beach is wider than before and the bar more accessible. They have planted a lot of new palm trees and a local artist has helped paint the buildings. Many will say this club now looks better than it did before.

The last club confirmed to be open is Playa Mia (formally Playa Sol). Their big palapa (thatch) roof was already destroyed by Hurricane Emily and Wilma added more damage to their big buildings. They are using a large temporary tent-style structure and will be open from tomorrow, apart for two bars. Just south of Playa Mia is the beach the Fury Catamarans use. This is only available to those on the tour, but it is in excellent shape and the beach toys and volleyball are fine.

All of these clubs recovered sand and the beaches themselves look as good as before. The water is crystal clear and nice walks along the public beaches are also still possible.

Of the other clubs: Mr Sancho's lost a lot of beach and has set a re-opening date of 15 December. Nachi-Cocom closed down before Wilma and it is not clear when or if they will re-open. There are also unconfirmed reports that Palancar Beach will be open, but possibly not until Wednesday.