The DIRECT project aims to determine direct distances to two important galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder - M31 and M33 - using detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids. We present the results of the first large-scale CCD-based search for variables in M33. We have observed two fields located in the central region of M33 for a total of 95 nights on the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2 m telescope and 36 nights on the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT 1.3 m telescope. We have found a total of 544 variables, including 251 Cepheids and 47 eclipsing binaries. The catalog of variables is available on-line, along with finding charts and BVI light curve data (consisting of 8.2x10^4^ individual measurements). The complete set of CCD frames is available upon request.