mitsugirly

We did a land vacation and discovered this place and absolutely loved it! We went snorkeling several times, jumped from the dock into the water, swam at the large pool, ate and chilled several times there on our vacation because we liked it so much. You can see tons of pictures of the place on my travel blog HERE and HERE. We did walk next door (where the zip lines were at) and the place was closed down. I'm not sure if they have opened back up (place was deserted, pool green, over grown some) since they closed for COVID back in 2020.

This is in Cozumel, not Costa Maya.

Haha, isn't that the place everyone asks about to the right of the pier? I wish someone would do something with that place. It looks like it could be beautiful and some place nice to hang out at by the port.

Spencer, I just found this tour.... it mentions the snorkeling, the sand bar and going to a beach HERE

Just wondering if there was any substance you might know of with the comment "things change over time" or just that it "could have changed"? I did receive a long email back from Pepe Dive and I really liked their response and information they took the time out to talk about the dive.

When we went, with booked with our cruise ship (which we hardly ever do when cruising and usually do it on our own). But I do remember people booking outside the cruise ship, which involved the boat that spins along the way. It's called Twister. Maybe that's who you booked with? You can also book with third party vendors like Shore Excursions or Cozumel Tours (by Johann and Sandra), which come highly recommended.

Yes, beginner scuba and Discover is the same thing. We do a lot of Discover Scuba in the Caribbean and love it. It will require a "class" before diving to teach you how to dive, the hand signals, breathing and so on. Then they will take you out somewhere to practice your skills to make sure you are comfortable. Then you will go on the dive.

Yes, there are two beaches at Punta Sur. I think the beach we went to was called Playa El Cielo (according to the menu they gave us). We did the trip by doing a jeep tour (which I understand you do not want to do) and Punta Sur was the last half of our trip. If you are getting a driver, check to see if they allow you to see all of Punta Sur: the light house with amazing views, a museum, and they lagoon. The beach was very pretty and pristine. You could walk forever down the beach and explore as well. Snorkeling is out in front of it if you wanted to swim out and see that. Of course there is a restaurant there as well. You can see pictures of our trip there, located HERE. Scroll toward the bottom of the review to see the Punta Sur part. We've been to Chankanaab a few times (but it's been awhile). There's a lot to do there and it's a different kind of "beach" with snorkeling in front of it (access by walking down stairs in the water). They have a sealion show, a very small pool, zipline was installed after we were there, and replica mayan ruins. HERE and HERE are my reviews with pictures. Playa Palancar is a nice, pretty quiet beach, with tons of shade if needed. They had tons of peacocks roaming around when we were there. It's a relaxing, chill type of beach for just sun bathing, swimming in the ocean and food. HERE is my review of it. I hope you find the perfect place for your group.

We did the boat excursion to El Cielo and had a good time. They took us snorkeling at Palancar Reef and then we went to Columbia Reef and the coral was beautiful with tons of fish. Then we went on to El Cielo where there were tons of starfish and stingrays. Then they took us to the sandbar where we could get out of the boat and stand in the water in the middle of the ocean. Sandbars are always so cool (we've been to several) We got to play around in the water while they prepared fresh guacamole with chips and pica de gallo. It was yummy and hit the spot. We had a great day. You can find my review HERE and it has tons of pictures to show you our experience and has information on the vendor we used.

Thanks for the information Crew! I have reached out to Gypsy and Pepe's Dive. Dreamtime seems to be the company the cruise ships use and they have a lot of bad reviews online so I think I'll skip them. I did reach out to Dr Dive a few weeks ago and a place called Amigos del Mar. Hopefully we will find the perfect place to dive with. If anyone else can give any recommendations or experiences I would appreciate it.

You're very welcome. That's the whole reason I created the site to help inform people (but not persuade of course) and to show our personal experiences with tons of pictures so that people can make informed decisions on their needs if it fits. 🙂

We have been several times, although not in the last few years, but they will always have a shirt on that tells you who they are. When we went they had on blue shirts that said Little French Key on them (not sure if they are the same colors now) but if it says Frenchy 44 on it that is fine too. (Same owner and Frenchy's is just the restaurant they own across the water from LFK and where you catch the boat over. Once you walk over and down the hill, you can ask any of the vendors there where the LFK drivers are and they will tell you.

Who are you doing this tour with? When we did it, we drove all over the "Wild Side" and stopped where we wanted and then ended at Punta Sur for lunch (which was included in our tour) and was a beach club within Punta Sur. HERE was our day doing the tour.

We were thinking about diving in Roatan again (have done so several times and know that the reef is absolutely AMAZING!) but I really don't know what to do in Costa Maya this time around and thought maybe we'd use this stop for our diving. Anyone have any dive shop recommendations they've had a good experience with I could reach out to? (We would be doing a discover scuba). What type of reef would I see doing a Discover dive? I'm looking for a beautiful reef not really into the sandy area, then a small ball of reef, then sandy and so on. Is that what I would end up seeing? Has anyone done a dive at Dos Ojos, Aquarium or Bahia? They seem to be the areas for DSD. Thanks in advance for any help.

I have a tendency to agree with crew about the beaches in Costa Maya. The only place I have really experienced a somewhat white sandy beach with somewhat of the blue Caribbean water is away from the malecon (like Almaplena) but your listing says a "short ride", which would be somewhere on the malecon (unless they are referring to just going to the office and then you ride somewhere else to the beach). Sometimes when you read the reviews, someone will state where they were at (if you get lucky). I would check the 74 reviews on it and see.

Yea, last time I was in a wheelchair and walking boot the ship took me down one of the piers, so I believe it was with the cruise line. It does make sense Thank you! Thanks for the info.

I really hope they continue to run. I just had my 3rd leg surgery and (fingers crossed) I will be able to walk good by the time we come, but if not...that could pose a problem for me. Yikes!

Ok, thank you so much for explaining the WhatsApp portion. I appreciate it.

A lot of people love Arashi Beach (including myself) and they have a restaurant, chairs and umbrellas. CLICK HERE and look at the multiple reviews I have on Arashi with pictures and see if it's what you are looking for. (There are other beaches on my blog as well).

It’s always a work in progress 🤷‍♀️🤣

Please see my post above. The seatrek there is awesome! You’ll find our pictures in the review

No problem. Yes! The Pirate ship was an amazing day and our daughters favorite of our trip to Aruba. I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance. I hope you have a great time whatever you decide to do. 🙂

Still looking for anyone that might have done either the snuba or SeaTrek here and how the experience was.

Here are our experiences with both: NACHI COCOM PARADISE BEACH There are so many beach to chose from BEACHES We loved Paradise between the two you mentioned.

We did a private jeep tour with Cozumel Cruise Excursions and had an enjoyable time and our driver would show us great places to go and tell us about it the island. We did have some difficulty getting to the meeting place but I was in a walking boot after surgery so it took us a long time and I complained a lot. You can find my review HERE.