Best snorkeling in Cozumel?

[deck3]

Wondering what the best snorkeling in Cozumel without having to travel to the mainland by Ferry. My daughter would like to see the sea turtles. Is the palancar reef the best? What about the 3 reef snorkel. I'm not sure my daughter can do the palancar reef as she is 65 pounds.

[ktwest]

We just returned from Cozumel (aboard NCL Spirit)...we booked a private tour with Rosi of Mystic Snorkeling. You take a 10 minute taxi from the port to the marina where she and crew are waiting. It's a 4 hour tour that cost us $67 a person.

 

It took us 20 minutes to get to the Palancar reef area. We had 6 in our group (2 inexperienced swimmers)...so, we started in a sandy bottom area and swam/drifted to some small reefs (saw starfish and conchs). As soon as the newbies were comfortable, the driver picked us up and took us to two beautiful reefs with incredible coral and fish.

 

There were some scuba divers below in one area, we checked out the drop off to 6000 sq ft below. The vibrant shades of teal and blues of the water were beautiful as well. The bonus....we saw two sea turtles (I could have followed them to Cancun).

 

We were rained out at Roatan (which I hear is spectacular for snorkeling, you can reach the reefs from shore). But, I found Cozumel to be superior to Belize (we did the ship excursion up to Shark Alley ...long boat ride 1.5 hours each way...we saw some great fan coral, some manta rays and nurse sharks...but not even close to Cozumel in terms of variety of reef, coral and fish).

 

If your daughter can swim and is comfortable snorkeling, then her size shouldn't be an issue. She should wear a life jacket (which Rosi will supply, along with all needed snorkel gear).

[NextOne]

We also used Rosi earlier this month and thought her trip was well done and professional. We saw a sea turtle and a small sting ray, plus hundreds of beautiful fish. The reef itself is stunning!

[LadyeK]

Has anybody done the 3 reef snorkel excursion with NCL?

 

We're going in February, if that makes a difference.