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Scuba, Snuba, and Snorkeling in Cozumel Thread

dbrady

By dbrady,
in Cozumel

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cruisinbuddy

cruisinbuddy

Posted
Posted

If it's the Fury Catamaran sail & snorkel that goes to a private beach as well as a snorkling stop, you will have fun. That is provided you like unlimited drinks, seeing nice fish, playing on the beach, with more unlimited drinks and dancing. We went in '03 w/ Disney.

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IslandJim

IslandJim

Posted
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I have NOT been on Carnival's tour but Villa Blanca is snorkeled from shore mostly. Sand Dollar Sports has a place called Sunset Beach right there at Villa Blanca where they do snorkel and SNUBA. Generally speaking, it is not considered one of Cozumel's good snorkel sites, though many go there. It is a shallow reef also and those receive the most damage from the storms last year. Finally, Villa Blanca is not even inside the protected marine park area, which might be the reason they do that reef.

 

Why not look at Eagle Ray Divers for quality snorkel tours? That is one among many that offer the service in Cozumel.

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jetskier

jetskier

Posted
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We are considering a cruise in early Feb. with Costa Maya and Cozumel, but we want to be able to dive. How is the diving during that part of the yr? What is the water temp like? How about the weather?

 

Thanks!

 

Air temp in Cozumel would be 82H/68L, water temp around 78 degrees. You would need a 3mm suit. We dove last January there and it was great. A little chilly on the boat ride to the dive spot. Costa Maya should be close to same temps.

Dave

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ialacruiser

ialacruiser

Posted
Posted

Hi! We are going to Cozumel on NCL this October and I have a couple of questions. Any help on them would be much appreciated!

 

We're planning to do the Captain's Choice Certified Dive. Tanks and weights are included, but we have to rent the rest. Does anyone know which operator NCL uses? If not, how much on average is it in Cozumel to rent equipment? I'm trying to budget. Also, will we need a wet suit in Cozumel in mid-October?

 

Thanks!

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leruskin

leruskin

Posted
Posted

We are visiting in Feb. Where is the best snorkeling we can do ourselves? We want a beach with chairs and booze. I see these all inclusive things here for San Francisco Beach Break for like 40.00? Anyone do these???

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jetskier

jetskier

Posted
Posted

ialacruiser,

In Sept/Oct, I only wear a diveskin. Every persons comfort zone is different. We use a local dive operation and it runs us $60pp for a two tank dive. If we were to use their equipment it would be $15 more pp. We bring our mask/fins/regulators/BCD/wetsuit or diveskin.

 

Not sure who NCL is using for their operator.

Dave

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diverearl

diverearl

Posted
Posted
We are visiting in Feb. Where is the best snorkeling we can do ourselves? We want a beach with chairs and booze. I see these all inclusive things here for San Francisco Beach Break for like 40.00? Anyone do these???

 

Probably the best all around shore snorkel / dive spot on the island right now (post Wilma) is Chankanaab Park. It cost $12.00 to get in the park and has everything a person could want. It really is hard to drink $28 worth of drinks in a few hours and without a tip the all inclusive drinks often are more like kids drinks. A good place to try first is Dzul-Ha. Right down the street from the cruise ships at the international pier and no cover charge. A LOT of fish but the coral is sanded pretty bad. Nice place and the drinks are good.

 

Bottom line, its hard to go wrong any where you end up on the island...

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mcfaddensfarm

mcfaddensfarm

Posted
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Has anyone done the Power Snorkel through Royal Caribbean? Do you know which local company they use? I read some of the reponses on this board about the Power Snorkel and someone mentioned Sand Dollar. I looked at their web site and like the idea of the radios and communication. Does anyone know if this is the company that Royal Caribbean uses or is it another company? Can Sand Dollar be booked on it's own or do we have to go through the cruise ship? Any help with this is appreciated.

Thanks!

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Cozumel-Ian

Cozumel-Ian

Posted
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I suspect that RCCL power snorkel is either with Sand Dollar or Aviomar, but someone else maybe able to confirm. Do you have RCCL's description of the tour?

 

Snorkel fans may also want to consider Punta Sur Park - I was there recently and the snorkeling from the beach is excellent, although it is not for complete beginners as you need to swim out about 200 yards (shallow water though).

 

If you're interested you can find a full review with photos on this Cozumel Mexico website. They also have some tips for snorkelers.

 

Best wishes from Cozumel

 

Ian

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mcfaddensfarm

mcfaddensfarm

Posted
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I am looking at the Power Snorkel that RCCL does in Cozumel. My son is interested in this and after doing some investigating I also found another independent company that does a similar excursion: http://www.sanddollarsports.net/sd_power_snorkel.php (I asked them and they are not doing the excursion for RCCL, so I don't know who RCCL uses.) I looked at their web site and like the idea of the radios and communication.

For Sand Dollar Sports it is $35 pp (plus $6 each way for taxi). RCCL's is $49 (and I'm assuming that the cost includes your taxi?) Both are early in the morning, with plenty of time to get back to the ship afterwards, so I'm not worried about that with the independent company. Sand Dollar Sports does their snorkel at Sunset Beach. I don't know where RCCL does theirs at - (can anyone shed some light on that for me?)

 

What I'd like to know is if anyone has done the Power Snorkel through either Sand Dollar Sports OR RCCL, and if they could give me their opinion of it. I'm curious if one may go to a better spot than the other. Also, I'd like to find out if the RCCL excursion had the radio communication. Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

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bruce-r

bruce-r

Posted
Posted

I'm afraid that "nice beach" and "good snorkeling" are seldom found in the same location. Conditions that make a nice beach, ie sand that goes out into the water are the same conditions that make it very hard for coral to grow and coral is what attracts the majority of what you want see while you snorkel.

 

Still, Dzul Ha does have probably the best shore snorkeling still in Cozumel, it is very easy to get to, and it does have a somewhat sandy beach area, so that is where I'd go.

 

dzulha1.jpg

 

dzulha2.jpg

 

and

 

dzulha3.jpg

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KauaiKris

KauaiKris

Posted
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Thanks so much for your reply. I appreciate it.

 

I'd heard that nice beach & snorkeling didn't go together too well, particuarly in Cozumel. I'm accustomed to shore snorkeling in Hawaii, which has it's pros and cons: I understand that Hawaii doesn't have anywhere near the same caliber of snorkeling as Cozumel, however, you can find acceptable snorkeling on a fabulous beach. :) So I thought I'd better ask where to go on Cozumel.

 

These pictures are very helpful - I now know where I should go and what to expect. Thanks.

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Pleasan7

Pleasan7

Posted
Posted
Excited

Husband and I are on the Miracle in a coupla weeks. Planning on scuba with EagleRay. I will report back when we get back..

Cannot wait! I am too excited!

Carol

__________________

 

We scheduled our own excursion with Eagle Ray Divers. The group was small and we chose the dive spots. We made two, seventy foot dives of about forty minutes each. The coral was breath taking. We enjoyed seeing big fish on this trip, a turtle was resting next to a barrel sponge and a nurse shark was sleeping under the edge of some coral. We saw the biggest grouper that I have ever seen. The snorkel group spotted turtles and a shark as well. The crew was friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable.

A simply wonderful excursion.

Question about Plancar Reef:

Plancar Reef is a protected park- so your operator must have permission to take you there. You get a wrist band to indicate that you are diving/ snorkeling that area. The trip does make for a long day as it is the other end of the island. You may need to expect to be set ashore and take a taxi back to make the ship if you choose this destination.

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DesertArtist

DesertArtist

Posted
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We want to scuba dive in cozumel and was wondering if we should do the ship excursion or book it on our own with a local dive shop. Any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. By the way, the ship excursion requires a "C" card to participate. Anyone know what this is?

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bruce-r

bruce-r

Posted
Posted
We want to scuba dive in cozumel and was wondering if we should do the ship excursion or book it on our own with a local dive shop. Any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. By the way, the ship excursion requires a "C" card to participate. Anyone know what this is?

A "C" card is short for Certification card, which is the card you get at the end of your scuba certification course. If you don't have the card, you can't dive, at least not on that excursion. If you don't know what a C card is, I have to think you are not scuba certified.

 

There is a thing called a Discover Scuba dive (sometimes called a resort course) which you, as an uncertified person, can do. Check here: http://www.padi.com/english/common/courses/rec/begin/dsdsd.asp for more information about discover scuba.

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