Scuba, Snuba, and Snorkeling in Cozumel Thread

[Vanessa L]

I am reading the shore excursions for our cruise in December. I noticed that they have a snorkeling trip that provides use of the Tiger Ray Aqua Scooter. Has anyone done a snorkeling trip with one of those? I am a little concerned because it says that total snorkeling time is only 35 minutes. That doesn't seem like very long to me for $49 pp. Does anyone know of any independent tour operators in Cozumel that offer the Tiger Ray, perhaps for a longer period of time? I've been snorkeling without the use of the Tiger Ray and was just wondering if the price it would cost to have it vs. not would be worth it.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

Vanessa

[zydecocruiser]

I don't think the battery charge on some of the scooters lasts much over 30 minutes or so. :confused:

[solita]

The tour used to use Tyger Ray model of aqua scooter. They now use a SeaDoo model which is much better. The time in the water with the scooter is about 35 minutes due to the battery limits. But, you can stay at the site and use the snorkel gear (mask, fins, snorkel) as long as you like. So it more like an unlimited snorkel tour with the added bonus of the Power Snorkel portion.

[Cozumel-Ian]

If your cruise also goes to Belize then I can recommend this Belize power snorkel tour there too..!

 

Ian

[plevi23]

Does anyone know who Carnival uses for it's diving excursions in Cozumel? Has anyone been on this excursion recently with the ship and how was it? Our 16yo is the only certified diver in the family so we want him to have fun but the rest of the family won't be able to go out with him except as a ride along if they allow it.

[bruce-r]

I'd be surprised if the ship's excursion would allow non-divers along on the scuba excursion. In any case, I think Carnival uses http://www.sanddollarsports.net/

 

If you really do want your DS to have a good time and you want to snorkel while he dives, then you would be better off going with Eagleray divers or Blue Angel diving both of who offer combination dive/snorkel trips.

[Porchbeers]

I would suggest sceduling your own, and there are plently listed on this board. My wife and I have a divemaster we always dive with and are very happy. Most of outfits use what are referred to as "six-packs" which means only six divers. Its alot more personal and they can also work with you in regards to a non-diver possibly snorkeling or hanging out topside.

[bruce-r]

I would suggest sceduling your own, and there are plently listed on this board. My wife and I have a divemaster we always dive with and are very happy. Most of outfits use what are referred to as "six-packs" which means only six divers. Its alot more personal and they can also work with you in regards to a non-diver possibly snorkeling or hanging out topside.

Additionally, that just about all the small boat operators spend their 1 1/2 hour surface interval at one of the beach clubs instead of bobbing around in the boat for an hour. It would be possible to meet DS at the beach club if you arranged it ahead of time.

[TeacherJenn]

Has anyone booked the shore snorkel in Cozumel with Carnival? Just curious where the snorkel site is and how it was, since it is from the shore.

 

Thanks!

[Sandgnat]

There are many good dive operators in Cozumel. I just have to warn you about Dive Paradise, (they are on Cozumel and are not affiliated with Carnival), they left us in the water on a night dive in 4/04. We went to Mexico, Playa del Carma and Cozumel for a week for my son's 16th birthday. We took two dives in the morning with DP which were very close together. They said they went to divers choice but ignored my suggestions and I was the only one on board who had dove in Cozumel before. We saw the Atlantis Submarine on both dives as they were both in the same area. We then were scheduled that evening for a night dive. They showed up one hour late. One group was let off and took off one way. We then got in the water and took off a different direction. Our group consisted of the DM, two others, my Father, My son who turned 16 on this day and myself. The three of us had glow sticks on our vests, glow ropes on on leg and one arm and vvery large pelican lights. we were very visable to keep up with eachother and for the boat to spot. My Father was at 700 psi so we signaled the DM and he motioned for us to go up. When we surfaced the boat was no where to be seen. We yelled and searched for about 20 minutes when we gave up and started swimming towards shore. The boat finally showed up about 10 minutes after we started swimming. When we questioned why they were not there they gave us 3 different answers, #1 they went back to pick someone up, #2 they went back to get a part for the boat because it was acting up and #3 that they never left. I was livid and asked them to come up with one story. I believe there is no good excuse to leave divers in the water. Well then the boat did break down and we waited over one hour for another boat to come rescue us. They said we were lucky that the Captain of the other boat was willing to come out and get us. When we returned to the Dive Store, Apple (the owner) had no concern over the danger we were put in. She stated we were in no danger because we made it back alive. I demanded the money back for the next 2 dives we had scheducled for the next day. She wanted to give us the money back minus the discount we received for booking 5 dives. I wanted the money that I paid for the dives because we did not break the contract they did by leaving us floating in the water for over 30 minutes in the dark. She finally did give us the money back. I did not ask for the money back for the night dives and it was never offered. I am positive this will never happen to me again because I learned a very good lesson but I promised Apple that I would warn everybody I could about the situation. There are many people that like this shop but it only took one time to keep me away. Diving in Cozumel is the best diving I have ever done and will be back there in August but if they were the only dive operators I would not dive. I am glad this is not the case because it is now my reason to keep coming back to the wonderful island of Cozumel. Sandy

[hawaiigirl73]

I have not with Carnival, but did with RCCL last year. I was not very impressed with what was offered to me. However I am slightly biased, and have not found anything better than Hawaii.

I would do as much research as possible. And if you don't want to book directly through Carnival, there are a lot of excursion "huts" right there, as soon as you walk off the book (and a pretty good Senor Frogs too).

Good Luck

[OKL_cruiser]

I was in Cozumel in June with carnival and we took the beach, snorkel party, (http://www.snorkelbeachparty.com) which was very good. They took us to a snorkeling spot close to downtown with plenty to see. Then we went to a beach further south which was great fun.

 

I don't know how it compares with Hawaii but I thought Cozumel has excellent snorkeling and better than anywhere else on our cruise. The water was warm, VERY clear and we saw lots of multi-colored fish. I think maybe it is better from a catamaran as you are a little further out from the beach and see more life that way. The boat ride itself was fantastic too!

 

Lisa

[solita]

And if you don't want to book directly through Carnival, there are a lot of excursion "huts" right there, as soon as you walk off the book

There are not any independent tour operators allowed on the pier other at the downtown pier and only allowed past a certain point. There are some guys on the sidewalk and at the gates at Punta Langosta across from Senor Frogs but currently no Carnival ships are tendering into there.

[wa.mama]

Hello!

 

Our family is doing a Western Caribbean cruise with ports in Cozumel and Grand Caymans. We all are "pleasure divers" that mainly do tropical sites 2-3 times a year with local divemasters. Due to other factors, we can choose only one of the ports for diving, and are looking for dives with plentiful wildlife (and what's left of coral).

 

Which port would you rather dive in? I'm looking for info from people who have done both, and what sites they preferred.

 

Thanks,

[samsung955rep]

The following is a favorable review of our time with Eagle Ray Divers. My brother-in-law, his two DSs (ages 14 and 20) and myself chose Eagle Ray based upon favorable reviews found on the CruiseCritic boards.

 

Our prior diving experience level ranged from no diving experience (the 14 year old and myself) while my BIL and his DS had one prior dive.

 

We met Antonio at the pier on time. We waited onboard his boat for a bit. He and Chellie, his wife, apparently own several boats they use for diving. One of their other boats was docked next to the boat we had boarded. The four of us were the only group on the boat we boarded.

 

While waiting, we saw Antonio exchanged waves and pleasantries with two woman who were boarding Antonio's other boat. Since we were directly adjacent to the other boat, we could hear the conversation onboard the other boat. We learned that the two women had previously dived with Antonio and Chellie on numerous occasions. One of the women appeared to be about 20 years old and had dived with Antonio and Chellie since she was little. Their return experiences were a good testimonial and confirmed our choice of diving operators.

 

Antonio was very good at explaining and repeating his explanations of what to expect while diving. He was very patient with us throughout the entire experience.

 

If we return to Cozumel, we will dive with Eagle Ray Divers. I highly recommend learning how to scuba dive with Eagle Ray Divers.

[elizablake]

We will be in Cozumel from 6:00AM to 4:00PM (Eastern Time). I wanted to go on the snorkeling trip that leaves from Paradise Beach but I don't think we will get back in time. From what I have read the boat leaves Paradise Beach at 12:30 (Central Time) and returns at 2:30 (which would be 3:30 Eastern Time).

I wish our cruise ship was leaving a few hours later!!

Does anyone have any other suggestions for short(2 hour) snorkeling excursions?

Also, is it worth leaving the ship at 5am Cozumel time? Will there be taxis? Is anything open?

 

TIA!

[cozgal]

Wow..that is early but also is one of my favorite times of day in Cozumel...taxis will not be a problem but most, if not all, shopsetc will be closed. Most open from 8:30 on to about 10

I would suggest you contact PB and see if they may have an early morning snorkel trip since the ship is there so early. You may also want to look in arranging a snorkel tour with a dive/tour operator. Many dve boats go out early in the AM and may be able to include you.I like Eagle Ray but there are many excellent operators.

 

Lstly you can take a taxi and hit some of the from shore snorkeling spots.

You can find do it yourself from shore tours at cozumel insider and cozumelmycozumel.

Whichever you wind up doing, enjoy the fact that for a short amount of time you will have Cozumel to yourself to enjoy!

[Middleager]

When are you going? Both are supposed to offer great diving experience.

 

I'll be on Carnival Miracle Aug. 27 and will be diving at all ports (Cayman, Coz, Belize, and Costa Maya).

 

From my research, Cayman has good wall diving. It also has an interesting shallow dive at Stingray City where divers are at 12'-15' and interact with stingrays. Cayman is more expensive and fewer choices.

 

Coz has 130 dive shops. That alone indicates diving should be great there. It's drift diving. Great reefs and abundant sea life. Near shore corals suffered damage from Wilma, but a bit from shore things are great. It is also cheaper in Coz. Several shops in Coz offer 100cf tanks and one offers 120cf tanks where their first deep dive is like the second dive from most other ops.

 

Depending on how many people you have, it might be worth it to hire private charter.

 

If you are going after Aug., you can wait for my my reviews.

[budaman]

Tough call......but if I HAD to pick only one, it would be Cozumel. I've always been partial to Coz and am comfortable with drift dives. Conditions are generally more favorable in Coz and there is a greater chance of missing port in Grand Cayman. As far as sites, Santa Rosa or one of the sites at Palancar would be a good first dive and I have always liked Tormentos for the second. In Coz, you should be able to arrange a Private Charter for up to 4 people for around $300 including equipment. Our homepage link below has pics & video from some of our trips. The videos will take about a minute to load.

 

Mike

 

www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[TeacherJenn]

I wanted to do the same thing, but decided against it because of the time. We are instead going to Uvas beach, http://www.playauvas.com. They have shore snorkeling every hour.

[elizablake]

Thanks for your response cozgal and TeacherJenn! I'm going to keep looking and check out playauvas.

[bruce-r]

You need to read the Posting Guidelines regarding reviews.

[wa.mama]

Thanks for your great review. We are hoping to dive with the same company. Gleaning info from the reviews on CC is much better than choosing blindly or going on the ship's excursion.

 

Glad you had a good time!

[Middleager]

Sandgnat, that sounds like an awful experience you had with Dive Paradise.

 

In Cozumel it's drift diving, so at night it can be more difficult to keep divers together or to find divers after they surface. That would partly explain why you couldn't find the boat right away when you surface. Equipment malfunction can happen to even good operators with well maintained boats. But those are not to be excuses for poor customer service. I wouldn't expect money back for the night dive though.

 

I'll be on Carnival Miracle and will go to Coz on Aug. 30. I searched for a dive op that could cater to cruise times and also provide good dives. I finally settled on booking with http://aldora.com They provide 120cf, and bottom time average >1hr. They usually go out early, but they have a "stand-by" reservation, which I booked on. It means they (and I) will try to find at least 3 other divers to go at the time for cruisers. 90% of the time they get enough divers. If not, they refund in full and book you to go diving with another reputable shop. I look forward to that diving, and will share a review afterwards.

[Middleager]

I was just told that the Tormentos site in Coz still have a lot of recoverying to do. Other sites Plancar, Santa Rosa, and many others are still all good, or even better as Wilma had washed some silts away.

 

Some shops in Cayman did not reopen after Ivan of 2004. Most shops in Coz seem to have repoened after Wilma 2005. In fact, most shops in Cayman and Coz seem reputable, but there are just more choices in Coz.

 

For private charter, in Coz http://aldora.com has a good rate of $350 for up to 4 divers. I just booked stand-by with them (as a cruiser). The good thing about them is they use 120cf tanks, with bottom times averaging >1hr. More bottom time sounds good to me.