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Scuba, Snuba, and Snorkeling in Cozumel Thread

dbrady

By dbrady,
in Cozumel

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lady in tx

lady in tx

Posted
Posted

If you're really serious about snorkeling I suggest you go to Paradise Beach and take their Cozumel catamaran snorkel tour It leaves daily and costs $35 I think. This takes you to good reefs in the south of Cozumel where you will see colourful coral and fish and if you're lucky maybe even a turtle!

 

Happy snorkeling!

 

Ian

.

 

Ian,

 

I would like to go snorkeling and (thinking about going to Playa Uvas) but I would like to see coral and fish and maybe a turtle:) I'm wondering if doing the catamaran snorkel tour would be safe to do for someone who KINDA knows how to swim? My DH kinda knows and well me, I can swim but have never snorkle so any suggestions would be great!

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lady in tx

lady in tx

Posted
Posted
Been to Cozumel on a land vacation 4 times, most recently in April 2006. I agree the best snorkeling is done from a boat. The tour we took, was semi-private (the 4 in our group and 2 divers) and we made 3 stops, Cardona, Paradise, and Sunken Ship. Cardona was my favorite I saw a nurse shark, manta ray, sea turtle, and tons of other fish.

 

:confused: wanted to know where did you book this at? And how much was it?

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Cozumel-Ian

Cozumel-Ian

Posted
Posted

Hi Lady

 

I think you'd be absolutely fine - the snorkel tours includes mandatory life vests and you have a guide with a float/buoy in the water with you at all times. The catamaran also follows you. So if you get tired or feel uncomfortable you can just float and relax or get back on the boat.

 

They also give you a Snorkel 101 class before getting in the water, it's a good introduction if you haven't snorkeled before.

 

You might wanna buy a disposable underwater camera before going so you can take a picture of that turtle if you see him..! :)

 

Ian

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lady in tx

lady in tx

Posted
Posted
Hi Lady

 

I think you'd be absolutely fine - the snorkel tours includes mandatory life vests and you have a guide with a float/buoy in the water with you at all times. The catamaran also follows you. So if you get tired or feel uncomfortable you can just float and relax or get back on the boat.

 

They also give you a Snorkel 101 class before getting in the water, it's a good introduction if you haven't snorkeled before.

 

You might wanna buy a disposable underwater camera before going so you can take a picture of that turtle if you see him..! :)

 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian for your response! It took me awhile to find this post!! hehe..

Since there will be 4 of us snorkeling, we are still discussing about going out and in a boat or just going to Playa Uvas. Tough decision!!

I will have my undwater camera at ALL TIMES!!:)

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Angelayu

Angelayu

Posted
Posted

Me and my bf is planning to do power snokeling in Cozumel. Can anyone tell me their experience with it? We're doing it through RCCL in the morning, therefore I have the whole afternoon free. Any suggestions on what we should do in the afternoon? Are there some places in Cozumel that first timer must go to visit? Any suggestions are welcome! :)

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bbela000

bbela000

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if you can still buy snorkeling for 3 hours from a vendor that's downtown? They were generally called "glass bottom boats" and you could buy the tour right where everyone was shopping for about $25 per person for 3 hours. Didn't know if they got destroyed in the hurricane or not.

Thanks!

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IslandJim

IslandJim

Posted
Posted
Does anyone know if you can still buy snorkeling for 3 hours from a vendor that's downtown? They were generally called "glass bottom boats" and you could buy the tour right where everyone was shopping for about $25 per person for 3 hours. Didn't know if they got destroyed in the hurricane or not.

Thanks!

 

The service is still available. There are several operators selling these tours at the downtown ferry pier. You might have the price and time a little wrong, but it is probably the cheapest boat snorkeling available. It is an open Mexican panga boat and little refreshments that you will find on other tours, but if you don't need any frills, such as bottled water, this is a good deal.

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jetskier

jetskier

Posted
Posted
I would love to hear from anyone who has tried the beginners (non certified) scuba excursion on Cozumel.

How much time did you actually get to scuba dive? Did you see much marine life?

Was it worth the money?

 

We did the resort course (Discover Scuba) in Nov 04 with http://www.scubawithalison.com It was $55pp. We spent 30 min going over the material, 30 min in chest deep water demonstrating what we just learned. We then went down to 20-25' for the remainder of the tank which lasted around 35-40 minutes. I dont see why you could not schedule a second tank after a surface break.

 

Compared to the cost of getting fully certified, it is well worth it to see if you are going to like it. We liked it so much that we got fully certified when we returned back home.

 

Dave

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BarbaraD

BarbaraD

Posted
Posted

I posted this on the Cayman board also, I am going on a cruise Oct 15 to Cayman, Jamaica and Cozumel. Have done the stingrays in Cayman and snorkeled twice in Cozumel. Question is where would you snorkel Cayman or Cozumel and your fav place to snorkel? thanks

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Stevie17

Stevie17

Posted
Posted
We are certified, but we used Eagle Ray divers in Cozumel. They offer beginners courses too, and they were just outstanding.

 

Sorry, let me clarify this a bit. I don't know what dive shop Carnival uses in Cozumel. We booked independently with Eagle Ray Divers rather than take the ship excursion. Having done MANY dives while on cruises, we've found that booking our own dives provide a much more personalized and frankly, less cattle-car like experience.

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jfoster51

jfoster51

Posted
Posted

I did the beginner scuba last Sept. and they went through Sand dollar tours.

 

I am cruising again in 3 weeks, and am doing the beginner scuba again. (I really did plan to be certified). Anyway there are a few reasons why I am not going through Carnival again.

1. Price. they want $109 pp, and the place I am going through this time only wants $65 pp

2. Carnival, and many of the other dive shops do the beginner scuba of the shore. It was great last year, but I was there before the hurricane. I have talked on the phone to many people there, and they agree that there is vertually no life right on the shore anymore.

 

So I found a place that will take you out on boat, and they will let me have a camera. I even talked my wife into going this time.

 

This is the website: https://www.cozumelcruiseexcursions.com

 

Now I havent gone yet, so i can not comment on how it is, but everything I reaserched looks good.

 

Hope this helps

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wolfie_47

wolfie_47

Posted
Posted
I did the beginner scuba last Sept. and they went through Sand dollar tours.

 

2. Carnival, and many of the other dive shops do the beginner scuba of the shore. It was great last year, but I was there before the hurricane. I have talked on the phone to many people there, and they agree that there is vertually no life right on the shore anymore.

 

So I found a place that will take you out on boat, and they will let me have a camera. I even talked my wife into going this time.

 

 

If your doing a beginners course you should still be limited to 20-30 ft so even if they drop you over an 85 ft wall your still not going to see much of the bottom from that depth. If they take you deeper than 20-30 ft on a beginners dive you need to find a more responsible operator.

 

I'm not sure a beginner taking a camera down is that good of an idea either, theres a lot of things you should be concentrating on in a beginners dive and none of them is a camera.

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Lauraally

Lauraally

Posted
Posted

We snorkeled one of these reefs (we think it was one of them??) about 5 years ago and no other reef in Cozumel has compared to it. I can't tell if Carnival's excursions (Carnival Miracle 9/10/06) are to either of these reefs, but don't want to take another chance that it won't be... again; particularly since I've read that many of the shallow reefs have been damaged by the recent hurricanes.

 

Have any of you used a reputable, private company that will take cruise vacationer's to either of these reefs? If so, who, web address and appox how much $$?

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Magic City Cruiser

Magic City Cruiser

Posted
Posted

Can anyone tell me anything about Carnival's Cozumel snorkel excursion? The only thing I have found is it goes to Villablanca Reef, which appears to be a nice enough reef. I would love a first hand report! Like, how many in a boat, how much actual snorkel time, etc.

I have done a search but my computer freezes!

Donna

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