Palancar snorkeling

[Chickpea19]

I was wondering if anyone could clear up a bit of confusion for me. I am going to be in Cozumel in the beginning of January and want to go snorkeling there. I've never been snorkeling, but have heard that the "palancar" reef is one of the best places. I was considering booking a tour with Eagle Ray, who seems to get great reviews from this site. I would like to go out in a smaller group than the ship excursion would offer. On the Eagle Ray website, they say they offer snorkeling in Chankanaab Shallows, Dzul-Ha, Paradise, Villa Blanca, Santa Rosa, Cardona and Las Uvas on the shorter 2-reef trip.

 

If you're all still with me, my confusion is this: Is palancar the name of the entire reef system in cozumel, or is it only one certain spot? I really want to go to the best place that I can to make the most of our short time. Or, would I be better off just going to Palancar beach and finding a random guide there? Is Palancar Beach even connected to the palancar reefs? As you can tell, I'm in serious need of a Cozumel reef geography lesson! Please Help!

[Beach Bound]

We are planning on taking a taxi out to Palencar Beach.

After much effort we found this e-mail address and info.

In another e-mail they mentioned they have great food.

 

 

From: "Cris Glez" <crisglez66@hotmail.com>

Subject: Palancar beach

 

Hello thankyou for your interest in our place. The snorkel trips

are out every hour since 9 a.m. and go to Palancar and Colombia reefs.

 

The snorkel trips are $30.00 USD per person including

snorkel equipment and entrance fee to the national park. If you have any

other question or concern please contact us to this address and we'll be

more than happy to assist you.

 

Regards,

Cristina Gonzalez

 

Hope this helps!

Adrienne

[gottago2mexico]

I was wondering if anyone could clear up a bit of confusion for me. I am going to be in Cozumel in the beginning of January and want to go snorkeling there. I've never been snorkeling, but have heard that the "palancar" reef is one of the best places. I was considering booking a tour with Eagle Ray, who seems to get great reviews from this site. I would like to go out in a smaller group than the ship excursion would offer. On the Eagle Ray website, they say they offer snorkeling in Chankanaab Shallows, Dzul-Ha, Paradise, Villa Blanca, Santa Rosa, Cardona and Las Uvas on the shorter 2-reef trip.

 

If you're all still with me, my confusion is this: Is palancar the name of the entire reef system in cozumel, or is it only one certain spot? I really want to go to the best place that I can to make the most of our short time. Or, would I be better off just going to Palancar beach and finding a random guide there? Is Palancar Beach even connected to the palancar reefs? As you can tell, I'm in serious need of a Cozumel reef geography lesson! Please Help!

 

Two of the best snorkeling locations in Cozumel are Palancar Reef and Columbia Reef. Santa Rosa is mostly known for it's incredible wall dive, not for its snorkeling, while Paradise and Dzul-Ha have reportedly suffered some storm damage (as well as Paradise reportedly being partially blasted out for the new cruise ship dock). Chankanaab is easily accessible by shore, but is in pretty bad shape as a result. We have not snorkeled at Las Uvas, Villa Blanca, or Cardona. I believe these, like Dzul-Ha and Chankanaab, are actually accessible from shore, but I could be mistaken.

 

Palancar Reef is commonly referred to as one of the areas of the reef system, not the entire system. Many snorkeling tours will take you to Palancar for snorkeling - make sure to ask before booking. Private snorkeling tours will usually take you there if you ask, while public tours often go there as part of their normal agenda. Going to the beach and finding a random guide is always risky business. Palancar beach is near the reef, but not connected to it - you will need a boat to get to the reef.

 

I hope this helps. You'll love Cozumel!

[Chickpea19]

Thanks so much! I also found this map, which answered some of my questions and might help someone else with the same question:

 

http://www.eagleraydivers.com/diveSites.htm

 

I'm still not sure who to go with though. I do want to go out from a boat, but I'm concerned about the group being too large. I'm not terribly interested in getting a flipper in my face as I'm exploring the reefs! ;) The problem is that we are only two people, so we can't book a whole private tour ourselves. We'll be at the mercy of what everyone else on the boat wants to do.

 

Beach Bound - do you know what company that email address is attached to? Are they reputable?

[Beach Bound]

We just got back from our cruise!

We did not make it down to Palencar Beach.

My son deceided not to snorkel due to a not so great experience in Grand Cayman. We went to Paradise instead.

It was very nice he parasailed and jet skied.

I am very glad we did not book an excursion it took forever to get off the ship, they took all the Carnival tours first and we were not called till 10:00.

The e-mail address is from someone out at Palancar Beach. Tom at Paradise beach recommened them. If I went again I would try to make it down there. It sure took the pressure off not booking a tour at this port. The other port tenders were fine and we made our tours on time. Let me know if you make it out there! Sounds like just what your looking for.

Adrienne

[Chickpea19]

I'm going to answer my own question, in case someone else has the same one. We took a taxi to Palancar beach ($20 each way) and went with the dive shop right at the beach. They take a maximum of 8 people on the boat at once, so the tour was nice and small. it was only $30 per person, we got to see palancar and colombia reefs, and the guide pointed out all sorts of marine life for us. The reefs were GREAT. The dive shop gets about a C+ for customer service on the beach, but they obviously know what they are doing once you get on the boat, and the guide was very good. Also, we didn't have to book ahead, so it was relaxing not worrying about making an appointment or worrying if the ship itinerary changed for some reason. We had a really good time.

[CarRan]

Thanks for answering your question because I did have the same one. :)

 

The snorkeling sounds like what we are looking for. Can you give me an idea about the Palancar Beach club also? Is it a decent place to spend a few hours before and after the snorkrling trip?

 

I read they have facilities like bar/food/chairs/restrooms etc. What was your impression?

 

Randy

[amy2313]

I'm going to answer my own question, in case someone else has the same one. We took a taxi to Palancar beach ($20 each way) and went with the dive shop right at the beach. They take a maximum of 8 people on the boat at once, so the tour was nice and small. it was only $30 per person, we got to see palancar and colombia reefs, and the guide pointed out all sorts of marine life for us. The reefs were GREAT. The dive shop gets about a C+ for customer service on the beach, but they obviously know what they are doing once you get on the boat, and the guide was very good. Also, we didn't have to book ahead, so it was relaxing not worrying about making an appointment or worrying if the ship itinerary changed for some reason. We had a really good time.

 

What was the name of the Dive shop you used?? We are going in March and have had quite a difficult time deciding where to snorkel and finally decided on the 2 reef snorkel to palancar for the 2 hours in order to have time to do other things in Cozumel. We like the idea of not having to book in advance to be on the safe side but I'd like to go with a company someone recommends and has had experience with.

 

Thanks for the help.