snorkeling in Cozumel

[giraffe1]

My family is going on Royal Carib enchantment of the seas in Dec. Looking to snorkel in Cozumel. Does anyone have a favorite excursion off the ship for snorkeling in th reefs? Not as interested in the extras.

[clackey]

My family is going on Royal Carib enchantment of the seas in Dec. Looking to snorkel in Cozumel. Does anyone have a favorite excursion off the ship for snorkeling in th reefs? Not as interested in the extras.

Don't know about the ship excursions, but I would suggest a taxi to Playa Palancar. You can veg on the beach and then take their boat out to Palancar Reef. We made a day of it and had a great time. There were only 8 people on the boat. I think that it was $30 pp.

[rebeljohn]

We take a taxi to Dzul-Ha and snorkel from the shore.............

A lot of the cruise ship snorkel tours stop there..............

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Does Dzul Ha get pretty crowded? How far out do you have to go to get to the reefs, and how bad are the currents, really?

[rebeljohn]

The water can get crowded, especially when the tours come through, but there are few people on the shore. We experienced no currents, and the reef was a short swim away. We saw a lot of fish. There was a small bar there for drinks and beer. There is really no beach.....you go right into the rocky area where the fish are. There was a shop for renting snorkeling equipment. A local photographer would wait on the shore for the ship tours to stop, and he would swim out to them and take underwater pictures for $10 each. He charged us $5 for two pictures..........

[rjscott]

We like Chankanaab Park for snorkeling. A short taxi ride to the park from the pier and taxis are always waiting for the return trip. Very good snorkeling and a beautiful park with nice facilities.

 

http://www.cozumelparks.org.mx/

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It's my understanding the Dzul Ha is right next to Chankanaab, right? I'm not really interested in a managed park with lots of activities. I just want a good snorkel. I'm thinking that a boat trip would be the way, but haven't found one that's plausible yet and operates on a Sunday.

 

I'm also skeptical about the snorkelling at Chank, since several have said it's mediocre. Not interested in submerged statues. Are there coral reefs and lots of fish, or not?

 

It seems so far according to CruiseCal that ours is the only ship in port that day, but because of the Costa May diversion the ship has not organized any serious snorkelling excursions yet (I hope they will add them.)

 

So I'm wondering if Dzul Ha will do the trick. How much is equipment rental?

[Magic City Cruiser]

go to www.cozumelmycozumel.com. Check out Mystic Snorkel. I've been with Rosi twice, perfect day, perfect excursion.

Donna

[jaxon41]

Eagle Ray Divers gets good marks if you research them. I just don't know about Sunday. I have booked them for November, and they are very accomodating. They have a 2 and a 3 reef snorkel, the latter includes lunch.

[clackey]

It's my understanding the Dzul Ha is right next to Chankanaab, right? I'm not really interested in a managed park with lots of activities. I just want a good snorkel. I'm thinking that a boat trip would be the way, but haven't found one that's plausible yet and operates on a Sunday.

 

I'm also skeptical about the snorkelling at Chank, since several have said it's mediocre. Not interested in submerged statues. Are there coral reefs and lots of fish, or not?

 

So I'm wondering if Dzul Ha will do the trick. How much is equipment rental?

Wendy,

 

Chank and Dzul Ha are two of the best shore snorkeling spots, but both lost most of their coral when Wilma hit. There are still lots of fish and we saw our first moray eel at Dzul Ha last year. There are several good boat trips as mentioned above. Both Mystic and Eagle Ray have rave reviews and I wouldn't have any qualms about using either of them. Another option is to take a taxi to Playa Palancar, veg on the beach and then take their boat trip out to Palancar Reef. When we were there, only 8 people were on the boat.

We have our own gear so I don't know how much rentals are.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Too bad about the coral at Dzul Ha. Fish are good, but coral and fish are much better.

 

Donna, did you book a group with Rosie, or just the two of you? I guess what I'm asking is will she put together a group for a particular day, or do you have to? Guess I should ask her!

[JOHNXU84]

We will also have a group of fifteen going to be in Cozumel over Christmas. We are looking for some good snorkeling and possibly some diving. Any beaches that offer both along with other fun things to do. My one concern is that there will be 5 boats there on the same day. Is it going to be really crowded. Any suggestions on a private cat that we can book. Any info will be appreciated.

Thanks JohnXU84

[Magic City Cruiser]

Wendy, you can email Rosi at Kuda1@hotmail.com and ask her! The first year, I booked me and my DH, DD and DS. She has a boat that holds up to 10 and another larger boat for large groups. It seems to me that if she starts with a small group, she'll keep that one and maybe get the larger boat for another group. She has assistants, I beleive. The first year it was just us four. Last year, it was me and three girlfriends and a family of 4 that I met on our roll call! We started talking on the roll call and his family joined us. There is a difference in price between say 2 and 10 but not a whole lot, as I recall. Both excursions couldn't have been more perfect. I really liked being away from "the madding crowd" and really felt that I got a little taste of the real Cozumel. She's really good about emailing pretty quickly so ask away! Let me know if you go and tell her Donna from Birmingham says hello!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Thanks, I did that. She's indefinite for that day, if there's just the two of us. Sounds like she keeps a waitlist and sees what kind of group she can assemble. If I can get a group of fellow cruisers together, of about 6-8 people, I think I could just book her smaller boat. We have a little Rollcall going so we'll see.

 

(Ours is the only ship in port that day, according to CruiseCal, but with the Costa Maya changes, who knows--I know they are not entirely accurate, especially with itinerary changes--they still show us in Costa Maya when we're not, and show us in Coz for half the day instead of the lengthened time we get since the itinerary change.)

[Magic City Cruiser]

Good luck, Wendy...yes, it wouldn't be cost effective for her to take just 2 but I hope you can find some folks to go with you on the roll call!

Donna