Palancar and Columbia Reef Snorkel or . . .

[Ag_Cruiser]

Howdy!

We're going to be on the Star Princess on 11/21 and in Cozumel the morning of 11/24. We've been twice before and did Chankanaab both times -- we love it! This time we're trying to decide between going on the ship's excursion to Palancar reef and Columbia reef on a catamaran (sounds great!) or doing our own thing and going to Dzul Ha and maybe back to Chankanaab and/or Paradise Beach.

I love (LOVE!) to snorkel and I just bought a waterproof case for my digital camera that will allow me to take it up to 100ft. deep! Of course, I won't go nearly that deep in snorkel gear, but I do like to dive down as far as I can if a great scene presents itself (there is a picture of me standing next to the Jesus sculpture sunken at Chankanaab . . . people can't believe I went that far down and stood for a picture!). The girls (wife and mom) would rather sit on the beach and what not, but they'd probably like the catamaran ride, too.

What to do? Has anyone been on that excursion? Is there a similar one outside the ship? What do you insiders recommend?

Thanks!

[solita]

Columbia Reef is one of the primo reefs here. As is Palancar, really. I think it is because they are so far south, not many people (tours) go there. Go for it and take the tour. Very hard to do on your own.

[Cozumel_Tom]

Definitely snorkel Columbia and Palancar. Beautiful reefs and very different from each other. I used to work for a snorkel tour and I´ve been there loads of times...GO!

[WAVTAM]

On Rhapsody Feb 4th. With pier do we dock at? What agent would you recommend we use to snorkel these sites? Wayne

[ginag]

[font=Comic Sans MS]We have a snorkel tour booked for these reefs and we are using Eagle Ray Divers. They have a great reputation on these boards and the island. Seems like Tom has recommended them also.[/font]

[solita]

Royal Caribbean docks at TMM or International Pier. The best part about that is you will see Tom out on the pier meeting and greeting folks!

[Cozumel_Tom]

WAVTAM...yup, Eagle Ray has a great reputation, they'll take care of you!

solita...Nah...the best part would be the free tequila samples at the Duty Free store! [URL=http://www.World-of-Smilies.com][IMG]http://smilies.cw08.calibra-web.de/html/images/smilies/essen/essen10.gif[/IMG][/URL]

[solita]

You aren't passing out free fried iguana samples any more at the pier? Bummer. Next you are going to tell me no hot chocolate at your backyard hockey games. I'll have to sneak my own thermos in.

[Ag_Cruiser]

Well, it looks like they've cancelled the excursion through the ship. Not really sure why that would be . . . anyone know? We might go ahead and do it anyway, but we may just decide to go to Dzul Ha and run around town instead. Oh well, we'll have a blast no matter what we're doing!!!

[lory]

Another catamaran snorkel option is to book through Mayan Paradise Tours at [url]www.snubacozumel.com[/url]. It's a really fun trip. The crew is amazing. You can go wrong with these guys. They'll take you to Columbia, Palancar and Cielo for $45pp. It's a great trip!