Help with snokelling in Cozumel

radley · Sep 2, 2014

Hi there

We are at the Grande Luxxe in Riviera Maya - did an II exchange and having a fabulous time - highly recommended

Anyway we want to spend a day on Cozumel snorkelling. Does anyone have a recommendation? Either for a tour for the day or just for a snorkelling guide?
Thanks

Radley

Karen G · Sep 2, 2014

We had a good experience with Fury Catamarans while on a cruise.

Phydeaux · Sep 2, 2014

Karen G said:
We had a good experience with Fury Catamarans while on a cruise.

Go all in and dive! :whoopie:

Helene4 · Sep 2, 2014

Take the boat to Cozumel. Rent a small car. Drive to the MONEY BAR. order a beer and chips and snorkel on their beach. Good food, great snorkeling, beautiful location. Come and go as you please. If you want LOTS of fish.....bring a small bag of dried cat food to feed them with.

Phydeaux · Sep 2, 2014

Helene4 said:
Take the boat to Cozumel. Rent a small car. Drive to the MONEY BAR. order a beer and chips and snorkel on their beach. Good food, great snorkeling, beautiful location. Come and go as you please. If you want LOTS of fish.....bring a small bag of dried cat food to feed them with.

Bad idea!!

Unless you want to contribute to an ongoing problem, and risk getting bit by one or more of the fish! My son still bears the scar on his wrist from doing this. We learned the hard way.

indyjuli · Sep 2, 2014

Snorkeling

I took the boat over and rented a car there. What an experience!! The car was not clean, sand all over, the AC didn't work and we couldn't open one of the doors. But we made the best of it. that's Mexico for you!!

We found this beach by accident and they have snorkeling... very nice facilities, clean, pool, lounges, shade, and food. Get on the boat early... otherwise many of the tours stop by 2 or 2:30.

Check out their link:

http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com/cozumel_snorkel_beach_party/?lks=0&sec=3&ln=en

natasha5687 · Sep 2, 2014

Karen G said:
We had a good experience with Fury Catamarans while on a cruise.

I also did the Fury Catamaran cruise this past April. The snorkeling was pretty good.

Helene4 · Sep 2, 2014

indyjuli said:
I took the boat over and rented a car there. What an experience!! The car was not clean, sand all over, the AC didn't work and we couldn't open one of the doors. But we made the best of it.

welcome to Mexico

Helene4 · Sep 2, 2014

Phydeaux said:
Bad idea!! Unless you want to contribute to an ongoing problem, and risk getting bit by one or more of the fish! My son still bears the scar on his wrist from doing this. We learned the hard way.

Ouch, sorry to hear that!

hurnik · Sep 4, 2014

radley said:
Hi there

We are at the Grande Luxxe in Riviera Maya - did an II exchange and having a fabulous time - highly recommended

Anyway we want to spend a day on Cozumel snorkelling. Does anyone have a recommendation? Either for a tour for the day or just for a snorkelling guide?
Thanks

Radley

I stayed at the El Cid La Ceiba in Cozumel. There's a ProNatours desk there and they had a 3 site snorkeling (I think left at 10??) and 3 hours or 3.5 hours. We got back at like 3.

I think it was only $70 or something (maybe less, it was like 2 years ago I don't remember exactly).

--Kevin

Monica · Sep 11, 2014

Try someplace closer-Pto Morelos

There's a great place a lot closer...Pto Morelos. If you want to do snorkling with a tour company, try Wet Set there. Pto Morelos is great if you're looking for clean beaches, clean water, great snorkling, no vendors, and just a laid-back kind of day. Park at Aqua de Ojo (?) and get an umbrella and chairs from them...it's a restaurant. Just an idea.

LisaH · Sep 11, 2014

Peurto Molelos is good, but Akumal is so much better. We did both and went back to Akumal again in the same week. In Peurto Molelos, you need to hire a boat to go out. For Akumal, you can just swim out, and we saw turtles, rays, squids, etc. If you do not know where to go, just follow the group tour in the water, or join one. It's about 45 min drive from the resort. Maybe the resort provide car rentals, but you can also rent the car for a day by takng the shuttle from the resort to Playa Del Carman.

hurnik · Sep 13, 2014

LisaH said:
Peurto Molelos is good, but Akumal is so much better. We did both and went back to Akumal again in the same week. In Peurto Molelos, you need to hire a boat to go out. For Akumal, you can just swim out, and we saw turtles, rays, squids, etc. If you do not know where to go, just follow the group tour in the water, or join one. It's about 45 min drive from the resort. Maybe the resort provide car rentals, but you can also rent the car for a day by takng the shuttle from the resort to Playa Del Carman.

Having snorkeled all 3:
Puerto Morales is "ok". Mostly sand and some grassy stuff, not a lot of reef

Akumal is "ok". LOTS of grass, some reef (water is shallow, so be careful you don't scrape yourself). If you like Turtles, lots of turtles. Water visibility not so great due to sand, IMO.

the reef off of Cozumel was the best, IMO. There's a starfish area (sand/grass, but LOTS of starfish), but not a lot of other fish. Only downside is that I think I would've preferred scuba there due to the reefs being down in the water more. I can't remember the third place they took us to.

They're not bad, I just enjoyed Cozumel much more than the other two. You will need a boat to PM to snorkel and in our case, they made us wear life vests, so you couldn't "dive" under the water. I think you'd need a boat for Cozumel as well, although there's always Chankanab nat'l park where you step right in (stairs). Can be a bit windy/wavy in the mid-morning/afternoon.

Monica · Sep 13, 2014

LisaH said:
Peurto Molelos is good, but Akumal is so much better. We did both and went back to Akumal again in the same week. In Peurto Molelos, you need to hire a boat to go out. For Akumal, you can just swim out, and we saw turtles, rays, squids, etc. If you do not know where to go, just follow the group tour in the water, or join one. It's about 45 min drive from the resort. Maybe the resort provide car rentals, but you can also rent the car for a day by takng the shuttle from the resort to Playa Del Carman.

I thing you were in the wrong area at Pto Morelos. Close to Aqua de Oro, there is a roped area where a cenote feeds right into the sea. There are lots and lots of different sea creatures there, even sting rays. And you have to take a boat out because it's a protected area. The reef is pristine. It's like being in an aquarium.

I've done both Cozumel and Pto Morelos. It's just that Pto Morelos is a lot closer and one can spend the day relaxing. I just didn't want the OP to be misled into thinking Pto Morelos was not as good. I also like how it's much more individualized. One doesn't have to follow a group tour into the water. Your group trip is usually no more than 12 people at one time.

Either way, both places are beautiful. It's just that at my age, I prefer my tours to be a little bit more laid back and with not so much jumping through hoops for a day of snorkling/snuba/scuba.

hurnik · Sep 15, 2014

Monica said:
I thing you were in the wrong area at Pto Morelos. Close to Aqua de Oro, there is a roped area where a cenote feeds right into the sea. There are lots and lots of different sea creatures there, even sting rays. And you have to take a boat out because it's a protected area. The reef is pristine. It's like being in an aquarium.

I've done both Cozumel and Pto Morelos. It's just that Pto Morelos is a lot closer and one can spend the day relaxing. I just didn't want the OP to be misled into thinking Pto Morelos was not as good. I also like how it's much more individualized. One doesn't have to follow a group tour into the water. Your group trip is usually no more than 12 people at one time.

Either way, both places are beautiful. It's just that at my age, I prefer my tours to be a little bit more laid back and with not so much jumping through hoops for a day of snorkling/snuba/scuba.

This is true. It would be a much longer trip for Cozumel, unless you were staying there. We were at the Grand Mayan, so it was like 20 minutes to Playa, another 30 minute ferry ride, etc.

I think only maybe 15 minute drive/ride to Puerto. Nice little town too. I'm not sure where they took us exactly, but we had to pay the extra $2 or whatever for the national park fee. I'll have to post my pictures from the camera --of course it was windy and cloudy the day we went snorkeling there. But you can't control the weather.

No matter where you go, I don't think you'll have bad snorkeling. Also done Hawaii, but mainly the big island. I think I'd have to say Chankanab/Cozumel was my favorite so far. But lots more places to visit (haha)

I'd strongly suggest a water proof camera (I had a disposable the first time, and then I got a digital one). Just makes it seem more memorable.

Check out Trip Advisor for tours and companies as well. Some places are "cattle boats" and some are not. I think when we did Puerto, it was cattle boat time.

--Kevin