Best snorkeling in Cozumel

[LeslieG]

I've heard Cozumel is a great snorkeling spot, but there seems to be several different options for snorkeling in Cozumel. Any opinions on the best? Is it better from a boat than off a beach?

 

[ivanova]

I did SNUBA (on a Carnival cruise) off the beach and it was FANTASTIC!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Because my DH doesn't snorkel we always go to Chankanaab NP in Cozumel. He gets a beach day and I get fabulous snorkeling right off the rocky beach. We've done this twice and I plan to do it again next year.

Bobbi

 

[pdarrah]

We had a wonderful time snorkeling with Eagle Ray Divers (www.eagleraydivers.com) in Cozumel. We snorkeled from the boat but weren't all that far from shore (a little further than I would be willing to swim). You could probably swim out to the good parts of the reef if you really wanted to (and there may be some area where good snorkeling is closer) but we REALLY enjoyed our trip.

We were on a "small" boat - Plenty of room for the 4 people from Eagle Ray, 3 of us and 4 scuba people - just not as big as some of the excursions from the cruise ship. The 3 of us (me, DH and DS5) snorkeled with one of the owners (Chellie) as our guide. She was fantastic- she is a marine biologist and was able to show us a lot that we might not have noticed ourselves.

We had so much fun, we are doing it again this October.

pdarrah

 

[ASROBERTS]

Pdarrah,

Did you have any problems with seasickness on that snorkel/dive excursion? We were thinking of doing that in September. How long were you out in the water just floating around? Can I ask how much they charge?
Angela

 

[joanb]

WE hired an independent jeep excursion company-we were taken to the northeast side of the island and had a great snorkel adventure. It was like an underwter canyon we swam through-with a knowlegable guide. WE also saw the the nature habitat-no touristy stuff-

 

[pdarrah]

Hi ASROBERTS,

No, we didn't have any seasickness trouble. My DH is actually prone to seasickness and it didn't bother him. The waters around Cozumel tend to be fairly calm (yes, there are waves, but not like the middle of the ocean.)

I was actually very surprised at how long we were in the water. I think we spent about 45 minutes to 1 hour at each of the 2 reefs, but the water was so warm and the snorkeling was so easy there and there was so much to see that it didn't seem like that long at all. They work with the current and put you into the water (with your guide) so that you just float along the reef with the current - almost no effort required!

I don't remember the exact price, but I believe that they have it on their website. It was definitely cheaper than any of the DCL snorkeling excursions! Maybe around $100 for the 3 of us?

Again, I HIGHLY recommend Eagle Ray Divers and have already arranged our excursion for October.

pdarrah

 

[suecate]

We used WAhoo tours in Cozumel. It was a $6 cab ride to boat and it was just for the 4 of us on the boat. Husband, 6 son & 7 yr old daughter. Our guides manny and miguel took us away from the crowds and he actually was in the water with us leading us with a bouye (sp). The part I liked best was that manny would bring the boat to where we ended so we did not have to swim back to the boat. We saw parrot fish that were so beautiful and the water was like looking trhough glass. They also supplied beer, soda and water. We brought our lunch. We were out there for over 3.5 hrs and all of this cost less than $300.00 for the 4 of us. We booked through shore trips but they have their own web site wahootours.com I would highly, highly recommed them and ask for manny and miguel.