Eagle Ray Divers

[TJSchulte]

Wondered if anyone has experience with Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel. My husband and I are cruising with our kids ( ages 6 & 9), and had originally planned on going to Chankanaab Park or on the Fury Catamaran excursion. Due to the uncertainty of the Chankanaab excurisons post-hurricane and some posts that have said Fury excursion was too crowded for snorkeling, we have been hesitant to book either of these excursions thru DCL. This will be our kid's first time snorkeling, so I thought maybe a smaller group setting would be better.

I have previously read a couple comments about the personalized service given by Eagle Ray, and thought I'd check with fellow dis'rs to see if anyone could provide additional info on their past experiences with this company.

Thanks,
Tracy

 

[musicgirl]

We just did the Eagle Ray excursion this past June. We had an awesome time.

We linked a ressie with our tablemates. We were the only ones on the boat. They do NOT take you to the same place that the 3 large catamarans go. We went earlier that our ressie was for and we left right away.

They are great, depending on when your cruise is, Chellie-from the states, will greet you and get you set with masks and fins. She's pregnant (with a girl!) so you may or may not see her.

We did the 2 reef snorkel. They are very helpful with beginners. They will tell you that you do not need life vests, with your young kids, you will probably want them to have them.

When you get to the 1st stop, the guide goes in the water with you (at all times), you are in a current that will allow you to just float. It was cool because we really didn't need to kick-swim. Our family had snorkeled quite a few times and we felt very comfortable without vests. The guide takes a life ring in the water for anyone who needs to rest.

We did get to do a bonus reef since they didn't have any one else scheduled. Don't forget to tip them. I tipped the guide and the boat captain-Captain Zorro each $10 for the 3 of us. I probably over tipped, but we had a great time.

Just remember, this is a small family type business. Do not be surprised at the condition of the small fishing boats. They are pretty old, although I did hear they had 1 new one.

If you have any ?, ask away!

 

[Jillpie]

I couldn't explain it any better than my counterpart above, my fellow snorkeler Lorie and family! The only thing I will add to hers is, as far as the life jacket goes, my family needed them. We all could swim without them, but maybe because this was our first time snorkeling, it was hard work to stay afloat and use the fins at the same time. It was soooo much easier with the jacket on.

We had Luis as our guide, he was wonderful, showing us all kinds of different fish. He gave us soda and cookies in between jumps. It was a really fantastic experience, especially going with another Dis family ! We highly recommend going with this company. Hi to Chellie and Luis if you read these boards!!

 

[TJSchulte]

Is there any problem with seasickness on these small boats? That was one of my initial concerns, but forgot to ask about it on my original post. 2-3 hours could be a long time for kids (or me for that matter!) if the boat is bouncing all over the place. Wondered if this was ever a problem for those that have done this excursion.

Thanks,
Tracy

 

[musicgirl]

No problem here.

I get extremely motion sick, it got so one bad I couldn't even drive myself! I didn't have any problem at all. I take dramamine (the less drowsey formula) from the morning I get on the plane until I get home. I take 1 mid morning and then 1 before dinner (6). I take it continually through out the entire trip even on port days.

The boat does not go super fast so perhaps that helped, I don't know. Make sure you eat in the morning. I know I tend to get sick when I have an empty stomach.

 

[IrishCowboy]

Tracy,
We just did our 9th Disney Cruise July 22-29 and we did the Eagle Ray. It was fabulous!!!!! It was my husband, son age 10 and myself and we had our own personal guide. He would go down and point out the different fish and shells to us and even took our underwater camera and got some close up shots and pictures of all of us snorkeling. We have all done other snorkeling trips and this was by far the best - others were very crowded. They give you fruit, cookies and soda/water. I would definitely recommend it!!
Vicki

 

[pdarrah]

We snorkeled with Eagle Ray in October 2004 and had a WONDERFULL time! We had booked to do it again on our October 2005 cruise, but hurricane Wilma had other ideas. Wilma was sitting over Cozumel on the day we sailed and DCL took us on an Eastern instead of a Western (we also got to play tag with Alpha & Beta!) We contacted Chellie and she was going to mail our deposit back, but since we are attempting another Western in January 2007 we asked that she hold it as our deposit for that trip! Our son was 5 when we went and if you would like more detail, here is a link to "page 4" of my trip report ... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=680305

pdarrah

 

[5by5]

About how far from the port is Eagle Ray?

5by5

 

[musicgirl]

Thanks pdarrah, I hooked up with Jillpie on your recommendations and I'm sure you've read what a fabulous time we had.

The marina is maybe 10 minutes away at the most. Chellie (eagle ray) will give you great directions concerning what to tell the taxi driver and so on. It was $2 per person per way.

 

[Pooh's Purple Pal]

We just got back from the July 22-29 Magic and we did Eagle Ray. Hi Irish Cowboy, I think we were the larger goup on the other boat that went out right next to you! We had 4 doing introductory scuba and 4 doing snorkeling and were joined by a cast member learning scuba and another tourist doing the snorkeling, so our boat had more people than Irish Cowboy's, but it still didn't feel too crowded. The actual snorkeling wasn't the best in terms of variety and numbers of fish, but I have nothing in Cozumel to compare it to.

The Eagle Ray experience was awesome though! Antonio was patient and calm teaching the scuba people and the 4 in our group had a great time and will probably go back for more when we make it to Cozumel again. Raul took out our snorkel group and he was great, too. Not only did he point out and name the fish (and get the fish to do interesting things like change colors for us ), but he was amazing with my 9 year old. My son has snorkeled before but panicked a little when we first went in and Raul was absolutely perfect in dealing with him. He motioned me to stay back and helped my son clear and fix his mask (while holding the life ring) and gave my son back all the confidence in the world. Later they ended up joking about being brave and both of them took turns diving off the roof of the boat! It was a fabulous experience!

 

[5by5]

Thanks pdarrah, I hooked up with Jillpie on your recommendations and I'm sure you've read what a fabulous time we had.

The marina is maybe 10 minutes away at the most. Chellie (eagle ray) will give you great directions concerning what to tell the taxi driver and so on. It was $2 per person per way.

Thanks!

5by5