Cozumel excursions

[disneynan]

I’m looking at excursions in Cozumel offered through DCL. We are 2 sets of mother/daughter ranging from 18-mid-50s who are all physically active. We will be there in August, would like to be in the water and snorkel. Does anyone have any excursions they either recommend or don’t recommend and why? Thanks!

 

[supergirl04]

Following. I have no suggestions, but I am traveling without my husband with children 11 & 9. Am looking for something safe to do as well.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We are a family of snorkelers; love it and have to pry us out of the water. In Cozumel, the pickings are slim for DCL snorkeling excursions. Last time there, we did Three Reef Snorkel (CZ46). Our experience was a definite letdown. The boat was late, they had us walk down the pier, use the bathroom (!), go back up the pier; like we wouldn't notice the boat was nearly 2 hours late

Once we got onboard, we motored out of the harbor area to a rocky beach where they had a guy with a box of disposable snorkels for everyone. My wife muttered that it looked like it fell out of a truck. Eventually, we stopped and were in the water. Not sure about the location, as there were no other snorkel boats around. It was very deep for snorkeling; nearly 75-100 feet deep, which made me wonder what we were doing there. There were some fish, but the most exciting thing was watching the scuba divers hugging the bottom and playing tag with their bubble. I think there was some coral down there, but it was nothing like Grand Cayman or the like.

We may have had a 'lemon' excursion, but when we go back this time next year on Magic out of NOLA, I'm already investigating non-DCL snorkel charters.

 

[dcassetta]

We did the Fury catamaran experience several years ago and thought it was fun. The snorkeling around Cozumel is just not great no matter where you are. It doesn’t have the right reef structure. The catamaran included some snorkeling time, and then a nice beach area where you could swim. You might also look at some of the private beach clubs. We really like the quiet of Nachi Cocum, but Playa Mia and Mr. Sanchos are popular too. I have not been there, but the Cabana Beach area at Chankanaab gets really good reviews.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I do not have experience with the exact offerings DCL has but I went on a cruise to cozumel recently and it was great but we did a combo with snorkling. So it had chocolate and tequilla tasting as a combo with snorkling. Don't do that. Snorkling was such a short time we literally went out into the water and came right back in and barely had any time to really look around and enjoy the experience.

 

[disneynan]

I do not have experience with the exact offerings DCL has but I went on a cruise to cozumel recently and it was great but we did a combo with snorkling. So it had chocolate and tequilla tasting as a combo with snorkling. Don't do that. Snorkling was such a short time we literally went out into the water and came right back in and barely had any time to really look around and enjoy the experience.

Thanks for that information. We are looking at one that combines glass bottom kayaking with snorkeling.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Thanks for that information. We are looking at one that combines glass bottom kayaking with snorkeling.

How long does it say the excursion is? For us its like by the time they got our equipment handed out and went through a safety brief we probably spent at least 30 minutes of the time we had and we hadn't even gotten in the water yet. Then you have to have time at the end to return equipment. Personally, I won't do another combination excursion. It was just a bummer to have so little time to actually breathe and enjoy what you're doing.

 

[disneynan]

How long does it say the excursion is? For us its like by the time they got our equipment handed out and went through a safety brief we probably spent at least 30 minutes of the time we had and we hadn't even gotten in the water yet. Then you have to have time at the end to return equipment. Personally, I won't do another combination excursion. It was just a bummer to have so little time to actually breathe and enjoy what you're doing.

I think it said 4.5-5 hours total. It didn't give specific times for the different activities. I definitely appreciate you sharing your experience. I didn't want to do just the beach excursions because it looked like being on a crowded beach with a bunch of other cruisers which wasn't appealing. I want to see a bit of the island but am nervous about just hiring a taxi to get around which is why we are looking at doing a Disney sponsored excursion.

 

[Geomom]

We did the Mayan ruins, chocolate, beach break DCL tour in June and enjoyed that. It's not as exciting as mainland ruins, but since we've never seen any Mayan ruins, we enjoyed it. Our bus also stopped at a honey place where a Mayan shaman gave a blessing and there was stuff to buy there. We enjoyed the chocolate part as well and just used the beach break excursion part to buy/eat lunch and enjoy the free wifi. It was a rainy morning, cloudy afternoon for us.

 

[sabrecmc]

We did the Mayan ruins, chocolate, beach break DCL tour in June and enjoyed that. It's not as exciting as mainland ruins, but since we've never seen any Mayan ruins, we enjoyed it. Our bus also stopped at a honey place where a Mayan shaman gave a blessing and there was stuff to buy there. We enjoyed the chocolate part as well and just used the beach break excursion part to buy/eat lunch and enjoy the free wifi. It was a rainy morning, cloudy afternoon for us.

We did this one in December and enjoyed it. It wasn't great by any means, but good. A bit of a letdown after Progreso where we had a great excursion (Mayapan Ruins and Cenote Swim). For our June cruise, I have the helmet dive booked for Cozumel, but I've heard mixed things on that and keep debating.

 

[2boysmommy]

How long does it say the excursion is? For us its like by the time they got our equipment handed out and went through a safety brief we probably spent at least 30 minutes of the time we had and we hadn't even gotten in the water yet. Then you have to have time at the end to return equipment. Personally, I won't do another combination excursion. It was just a bummer to have so little time to actually breathe and enjoy what you're doing.

Do you have to snorkel? Can you stay in your kayak if you want to? Or just swim around? I have one that is very opposed to snorkeling with "shared" equipment...

 

[MushuHill]

We just came back a week ago and did Honey, chocolate, tequila. It was ok at best.
The local honey was really good. It is super thin and almost taste like citrus. I don’t like honey so that is a big thing for me to say it was good. The chocolate was interesting and I bought some bars to bring home. At tequila you get 3 tiny “tastes” of it.
Overall it was a lot of talking at the spots and then waiting around for people to shop at the stops. The tour guide was really nice and funny, but I would not book that again.

 

[Calantha]

We just came back a week ago and did Honey, chocolate, tequila.

Ugh, that’s unfortunate. I was really thinking about doing this in January when we go. I enjoyed the chocolate factory in Nassau, so I thought it might be similar.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Do you have to snorkel? Can you stay in your kayak if you want to? Or just swim around? I have one that is very opposed to snorkeling with "shared" equipment...

When we did it there was no Kayaking, it was a excursion through Carnival so I'm not sure if Disney offers the same thing but I'm sure they do or something similar.

For us it was snorkeling, tequilla tasting, and chocolate tasting. You didn't have to snorkel if you didn't want to. We went to this resort area with a bar so anyone who didn't snorkel hung out around there on the beach. My mom didn't snorkel and then I took my son and my nephew out in the water.

 

[unrequited23]

We did this one in December and enjoyed it. It wasn't great by any means, but good. A bit of a letdown after Progreso where we had a great excursion (Mayapan Ruins and Cenote Swim).

We are between a 4 night Progreso cruise and a 5 night Cozumel & CC cruise. We would be doing either the Mayapan Ruins and Cenote Swim or the Ruins, Chocolate and Beach Break excursions. Does the awesomeness of the Mayapan ruins out weigh the ok Ruins, Chocolate and Beach Break plus a stop at Castaway?

 

[sjuncfan]

Do you have to snorkel? Can you stay in your kayak if you want to? Or just swim around? I have one that is very opposed to snorkeling with "shared" equipment...

We are considering just taking a taxi to Playa Uvas, which I think is the beach club with the snorkeling and kayaking that the excursion goes to. This is the basic entry:

• Cost$15 USD per Person

Entrance Includes

• Welcome Drink
• Full snorkel gear (inflatable life vest, mask, fins & snorkel)
• 30 Minute Guided Shore Snorkel Tour
• 30 Minutes of Kayaking
• Marine Park fees
• Access to facilities (Chairs,Umbrellas, Free Wifi, Hammocks and the Restaurant Bar)

We are also considering some of the other beach clubs such as Paradise Island or Mr. Sanchos. We will most likely not book an excursion but some of the beach clubs seem like they do fill up and need to be booked in advance. I like that Playa Uvas is cheaper since it's not all-inclusive and my DS loves kayaking so that's why we're leaning towards that.

 

[WildernessMickey]

We like Buccanos Beach Club. You take a taxi and pay an entrance fee similar to other Beach Clubs in the area.

 

[Mitura]

When we have gone we have done these 2 excursions on our own. Pre booked them via the internet and then just taken a taxi on sight.

Chankanaab national park. You can snorkel right off the beach. There is stuff right in the ocean (statues) so that you can see it close to shore.

Playa Mia. Big water park, pool and right on the beach. Last time we went they had inflatables right off shore which added to the fun, though very exhausting.

Again we did these on our own by pre-booking and taking a taxi. We last did these pre-covid. But we are leaning to do one or the other this Thanksgiving on a RCL cruise.

 

[Disneyfam854]

We recently did the Mexican Cooking Class with Beachbreak in Cozumel and highly recommend! Even my teen kids had a blast and said they would do this excursion again!

We cooked, had some mixed drinks (in which they were not shy with the alcohol) ate all the delicious food we made, had fun at aqua park, and relaxed on beach. Felt we had plenty of time, but would have gladly stayed for more.

 

[Jaime C]

We cruised to Cozumel in January and we did the All-Terrain Buggy and Snorkel - the company was amazing it was a lot of fun. You can fit 4 into a buggy and you are in a group of people driving down the roads. We then had a snorkel break at a beautiful beach area. The excursion people made his "grandma's recipe" pico de gallo and it was wonderful. There was also a small restaurant where we got to order our food before we did the snorkeling excursion then came back to sit and eat our lunch. Had a round of tequila before we headed off back to drop off the ATVs and then we decided to do a quick stop at Senor Frogs before we went back on the ship