TravelingMom

We'll be in Cozumel over Thanksgiving this year - staying at the Grand Cozumel by Occidental. I've been reading a lot of posts that snorkelling is excellent on the island, but haven't seen many specifics. We'll probably have a rental car a few days and would love the details for some great off-beach snorkelling.

If anyone has any suggestions for boat trip companies, we'd be interested in them too!

Thanks!

Diana

We enjoy the Fury Catamaran day trips. (We've done it five or six times.)

Some people complain that it's too much of a party boat, but - hey - they go to the very best reefs - Palancar, etc., - and have a great beach barbecue with floats, volleyball, sea kayaks, and music, and that id fun to us.

Lots of people take their kids, and it is a fun day. Check out:

http://www.furycat.com/

It's a bit harder to find beach snorkeling, but we like Chankanaab Park. Easy (stairs) access, lots of fish, shade palapas and chairs, good food and icy "buckets of beer" and showers. Easy cab ride and reasonable entry fee.

SnRSeattle

We went to Cozumel in March 2002, staying at the Fiesta Americana. It was our first experience snorkeling off the beach and so were easily excited, but there were fish everywhere! We went north to the big hotel south of the town (sorry, I forget it's name) then drifted back to the FA. Clouds of fish and other stuff. The National Park was also quite fun. Get there early to get a palapa because the cruise ships' passengers go there. Skip the boat trips to the dive reefs unless there is a really low tide--the coral and fish are pretty deep and visibility isn't that great (at least the day we went.) I think the divers love it, but for us on top, it was a bust. We drove around the island and thought that the windward side was quite interesting (but not for snorkeling.)
Sally

LLindaC

I agree....the reefs are so-so off shore and the boats don't have much on some of the areas close in such as Chankanaab, where you only have to swim out about 15 feet, then follow the shore line. The coral is nice, if not spectacular, but the fish are great. You must feed them to maximize the experience! Besides throwing up in the water, which is a great fish magnet I found out the hard way, we have found the best way to attract fishies is to take airline peanut packs, squish them a bit, then toss the pieces in the water. Very convenient.

JuliePA

Try this link http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com There is a lot of information about snorkelling on this site - there is also a pretty good forum. We were in Playa del Carmen last March and had good intentions to make it to Cozumel - but we didn't make it this trip. We were looking at taking a boat trip to three reefs with a local woman that we found out about on the forum - it looked like the perfect trip - just a couple of people per trip - not the big "party boats". This site also lists all of the "snorkelling from shore" spots and what you can expect to see, etc. Have Fun.

jawfish

You may also want to check out http://www.scuba-diving-cozumel.com, it has a lot of info about the island and more specifically, scuba diving and snorkeling.