My family will take an Isla Contoy tour. I have not found reviews on these. Does anyone have first-hand experience with one that leaves from Cancun? If not, have you had experience from Isla Mujeres?

I've never done it out of Cancun, but have from Isla Mujeres. Its a pretty good day trip --- stopped off for some snorkling on a reef, included the lunch etc. There's not a lot to do on Contoy itself, except climb the tower, do the nature walk thing, then have lunch. Still a fun day overall.

I wrote up a detailed trip report on the Epinions site. It's at:
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-...389C84A1-prod2
(that should all be one line, no spaces)

Hope it helps!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Hi Amelia! My family took a Panga from Isla Mujeres to Contoy in 1987. It was an amazing excursion for us. We stopped midway (about 45 mins or so) and snorkeled an amazing reef....no land in sight! Fish galore and the finest coral these eyes have ever seen! We caught a Barracuda on the way and our "captain" barbecued it on Contoy and it was served as our shore lunch. The only time I have ever had Barracuda....but it was very tasty the way he prepared it. Not a whole lot to do on Contoy....but definitely a trip I have thought about often over the past 15 years. I have since had many Caribbean experiences including living in the USVI....but I always remember our vacation to Isla Mujeres and our day trip to Isla Contoy.

I did one from IM and it ended up being an absoutely amazing experience, but I doubt many people would want to do it the way we did.

We signed up for a tour through our hotel - Na Balam - and were at the co-op dock to meet the Captain and boat. There were about 10 of us.

Something broke on the boat we supposed to take, so we all ended up on a teeny litle fishing boat.

It took 2.5 LOOOONG hours in the open ocean to get there, and 3 even longer hours to get back.

It is/can be rough out there, so go on a big boat which will take MUCH less time. The trip on this small boat is only for the non-complaining intrepid. I love to sail, but both my and dh's backsides were hurting for days due to the small boat on very rough water. Be sure to find out in advance how long it takes to get there and how long it takes to get back. Take a boat that takes no longer than an hour unless you are the "roughing it" type, and make sure your boat has shade to get out of the sun. Because ours took so long, we had much less time to spend on Contoy.

We caught our own lunch (actually, the captain and "first mate" caught them - barracuda - and they grilled it for us with achiote. We had drinks, fish, tortillas, guacamole and cole slaw. It was delicious!

Then we pet the tame rays in the bay, toured the nature center and tower, snorkeled and swam, and spent almost three hours getting back to IM on rough water - whew. A great day, but do your research!

Thanks so much for your responses. I have been trying to contact various tour operators in Cancun to see exactly how long it takes to get there from the dock, and I'm not getting a lot of concrete answers. One trip goes from Cancun to Contoy, stopping on the way, and then returns to via Isla Mujeres! I don't know.

Amelia:I am having the same difficulty in finding someone who can recommend a specific name of someone who they know first hand does a good Contoy tour. I am looking to go from Isla M.(taking ferry from Cancun.The responses don't name a specific tour company or person.I was able to find on www.isla-mujeres.net the name of 2 tours.Unfortunately I have no idea if they are any good.Could somebody please help us?! We leave 3/28/05.

I know that Captain Tony (you just have to go to his house next to Manolo's or hope you catch up with him at the dock) seems to be everyone's favorite.

Another thing you can do is go to the co-op dock when you first get into town and ask who has the fastest boat over to Contoy. I HOPE they would steer you in the right direction, but many of the co-op members speak limited Spanish.

Another suggestion would be to contact one of the hotels on IM and see if you could arrange the trip through them.

Since it is low season, you would have the benefit of a better negotiating position.

Please, please ;please, when u get back please post your trip to isla contoy..am going in july and want to take the trip with kids ages 8 and 10 but want to know if it is suitable for them..basically the reef snorkeling, as the kids are little vikings and have roughed some tough boat rides here in jersey....thanks alot...hope you had fun....bill

We found the seas very calm. It was like a big bathtub! As far as guides go....I think you'll have ample to pick from once you get on the island. It is a popular day trip and there are many Pangas that can get you there with a Capt that will make it an experience to remember!