My wife and I will have a one-day stop in Cozumel in late January and want to take advantage of the great snorkeling. This is our first trip to Coz. We have snorkeled before, but I am a poor swimmer and really ought to stick with relatively shallow water. My wife swims just fine. We would like a decent beach, too. Where do you recommend? Chankanaab? Playa San Francisco? La Ceiba? El Presidente Intercontinental? Somewhere else? Thanks for your help.

Charlie,<BR><BR>Chankanaab park is the place for you. Easy shallow access in and out of water, sandy wide beach with plenty of chairs and palapas, good restaurants, lockers and showers, excellent snorkeling, and lots of other things to do and see...<BR><BR>fyi, Presidente does not allow day visitors to use their facilities. Although beaches are public, the hotel's cannot be reached except by boat.

The water at Chankanaab is quite deep, however you can rent a vest and wear that. My husband isn't that comfortable in deep water, but he loves to snorkel so he always wears a vest. Alternatively, beaches like Playa Corona are shallow and snorkeling was quite good when I was there.

Charlie, Snorkeling at Dzul Ha is a good alternative. It starts out quite shallow and you can swim out as far and as deep as you feel comfortable. Any taxi driver can take you to Dzul Ha. Its not far from the cruise ship pier. Two suggestions to make you feel comfortable in the water: take along a water skiers belt. They are much easier to use than the vests you can rent because they don't tip your head and neck up at an angle, or rent a wet suit. First the added warmth of a wet suit is great and allows you stay in snorkeling a lot longer before lossing body heat and the bouyancy of the suit will make you feel like an expert swimmer. Its great. I have used that as my &quot;crutch&quot; for years.