Cozumel Snorkeling Tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo Reefs

When we showed up at the ferry the lady there was not very welcoming! She was like what’s your name ok I need your $6 marine fee. Ok you can stand over there . Motioning for us to move aside , mind you nobody else was there to check in! No explanations just follow me , to taxi puts in taxi and walks away. When we arrived at marina it was like ok now what. Two guys walked up and told us we could use restrooms and go wait over there. They were waiting for the rest to arrive . We were told to be there by 10 we didn’t leave out till almost 11. No explanations. The boat Capt was rude . The one who was the nicest was photographer (Miguel) the trip was ok for the price maybe a better crew!

Pros: The snorkeling sites were great, and impressive, water the most gorgeous blue and clear I’ve ever seen. Cons: The boat was tiny, tight and uncomfortable and it kept leaning. Did not have appropriate equipment for children under 12. Our guide Alex was not very friendly. He made us put our phones away in a bucket before we got to any sites and we would have to ask to get it which wouldn’t happen right away so no memories except for the last stop I got to take some pics. He was also very arrogant with his responses and it made it awkward. Let’s just say nobody was very happy with him by the end. They limit you to 2 beers(oh and he counted) The snack was fresh guacamole but not enough for our group. So eat before you go. I’d return to sites but not with “maybe tours”

We lost 45 minutes of the tour because the group was not complete. Besides we took the for 1 our together 2-way, so we had no 4 hours which was planned for the trip. Besides the last part, which we have relaxed with the group can be longer.

Our guide Alex was terrible and scolded us like school children. We also had no idea name of company when we showed up bc was not included in Viator info had to have a local call for us to figure out.

This was a magical experience. Our guide brought us to the best spots and we were able to see a lot of fish, 4 turtles and some sting rays and starfish. Unforgettable !!!

Great experience, breath taking coral reef. We run into lots of different animals, along them a little baby turtle and hundreds of star fish. The staff was great, very helpful and professional We ended up in a sand bank with a drink and some nachos

The best part of the day by far was the last stop on the Cielito sandbar! The water is beautiful and there were many rays that swam by as we enjoyed the ceviche and cold beers. As for the snorkeling, it was fun and we have nothing but high props for our guide, Jaso, and our boat capitán, Ramon. My wife and I have dived (and snorkeled) in many amazing spots around the globe. As a snorkeling site, this was just average. The reef appears to be very healthy, which is great to see, and I’m sure we would have enjoyed diving here. But the reef is 20-40 ft below the surface, so unless you’re pretty good at free-diving you don’t see many fish up close. The surface is also crowded with snorkeling groups and it can be easy to get confused which group is yours if you get distracted. Nevertheless, we had a great time and highly recommend the outing for the price. Maybe Tours was one of the least expensive options yet we were totally pleased. As some have mentioned, their snorkeling gear isn’t top of the line, but at $55 USD pp our expectations were low to begin with. It was fine and included flippers. They even had mask defogger on board and none of us had any issues with leaky masks or fogging.

Excellent snorkel trip! We arrived in Cozumel via cruise ship. We were among the first people off the ship and got a taxi to the marina, which cost $8.00, plus tip and only took 5 minutes. We were approached by someone who asked us which tour we were on. We told them and a representative introduced himself. We waited for the rest of our group, which was a family of 5 from the Dominican Republic and a couple from Switzerland. Jaso and Abo were our tour guides and they were fantastic. They took us to 3 stops for the best snorkeling I have ever experienced! It was April 11th, and the water was warm and clear. Jaso led us on a guided snorkel at the 1st stop. We saw lots of beautiful fish and the reef was healthy. We even saw a stingray. At the 2nd stop, the water was super clear and we saw lots and lots of star fish sitting on the ocean floor. The starfish were different colors and sizes. At the 3rd stop, we got out of the boat in waist deep water and they served us delicious guacamole and chips and drinks on a life preserver floating the water. The water was so clear we could see lots of sting rays as they swam right past us! It was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone. After they took us back to the marina, we had a couple of hours to spend in Cozumel to shop. There were nice bathrooms and outdoor showers at the marina, so we were able to rinse off and change into dry clothes, so we didn't have to go back to the ship.

This snorkeling trip was mediocre at best. The meet up at the ferry terminal for the group taxi ride to a small marina took nearly 45 minutes. If you're looking for a comfortable snorkeling experience, this is not it. The snorkeling gear was cheap. The mask was okay, but the actual snorkel itself was a low cost tube that you would find at a dollar store. A good snorkel is certainly a must during open ocean snorkeling. Be prepared to continually drink salt water. The guide boat did NOT provide fins! The water was beautiful, but the hassle of constantly clearing the mask and tube did not allow a true snorkeling experience. Finally, after returning to the marina, there was no guidance about getting a ride back to the original pickup point. A taxi did arrive to which we proceeded to get in, only to have someone from the tour operator tell us eventually that his "boss" was paying for a bus to take us back. The bus never showed up, but two more cabs did. Being a pre-booked tour I expected organization and professionalism, but this is not what I got. Avoid this tour.

Snorkeling was amazing — our favorite spot was a shallower area that was covered in giant starfish and clear blue water. The guides were friendly and the last spot was a giant beautiful sandbar where we drank beer and ate fruit. The two downsides is that we didn’t know we couldn’t wear sunscreen because of the reefs so we got very burnt and there was some confusion at the end about the taxis, though others didn’t seem to have issues.