Anyone toured with Submarine Scooters recently?

[Cruise Lover Kathy]

DH and I will be in Cozumel in Nov and are interested in doing the underwater scooters with Cozumel Watersports. The pictures I have seen are terrific. I have found a few good reviews but nothing recently. Anyone have any current info?

 

Thanks in advance

Kathy

[lh9789]

We were also interested in this excursion, and ready to book it and the parasailing with Cozumel Watersports. Our first email to Cozumel Watersports asking if it was possible to combine the 2 activities recieved a reply asking how many people, when we replied within 5 minutes with "2 people, sorry we forgot to add that" we didn't get a reply. We emailed again, and got a reply saying "we'll get back to you tommorow" but three days later still no reply. Their poor communication has turned us off. We won't be using Cozumel Watersports for ANYthing.

[Cruise Lover Kathy]

I am starting to wonder as well. I called their phone line and got a little info. They said to email for a rezervation. I sent an email but have not received an answer. DH really wants to do this but I am becoming hesitant.

[klmorg]

Bummer... we were really interested in the underwater scooters ourselves. I haven't tried to make contact or reservatons or anything yet, but have tried to get more info about it around here and it seems like there's not a whole lot out there. They look so fun!

[Grits53]

You probably read my review from June 2008. We haven't done it since then, but we were well pleased with the way we were treated by the folks at Cozumel Tours. Hopefully, this link will take you to the site, but if not, google it.

http://www.cozumel-tours.com/mini-subs.htm

[lh9789]

You probably read my review from June 2008. We haven't done it since then, but we were well pleased with the way we were treated by the folks at Cozumel Tours. Hopefully, this link will take you to the site, but if not, google it.

http://www.cozumel-tours.com/mini-subs.htm

 

My boyfriend tried to book the mini-sub with Cozumel Watersports under his email address and got the "we'll check and email you tommorow" response...and then no further emails, same as what I got :(

Eventually he found Cozumel Tours and ended up booking with them, I feel pretty good about it as they seemed really on top of things. They email you little tickets for the activity, 1 ticket covers all persons in your party. (We felt we had time enough to do the mini-sub AND parasailing, and they were able to arrange both, so we got 1 ticket for the minisub and 1 for the parasailing). They also emailed a Cozumel Fun Card for 30% off at 45 locations in Cozumel: dining,shopping and services. Don't know if we'll use it, but it's nice to have.

[Cruise Lover Kathy]

You said you were in contact with them. Did you end up booking/using them for something?

[Almost Packed]

i just read a horrible thread about tour cozumel but they were the dot NET site not the dot COM

 

you check out the other thread here on this board and make sure it's not the same...some real bad stuff going on there.....just an f.y.i.

 

i'm researching stuff to do in coz as well.

[klmorg]

Well, since Cozumel WaterSports says they're no longer offering this excursion, has anyone used cozumel-tours dot com for the underwater mini sub excursion? From their website:

 

MINI-SUB ADVENTURE

 

The latest incredible underwater adventure tour is now available in Cozumel Mexico! Drive your own 1-person mini-submarine (underwater scooter) through the aquatic wonderland of Cozumel's famous coral reefs, being at one with the tropical marine life.

 

This amazing excursion takes place on a miniature one-person submarine, where you wear a helmet that enables you to breathe underwater. No fancy equipment is required, and you don't even need to swim! It's like riding a moped or a jet ski, only on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea!

 

Edited: NEVER MIND! It looks like Johann & Sandra (same people on cozumel-tours website?) are also posting the same info here on CC, which is that the local tour operators cannot offer tours that are offered on the ships. And the mini-subs is one of them. Looks like we pay $50 more PP booking thru the ship. I can understand a bit of inflation, but that seems a bit steep to me.

[lh9789]

Ok, so we're just back from our trip. It seems to be a problem with just the mini-subs/underwater scooters, as we were able to keep our parasailing and Atlantis submarine reservations, both of which we made with Cozumel Watersports and both are also offered by Carnival. We agree, the price mark-up by Carival was not worth it for us. So here's a review of these other options:

 

Parasailing: very peacful up in the air, close to heaven. We were taken *really, really* far out over the water, though. Although the Albatross Parasailing boat docks at the Aqua Pier across from the 2nd story Mc Donald's in the Downtown area of Cozumel, the actual parasailing is not done near there. So do NOT try to have anyone photograph you parasailing from the shore! Like I said, we were FAR out in the water. Note: this Downtown area was not near the area our cruise ship docked-- I forget the name of our pier at the moment--I think it was called Wattler Pier??. Miles away and too far to walk, we were forced to take a taxi which I believe was $7 for 2 people, but it was worth it- this area had lots of statues and shops and more to see and do. There is another pier that IS in this area; make sure to find out which pier your ship is coming into. Don't miss: the arc-ing sculpture of scuba divers right near this Downtown pier. It frames a beautiful view of the crystal clear ocean water here (and is in fact a part of a star-shaped-base fountain --which was completely drained when we were there. But still so very beautiful, it must be amazing when it has water in it.) I'd recommend you get your picture taken in front of this sculpture.

 

Atlantis sub: WAS close to our pier (Wattler Pier?), about a 10-15 minute walk. Very nice inside their lobby with nice gifts, a restroom, and the best postcards I saw anywhere. I actually regret not buying postcards there. They take you on a passenger boat to the sub, which is waiting out in the deep water. (This saves on the sub's power; it is even pre-towed out to the deep to save power.) Then you transfer from the boat to the top of the sub, and down the ladder into the sub. You have to hunch down to look out the sub windows, so watch out if you have a bad neck. Although the guide pointed out a sand shark or two, a stingray in the sand, and a school of fish, it was all very UN-colorful, like looking at a black-and-white movie. The only color I saw was a small blue fish, and maybe 2 coral. So be prepared for that. I don't think we got any really great pictures partially because of the lack of contrast- but I haven't had a chance to pop my SD cards into the computer to check the pics for sure yet. One thing that was most interesting: the steep drop off of the ocean floor in an area called The Wall. That was kind of scary to see. It looked like a cliff, and we could not see the bottom. We were about 105 feet down at that point, that was as far down as we went. There is a digital thingy at either end of the sub that shows how deep you are going, it is large enough to photograph no matter where you sit on the sub. Anyway, another 15 minute walk from the Atlantis' storefront is a place called Sunset Beach that looked like a nice place to hang out if you did not want to go to Downtown Cozumel City.

[klmorg]

Ok, so we're just back from our trip. It seems to be a problem with just the mini-subs/underwater scooters, as we were able to keep our parasailing and Atlantis submarine reservations, both of which we made with Cozumel Watersports and both are also offered by Carnival. We agree, the price mark-up by Carival was not worth it for us. So here's a review of these other options:

 

Parasailing: very peacful up in the air, close to heaven. We were taken *really, really* far out over the water, though. Although the Albatross Parasailing boat docks at the Aqua Pier across from the 2nd story Mc Donald's in the Downtown area of Cozumel, the actual parasailing is not done near there. So do NOT try to have anyone photograph you parasailing from the shore! Like I said, we were FAR out in the water. Note: this Downtown area was not near the area our cruise ship docked-- I forget the name of our pier at the moment--I think it was called Wattler Pier??. Miles away and too far to walk, we were forced to take a taxi which I believe was $7 for 2 people, but it was worth it- this area had lots of statues and shops and more to see and do. There is another pier that IS in this area; make sure to find out which pier your ship is coming into. Don't miss: the arc-ing sculpture of scuba divers right near this Downtown pier. It frames a beautiful view of the crystal clear ocean water here (and is in fact a part of a star-shaped-base fountain --which was completely drained when we were there. But still so very beautiful, it must be amazing when it has water in it.) I'd recommend you get your picture taken in front of this sculpture.

 

Atlantis sub: WAS close to our pier (Wattler Pier?), about a 10-15 minute walk. Very nice inside their lobby with nice gifts, a restroom, and the best postcards I saw anywhere. I actually regret not buying postcards there. They take you on a passenger boat to the sub, which is waiting out in the deep water. (This saves on the sub's power; it is even pre-towed out to the deep to save power.) Then you transfer from the boat to the top of the sub, and down the ladder into the sub. You have to hunch down to look out the sub windows, so watch out if you have a bad neck. Although the guide pointed out a sand shark or two, a stingray in the sand, and a school of fish, it was all very UN-colorful, like looking at a black-and-white movie. The only color I saw was a small blue fish, and maybe 2 coral. So be prepared for that. I don't think we got any really great pictures partially because of the lack of contrast- but I haven't had a chance to pop my SD cards into the computer to check the pics for sure yet. One thing that was most interesting: the steep drop off of the ocean floor in an area called The Wall. That was kind of scary to see. It looked like a cliff, and we could not see the bottom. We were about 105 feet down at that point, that was as far down as we went. There is a digital thingy at either end of the sub that shows how deep you are going, it is large enough to photograph no matter where you sit on the sub. Anyway, another 15 minute walk from the Atlantis' storefront is a place called Sunset Beach that looked like a nice place to hang out if you did not want to go to Downtown Cozumel City.

 

 

Thank you for posting that! I wonder why these tours are still offered, yet the mini sub/underwater scooters are not. Doesn't make much sense. Their messages contradict their actions. Oh well...