Things to do in Cozumel?

[seaboat]

We are cruising to the Western Caribbean in a few weeks and I am having a hard time picking a short (2-4 hours) excursion for Conzumel. It will be my teenagers and I. We would like to see the town, snorkel, dolphins or see some type of ruins. My pick was Chankanaab ecopark. Is there snorkeling and ruins in the Park? Is there things to do at a walking distance?

Thanks~

[Cotton]

Hi and welcome to the boards. Chankanaab - good choice!:)

 

Go here for all the info:

 

http://www.cozumelinsider.com/beaches_/beach_chankanaab.htm

 

You can also see the dolphins perform from a wooden walkway even if you don't do the Dolphin Swim/Experience. Yes, they do have a beautiful botanical garden area, complete with replicated Mayan ruins. Lots to do and see at Chankanaab. Great snorkeling, as well, from the craggy shore, thousands of beautiful fish, the reefs, and underwater statues. Dive shops rent equip. for $3 per piece. Restaurant has good and reasonably priced food. The lagoon area is very pretty. Lots of loungers under palapas in both beach areas.

 

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I LOVE Chank!

[cmptrwiz]

Chankanaab is an excellent choice. Wonderful snorkeling some of the best around. they do have some ruins, but they are smaller replicas of the real thing. They are still interesting. The dolphins are right there at the park so you could do the swim or encounter if you wanted to. We didn't pay to do the dolphin thing and just walked over to the area where they are and walked out onto the ramp that goes around the dolphin area and watched the dolphins do their thing. It was pretty neat. At the park they have a sandy beach, but at the edge of the water it drops off a few feet and you should use some wooden stairs that they have in the water to get in and out. You can rent some gear to snorkel at the park or take your own. I think admittance to the park is around $12 us and the cab ride is about $10-12 US out and back well worth it. Wiz:)

[Cotton]

Me again. I forgot to mention that, since you also want to see San Miguel (the town), you could spend the morning there (just grab a cab), and when finished, go to Chankanaab.....or vice-versa. The town itself is very pretty. You'll see a really HUGE Mexican flag along the coastline at the main shopping avenue......go to it, and go back about a block, and there's the Plaza del Sol - the "town square". Several times a day, the locals perform with singing and dancing. No fee to watch. A lot of folks miss this because they're too busy shopping.:rolleyes:

 

I have gotten off the ship, gone to Chankanaab for about 3-4 hours, back to the ship to shower and change, and STILL had time to go into San Miguel.

 

You also asked about anything within walking distance. That will be determined by where your ship docks. Carnival owns the Puerta Maya Pier, and usually docks there; however, they sometimes dock at the Punta Lagosta Pier (downtown area).

 

At Puerta Maya Pier, there is an air conditioned 'mall', and a very large shopping area, with a few restaurants (including Pancho's Backyard - good food/reasonable prices), and a few bars. I love Fat Tuesday's!;)

[lrizit]

I will recommend the park too. We went to Paradise Beach, which is lovely, and free to get in to, but not as much to do. Just a beach with bars and food. There are snorkeling and rafts, and tramplines too for $5, but, if I could do it over again, I'd go to the park. Looks like much more to do. *sigh* guess I'll HAVE to go back.

Plenty do see and do walking distance, and I'll also second Fat Tuesdays! ;)

[Flamingo19040]

This sounds like a nice park. This will be our first cruise and first time to Cozumel.

 

Will there be taxi's right at the port when we get off the ship? Also, are there taxi's available at the park when we want to leave?

 

Would it be your suggestion to do both the taxi and admittance to the park on our own? Probably less expensive then doing a tour package type deal?

 

Thanks in advance for the information.

 

:)

[patnjohn]

We went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel (the best day of our 12 day cruise). The fare was $12. Taxis are very easy to come by. Ask for the fare before you get in. The park fare may be less, as I think it is closer. Whatever you choose, taxis will be readily available for your return trip. We found Cozumel to be a very safe place to be. Whatever you do, enjoy your day.:o

[WazAnOkie]

Went to Chankanaab last October and loved it. We got off the ship, found plenty of taxi's - agreed on the price $10 (before getting in ;) ) and off we went.

Had plenty to do there with snorkeling and you could basically do as much or as little as you wanted. We would definately go back again.

After eating at the restuarant, I talked the waiter into letting me have a handful of 'broken' corn tortillas (for a nice tip) and used those for fish food while snorkeling. If you do something like this, BE carefull, as you can get swarmed!!

 

There were taxis waiting at the exit to take folks back, that was no problem. We had the driver take us to the downtown shopping area and meandered back to the ship on our own time....

[Cotton]

Flamingo19040]This sounds like a nice park. This will be our first cruise and first time to Cozumel.

You'll love Cozumel. It's a beautiful island, and very safe. I'm a solo cruiser, so I go off on my own with no worries. Caution, but no worries.;)

 

Will there be taxi's right at the port when we get off the ship? Also, are there taxi's available at the park when we want to leave?

There will be taxi's lined up waiting for passengers! The cab fee should be $10 to Chankanaab....confirm this with the driver before getting in.

 

Would it be your suggestion to do both the taxi and admittance to the park on our own? Probably less expensive then doing a tour package type deal?

Chankanaab is one of the many parks/beaches that Carnival doesn't offer excursions to. Their excursions are limited.

 

Thanks in advance for the information.

You're quite welcome. Have a wonderful time on Cozumel!:)

[jckvpa0]

Cotton, need to pick that great brain of yours again! Went to the link you provided, I so want to do the swim with the dolphins. Have you booked with them over the web to do this? The other really important thing to me is to be able to sit on a beach, put my feet in the sand & swim. Do they have lounge chairs? As I've stated this is my first cruise, the only thing that has held me back is that I love the beach. I live on Cape Cod, a stones throw from the beach & have a pool but always go down to the beach because I love the sand & ocean. Will I be able to do this at this park? I see so much about people going to this park, just how crowded is it going to be? Thanks again for your help!

[cali-croozer]

There is a sandy beach at Chankanaab, with loung chairs that sit low on the sand and palapas for shade! It's just the entrance to the water that is rocky.....that's why the snorkeling is so good. Have you checked their website (not sure of the web address)? There are some pictures of the beach there to put you at ease about this.

 

 

You'll have to wait for Cotton, or somebody else, about booking the dolphin swim. I know it's done on-line, but that's all I know about it.

[finally928]

For those who have been to Cozumel before, I have a question ...

 

We'll be there in two weeks (oh my!!!) and have signed up for a shore excursion -- mountain biking to the beach and back -- from 11A - 3P. Would it still be worth it to head to Chankanaab after our excursion? Or would it just be a waste of time?? I'm not sure of the time difference, sunset, etc ..

 

Thanks for any recommendations! We are supposed to pull in around 7A and not leave till midnight that night -- lots of time to fill and I want to make the best of it .. dont' want to walk around like a stupid tourist saying "what do we do now?"

 

 

:D

[cali-croozer]

PS.......about how crowded it is there; it probably depends on how many ships will be in port with you and how early/late you arrive. I think we just had a few ships in port when we went, and we arrived around 10am, so it wasn't crowded at all the day we went. The beach is narrow, but long, so people will be spread out.

[cali-croozer]

For those who have been to Cozumel before, I have a question ...

 

We'll be there in two weeks (oh my!!!) and have signed up for a shore excursion -- mountain biking to the beach and back -- from 11A - 3P. Would it still be worth it to head to Chankanaab after our excursion? Or would it just be a waste of time?? I'm not sure of the time difference, sunset, etc ..

 

Thanks for any recommendations! We are supposed to pull in around 7A and not leave till midnight that night -- lots of time to fill and I want to make the best of it .. dont' want to walk around like a stupid tourist saying "what do we do now?"

 

 

:D

 

You may want to check their website to see if hours are listed. If I'm not mistaken, I think I read that Chankanaab closes at 5pm. If this is the case, I certainly wouldn't recommend going there after 3pm. In my opinion, you need at least a few hours to enjoy there, since admission is $12. Maybe somebody can post a link to their website and/or hours of operation????

 

You might be tired after your excursion. You could plan on going back to the ship to shower/change/eat?, and then do something in the evening? But, I can't help on evening activities, sorry.

[d&sguba]

Please do tell "what is a Fat Tuesday"?:)

[jckvpa0]

Thanks Cali for the info. I really appreciate it!

[Cotton]

In the first reply on this thread, I posted Chankanaab's website. All the info is there.

 

D&S - Fat Tuesday's is a great open-air bar at Puerta Maya Pier on Cozumel.

 

And...what the heck, I'll give you a little cajun lesson..."Fat Tuesday" is also the nickname of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is called Fat Tuesday 'cause on that day you eat and drink and party till you can't anymore, and then start fasting on Wednesday - which is the first day of the Lenten season.:)

[WEDOFISH]

When we last visited Cozumel...we hired a van and driver on the pier for the six of us. He took us to Chankanaab, paid our admittance, gave us a personal tour of the gardens and Mayan replicas,and arranged to come back and pick us up. We paid about $20pp when we returned to the ship. We also voluntarily paid a $5 tip pp. It was well worth every cent.

We will be back in MX in June and plan to repeat the trip.

[WendyCn]

I was also interested in the hours that the park is open. So I surfed the net & according to the cozumelinsider website, the park is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

[seabum]

Hi,

 

Two trips ago we did the dophon swim through the ship. The park had an arragment with the ship and we weren't able to book it ourselves (trust me I tried to find a way around that)

 

Even though it was pricey - it was the best money I've ever spent on an excursion. Just thrilling. I'm sorry, but watching from the pier vs actually being in the water interacting with them is no comparison.

 

Anyway - the next time we just rented a convertable VW and explored the island. Shopped the net for good car rental coupons - I think it was about 30 bucks for the day.

 

We toured the entire island - found some amazing beaches, little shops and bars, as well as the only real ruins on the island. These were fascinating but if you seen the ruins on the mainland these are very small.

 

We spent the early evening killing brain cells at Carlos and Charlies, after shopping in the square.

 

Another great source of entertainment is to watch the drunks stumble back to the ship from C&C's. That place is dangerous (not really, just very easy to drink too much in there)

 

Have fun - we're off to Baja for our next trip.

 

You'll love Cozumel - one of my favorite ports.

[mom of four]

We went to Paradise Beach 11 months ago and we are planning on going back. There was NO $5.00 fee for the water activities. Just curious..do you pay that when you enter? Do you get a wristband? How is that monitored?

[LiLmE]

Make sure you go to Carlos and Charlies!!!!! Cozumel is my favorite port!

[WendyCn]

WEDOFISH: That sounds like a great deal & we had a local cab driver/guide when we were in Nassau & we had the best time. Do you know the name of the van driver or if there is a way of contacting someone before we arrive? If not, how can we find him when we arrive.

[ginga]

We'll be sailing on the Sensation at the end of March. Is it feasible to do both Chankanaab and Paradise Beach on the same day?

[nowendy]

That was our plan this last time at chab, but we had such a large group that went scuba diving, it was way too late to take a taxi over to Paradise Beach.

 

It really depends on how long you want to hang out at each place. Chab is really a beautiful beach. The only thing is that you don't have the sandy beach that you can walk into the water from. you do need to walk down the steps to the water.

 

What we normally do is this. Snorkle and scuba at Chab in Coz and then the nice sandy beach in Playa del carmen. This way you get to enjoy both types of beaches without rushing. The whole idea is to relax and enjoy.