Punta Sur Eco Park - opinions?

[rstackjd]

We just booked a shore excursion in Cozumel for our NCL Sun cruise 2/19 - 2/26. The excursion is a Jeep/Snorkle/ Beach trip that spends time at Punta Sur Eco Park. As far as I understand, the beach and snorkle is also at Punta Sur.

 

We've never been to Cozumel - can anyone tell us if the Eco Park (specifically the ruins) are worth seeing. What about the beach area at Punta Sur? I know the ruins on the island are not the same as those on the mainland, but we don't really want the long ferry ride and bus ride to do the mainland stuff.

 

Thanks

[KroozFoolz]

We did a similar excursion through Carnival in February 2009. (Instead of jeeps, we rode on a safari type bus.) It was too windy that day to snorkel at Punta Sur, so we went to Chankanaab Park for the snorkel part, and then on to Punta Sur for the rest of the excursion. We really enjoyed the excursion though and I would like to go back to Punta Sur, but there wasn't much as far as the ruins are concerned there. There is another Mayan ruin site on the island - San Gervasio - but that is in the center of the island, not on the coast. (http://www.mayasites.com/gervasio.html)

 

I learned of this excursion from another thread here on cc - his pictures are much better than mine and he actually got to snorkel at Punta Sur -

 

his pictures:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/fantasy_c_07/coz1/ps1.htm

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/fantasy_c_07/coz1/ps2.htm

Edited February 13, 2011 by KroozFoolz

[World Gallery]

We just returned from Cozumel and did Punta Sur on our own. It was beautiful! We have been to Cozumel over 10 times and can't believe we have never tried Punta Sur in the past. It just isn't talked about much on these boards and I can't understand why. Since it is located on the tip of the island, one side of the park is to rough to snorkel or even swim in but it is beautiful. You can walk on the beach with lots of rock formations and watch the waves crash up between the rocks. There were 100's of hermit crabs in the rocks. You can climb the lighthouse for a beautiful view and there is a nice little lighthouse museum at the base and a few little "flea market type" stands around. The beach you snorkel out is a little further out by jeep and in calmer waters of the park. We plan to take our extended family here on our next cruise.

The Mayan ruins there are barely anything at all but we saw a tour with guide (probably from the ship) giving a lot of information about this one little area.

We went on our own by hiring a taxi that day when we got to Cozumel (very easy and organized tazi system in Cozumel). It was much cheaper than the ship. It was $70 for the driver for about 3 hours and $10 to get into the park.

[rstackjd]

Thanks guys! Can't beleive we're under a week from sailng!

[fun2cruise4me]

Shhhhh, don't tell anyone. I'm going in March and don't want it to get too crowded!!! :-)

 

My daughter and I went about a year ago and this time we'll take my daughter. We did it on our own too and had a fantastic time! We rented a car so it was even cheaper (only $40 for the car). The views from the lighthouse are fantastic.

[VRRoom]

Here's a link to our pictures from Cozumel a month ago. Most were taken at Punta Sur. No, the ruins are not in any way impressive, but still interesting. But I wish I'd had 4-5 hours to spend there. We didn't even get up to the swimming beach.

 

Cozumel - January 2011

[B&J_Pgh]

we returned a week and two days ago and the cruise before that (3-day) got trained out the ENTIRE time. their only stop was Cozumel and the rain washed out the roads to the lighthouse. I was sooooooo disappointed, even brought binoculars for it. Hopefully by then it'll be back in service.

[B&J_Pgh]

did the "ruins" you see in El Cedral. At first I was disappointed that our tour stopped there because the ruins are not my thing but it was nice to get a little taste for the culture because EVERYone asks if you saw ruins and you can say yes and not seem a downer. I think we weren't there more than half an hour... long enough for me to enjoy my long-awaited coconut and then hit the road for the East Side of the Island

[bambidrummer]

Does anyone know if the Jeep Tour is all off road driving? Or is a lot of road driving?

[bambidrummer]

Guess no one has done this?

[brookmill18]

If you're taking a taxi there, can you access the rest of the park on your own or do you need transportation within the park? We've been to Chankanab a few times--can you navigate this park on your own once you're in? We'd like to spend time walking the beach, see the lighthouse, go to the restaurant, and then go into the water on the calmer beach--is all of this accessible without a car?

 

Thanks!