Dolphinaris / Nachi Scheduling

[newzandile]

Hello all, we will be in Cozumel on July 12 off the Carnival Elation. Our scheduled port times are 9 - 4. I am looking to book our party of 7 with Dolphinaris independently (it's cheaper and I don't want the package that is sold through the cruise line, we don't want to eat there). We will probably spend the rest of the day at Nachi Cocom so my thoughts are we can go to Nachi first and schedule the dolphin swim ride just before returning to the ship, or we can do the dolphins first and relax the rest of the day.

 

If we do the dolphins first the earliest time slot we could conceivably make is 9:35, is that even possible? The next time slot isn't until 10:20. According to the Dolphinaris website the swim / ride program takes 1 hour (with 40 minutes in the water). 10:20 seems late to start given we will want time to haggle with the photographer etc. afterwards. Half our day will be gone by the time we get out of there. Can we get off the boat promptly at 9:00 a.m. if we aren't booked on a carnival excursion? If we do get off the boat at 9:00, how quickly can we make it into a taxi? I know we will have to run the gauntlet through the shops but I can put blinders on the kids or just throw them over our shoulders if necessary! I don't think the ride is more than 10 minutes but if anyone knows otherwise please tell me! I don't want to be rushing but we really want to do both things and if we rush first then we can relax later.

 

Alternatively, we could book the 2:05 slot for the dolphins, in which case does anyone know how long it would take to get to Dolphinaris from Nachi? Is that cutting it too close to get to the ship? The next earliest slot is 1:20. Could we get to Nachi by 9:30, have 3+ hours there, make it to Dolphinaris by 1:10 or so, be done by 2:40 and then have a little time to shop at the pier before getting back on the boat? Am I crazy?

 

Any assistance or other suggestions are greatly appreciated! I really wish the ship stayed in Cozumel just a little bit longer! There are about 18 things I want to do there that day!

[JohninDC]

You need to determine if the times you are discussing are ship time or Coz time -- there can be an hour (sometimes 2 around daylight savings time changes) between the two. The difference will determine if you can make the early dolphin time.

 

You may be trying to pack too much into one day. I would not go to Nachi for several hours of free drinks and then try to swim with anything. :o If you get crunched for time you might look at one of the pay as you go beaches (Paradise or Mr. Sanchos) instead of dropping $50 each for only an couple of hours at Nachi.

 

Good luck! :)

[volive]

John's right.

 

Another reason to do the Dolphin first is you have no control over how long that will take, were as Nachi or pay as you go beach, you can leave whenever you're are ready getting the most out of your day.

[JohninDC]

John's right.

 

.

 

I sure wish I could get my wife and kids to say that more often! :o

[newzandile]

Good points :-)

 

We will have kids with us (9, 11 and 12) so there won't be any excessive drinking and I've thought of the cost of the nachi v the time we would have there but it appealed to me because of the limited number they allow in. Based on google earth Nachi is a bit more out of the way and secluded and less crowded so I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium for that.

 

Decisions decisions, I'm having dinner with one of the other trip participants tonight, I'll see what her thoughts are.

[beachman727]

i'm researching the same kind of trip - morning dolphins followed by the beach. from what i can tell dolphinaris is 5 min taxi ride north into town. nachi is 15 min south of the pier - so i would budget 20 min from town tops.

they say on the dolphinaris site to be there 30 min prior to your time to checkin,change etc. if you have any sunscreen on, you have to shower off unless it's biodegradeable.

the real question is how quickly can you get off the ship since it's not that far away.

 

we're actually going to probably stop at Paradise Beach first and if it's crazy crowded then continue a little further south to Playa Planacar, the last beach club on the southern strip which everyone says is generally less crowded since it's the furthest but still only 20 min. hope that helps