1st time ever on a cruise. :) Recomendations.

[3rdshiftkustoms]

Me and my wife are taking a cruise sometime in October or November to Cozumel. This is the 1st cruise we have ever been on, and we would like maybe some ideas of what to see and do while there.

 

We are going with a group from work, possibly 8 to 10 couples going roughly 20 people. Its a Thank You gift from the owners of my employer.

 

Basically once we hit Cozumel we are on our own.

 

My wife has already mentioned looking for stuff to take back for our 2 boys, and possibly looking at new hand bags since those seem to be a popular item in Cozumel.

 

I myself was thinking maybe a snorkeling/diving trip, seeing the beach, and just over all taking in the experience.

 

Something I wonder about is what are you allowed to bring back to the states? I am an ameteur Saltwater Reef enthusiast and the idea of bringing home maybe even a few pieces of reef rock popped into mind, maybe a small coral or 2 if possible. Since I have never been I didn't even know if you could do this. Is it possible? I don't know how the look on "live" animals such as corals.

 

I figure sand and shells are do able b/c I see everyone bring some back from different places.

 

Sorry for the long posts, and I will be looking over this forum for topics that peak my interests also. Thanks

Ricky

[starketcher]

There is plenty of shopping and plenty of good dive spots. Most of the snorkling got washed away with the last hurricane. Not only is it illegal to bring back any coral reef, it i salso immoral. What if everyone took part of the reef back? There would be none.

[3rdshiftkustoms]

Maybe I should have worded that better.

I wasn't thinking about robbing the ocean, but more along the lines of maybe a Local merchant that rasies corals, but of course thinking about that again, I figure I probably won't find one of those eithier in Cozumel.

 

I realize the removal of "wild" corals is not good for the reefs, as for the reasoning I only have a few small aquacultured corals in my home tank.

 

 

Any suggestions on places and locations to visit?

[bruce-r]

In Cozumel, there is a marine preserve from the center of town south to the end of the island, nothing is supposed to be removed from the preserve, not sand, coral (live or dead), shells, or any kind of animal. If you really have to get a shell, you'll need to go to the East side of the island which is not a preserve.

 

Each country has different rules at to what can be taken and the US customs also has rules at to what you are allowed to bring back into the US. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/prohibited_restricted.xml has a list of prohibited items. As you might guess, it is a long list.

 

For shopping, Los Cinco Soles is a good one stop place. They have wide range of merchandise, all the prices are clearly posted so no haggling, and they take credit cards with no problem.

 

If you really want to prepare for a visit to Cozumel, get the Cozumel map from http://www.cancunmap.com It is more than just a map, it is an excellent guide to the island.

 

How many of the group is going to want to stick together? If you wanted to do an driving tour of the island, you could hire one of the taxi vans for several hours. That way you'd have a designated driver. Head over to Coconuts on the East side, do a little beach combing, and have lunch. Then head back to the Plaza for some walking around and end up at Los Cinco Soles which is 5 blocks north of the Plaza on the water front. If you are still thirsty, Pancho's Backyard (behind the store) serves a wicked margarita.

 

My East side photo gallery

 

Also, if you really want to offer some organized tour options to the group, I've used both http://www.travelnotes.cc and http://www.cozumelinsider.com and was pleased with their service.

[3rdshiftkustoms]

There you go... Bruce thanks for the GREAT INFO!!! This is all still in the planning stages, but I am sure we can get a few couples up for a dive.

 

Ricky

[3rdshiftkustoms]

I mean drive

[kenf333]

I mean drive

 

Ricky,

You could also email cozumelinsider.com and check the rates for a island tour.

[Magic City Cruiser]

Ricky, I've done the Coz cruise thing twice and both times we went on a snorkel excursion with Mystic Snorkel. She has small boats that she'll take 8-10 on or she can do a larger boat for more. We went to three reefs and just had a great time. It's about a 4 hour excursion. Then, she dropped us off at Paradise Beach where we had lunch and swam for a little while. I'm not much for shopping but the 2nd time we went back earlier than the first and had about an hour or more to "shop" in the port area.

[FishermanJim]

There are coral shops that deal in legal items that you can take home. Roberto's is in the plaza under Restaurant Prima on the corner of Salas and 5 Avenue. There is another, the name I cannot remember, but it is on 20 Avenue about three doors north of the corner with Calle 2. It will be less expensive but both have certifiably legal coral items for sale.