Oh-oh, confused, need help!

[Lynda S]

Well, I had a spefic plan in mind for our 2 (separate) days in Cuzumel until I read many of these wonderful posts, learned about PB, Cozumel tours etc and now I need help!

We will be in on two separate days - the first time will be from 7:00 to 4:00 on Dec 13, just my husband and myself.

The next one will be 9:00 to 7:00 on Dec 22, we will then have my son (26) and three of his very active, outdoor friends friends with us. They like to do all sorts of activities, water and off-road. Two of them have their dive certificates.

I had thought that we would go and see Tulum on the 22nd as all of the guys would really like to see a Mayan ruin, and so would we. But now I am not so sure we should go off the island, it sounds so great!

Would we miss something if we didn't go to Tulum? And, if we should go, is this a trip we could do on our own with a private tour company? We do prefer to pay for a smaller, cozier group experience than a 50 passenger bus along with the other 2500 people on board.

For the day that my husband and I are in town, I think we would like to do a private tour just on Cozumel, witha definite stop at PB. I have checked out Nelda's website as suggested to someone else by Solita. This site looks very good, I would say a definite!

Are we better off to skip Tulum, stay on Cozumel both days and then maybe take the guys to see Chacchoben down in Costa Maya when we are there?

Help!

[bruce-r]

If 2 of the "boys" are scuba certified, they will most definitely enjoy diving while in Coz. My suggestion would be to stay on the island and arrange a trip where they can dive and everyone else can either snorkel or do a discover scuba (if so inclined). Then spend the afternoon at Paradise Beach. So yes, skip Tulum unless you are going with just DH on your first visit.

[zydecocruiser]

There are merits to both, so your confusion is understandable. Trying to get ready for my own cruise later today (is it past midnight?), so ask again in a week or so if you don't get enough conflicting answers.

 

I liked Tulum, not sure how many times I'd go back - but that is more of a, how often do ruins change question? I think it is definitely worth a visit.

 

1/3 of group dive, what do the other 2/3s like?

 

Is this an all in one event or could there be 2 groups going different ways?

 

Tulum will take a full day vs perhaps a few activities on Coz.

[solita]

Sounds like you have the right idea for your Dec. 13 trip. That will be a short day in Cozumel so after your tour with Nelda (time permitting), you might want to top it off with a couple hour stop at Paradise Beach and back to the boat.

 

For your next visit, consider a tour to Punta Sur with Eco Jeep and Snorkel. They do a great tour of Punta Sur which is a natural refuge for many birds, animals including salt water crocodiles and tons of vegatation. You get to see a very small Mayan ruin sight (VERY small) as well as climb the light house. You will get an upclose talk about the crocodiles that sometimes includes feeding time. Then it is off to snorkel or relax on the beach. The reef is wonderful! I was just out there on Friday and am still amazed how nice it is...turtle, rays, toad fish, lobster, conch, ... All within a fairly easy snorkel! They even have a boat that serves as a sag wagon if you get tired. Then it is jeep off roading time. Way fun! And back to the pier. Sometimes they reverse the order and do the offroading first. You do get chips at the beach and sodas/water all along the way. Tour lasts about 5-5 1/2 hours. You can book with your shore excursion manager on the boat. You would have time to go into town to eat/shop before heading back to the boat.

 

I love going Tulum - in fact, I am going again on Wednesday! But it is a long trip over there so that limits you to what else you could do for that day. You can do it on your own but you end up at the same place with all the other folks from the ships.

 

Okay, here's another idea. Do like bruce-r suggested. Book a dive trip for the 2 certified guys and the rest of you snorkel. Then you could have the dive boat drop you off at Paradise Beach for couple of hours. And then into town for dinner and alittle shopping and then back to boat. I set-up a trip similiar for 4 crew friends on the Fascination a couple of weeks ago. They went diving and I snorkeled. They took a taxi to Studio Blue dive shop to get fitted for gear and then the taxi dropped them off at the pier instead of going back to town. My friend owns Studio Blue and will customize a trip for cruise ship people. If you want more info, please email me direct and I can help you set something up with him if you are interested. He doesn't have a website.

[Lynda S]

Thanks for all of the info and sugestions that you guys gave! I have pretty well narrowed it down, thanks to all of your help, to doing a dive/snorkel morning on the day that we are all in town together, and, for the day that it is only my husband and myself, either a day with Nelda (if she still has room that is, as I havn't contacted her yet), or the 'cooking on the beach' excursion. I was all set to contact Nelda, and then I read about the cooking day at the beach and thought - wow! Our ship is offering that, so now I guess I will have to decide between the two. We will go to Chacchoben in Costa Maya when we are in port there, which will cover the ruins.

I have already been in touch with EagleRay Divers about the snorkel/dive tours, but I will email you Solita (re Studio Blue) if that dosn't work out - I appreciate the info and the lead there! The Punta Sur excursion sounded great, I did find it amongst the MANY that our ship is offering, but they seemed to have cut out the jeeps and replaced them with ATV buses. Well, they say trucks, but I think I saw a picture of one and it looks like a bus to me! So, we thought yours and Bruce's suggestion on the snorkel/dive combo was our better bet. That should still leave us time to visit Tom at Paradise Beach too!

Thanks for all of your advice, we are all going to have a much better trip because of it!

[solita]

There are a couple of tours that go to Punta Sur. One takes Unimogs...big truck thingys. The tour I was referring to is the Eco Jeep and Snorkel...you do the driving in jeeps with them. Whatever you choose to do, I am sure you will have a blast. Cozumel is just the best!