shore excursions-Cozumel, mexico

[sojie 1]

My family and I are thinking about snorkling in cozumel, was wondering what age kids had to be to do it, and also how much does it cost? We are leaving from Tampa, for 4 nights, to the westeren Caribeen, on carnival...first time cruisers. another question, i hear that it was alot cheaper to not book your excursions on the ship, and do it once you got to cozumel, is this true? any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

sojie 1

[Donna]

Hi Sojie,
Yes, its true you can save some money by doing your own excersions, either by booking with a private company or finding a tour once at the port. As for snorkeling in Cozumel, you can easily get a taxi at the pier and go over to Chankanaab Park, its a short ride and a nice beach day, here is the link to information:

http://www.cozguide.net/chankan.html

In case you've thought about swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel, here is that info too:

[irl]http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/[/url]

One last thing, here is a link to the "first time cruisers" section, lots of great tips:

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/...time/index.cfm

Have a wonderful cruise, hope more to follow :-)

I'm the family cruise editor here. I recently wrote an article on choosing shore excursions for families. The article should still be on the main section listing of articles for CruiseMates.com. It gives you tips on saving money and exploring independently. Let me know if you can't locate it.
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor

[sojie 1]

Thanks so much for the information, I will go to the links and read and look, The best thing about taking a cruise is planning for it.



sojie 1

I agree, go to chankanaab state park but go on your own by taxi. It will cost maybe $5-8 dollars to get there and $8 each to get in. You can rent two sets of snorkel equipment for $4 each and take the kids in from the beach. If they like it, stay all day! If they don't you can still swim and walk in the gardens looking at iguanas. I say to go own your own because the tours from the boat will over charge you and leave after a couple hours. taxi are plentiful at the Park when you want to leave. Also very clean, nice beach bar, lockers, showers and swimming with dolphins available and plenty of fish to see.
Ive been a couple of times...last time in august last year. We did the carnival western carribean trip with our children and they loved it