Snorkeling In Costa Maya

[Erybodyluvzryan]

Me and the wife will be in Costa Maya in a month, and I was wanting to know if anything had an idea of the best beach to snorkel? I also heard the seaweed is pretty bad during hurricane season so I was also wanting to know if I could get an update on that from anyone that has been there recently.

[TexanTwoStep]

If you are doing Costa Maya and Cozumel, I would wait do snorkel in Cozumel.  The water there is amazingly clear and beautiful and one of the top places to snorkel and dive in the world.  I'm not sure about the water in Costa Maya other than what I saw at the port, but it was pretty murky/full of seaweed when we were down there in July.  Cozumel was beautiful, though

[wordell1]

7 hours ago, TexanTwoStep said:

If you are doing Costa Maya and Cozumel, I would wait do snorkel in Cozumel.  The water there is amazingly clear and beautiful and one of the top places to snorkel and dive in the world.  I'm not sure about the water in Costa Maya other than what I saw at the port, but it was pretty murky/full of seaweed when we were down there in July.  Cozumel was beautiful, though

Yes, Roatan is also really good for snorkeling, but Costa Maya is not good for snorkeling from the beach. 

[jbrinkm]

You can get a boat out to the reef pretty easily from the Mahahual if you really want snorkeling in Costa Maya (although I would agree with pp that of the three, it is the least good option). We did some snorkeling at each stop and Costa Maya is the only place we saw a ray, however. It wasn't super easy to snorkel there - water was a bit rough.

[jbrinkm]

Gypsea Divers is often recommended in Costa Maya - they also do snorkeling tours.

[rjac]

On 11/27/2022 at 1:09 PM, TexanTwoStep said:

If you are doing Costa Maya and Cozumel, I would wait do snorkel in Cozumel.  The water there is amazingly clear and beautiful and one of the top places to snorkel and dive in the world.  I'm not sure about the water in Costa Maya other than what I saw at the port, but it was pretty murky/full of seaweed when we were down there in July.  Cozumel was beautiful, though

I agree, Coz is great for both scuba and snorkeling. Have done both a couple of times. Just be prepared for some strong current.

[JeffM111]

We were in Costa Maya on 11/11/22 and we pre-booked a snorkel and fishing tour with Costa Maya excursions. You basically take a taxi from the cruise port to the 40 Canones resort which is at the far end of the town of Mahahual and meet the boat there. Pez Quadro beach club is also located in the same place. It's a short taxi ride that costs about $4 US per person. You have the boat for about half the day for $300 US. There were 6 of us so it worked out to $50 each. We also tipped the captain because it was a great trip. When you return you can use the showers and the rest rooms at 40 Canones and its an optional $20 per adult to extend your stay at the beach club. Shaded loungers on the beach, drinks and the lobster meal are included. I'm sure you could snorkel off the beach here but we were further out on the boat. In our case, everyone was tired from being on the boat, so we decided to call it a day and return to the ship (another $4 PP for the return taxi). I'm sure the prices fluctuate but I listed what we paid when we were there a few weeks ago. 

We had an outstanding day! We were able to tell the captain when we wanted to fish (we had three boys who love to fish with us) and when we wanted to snorkel. I would agree that the snorkeling in Cozumel is great but we also had a great experience in Mahahual. We had a mix of experienced snorkelers and true beginners. It was my 11 year olds first time and the first mate of the boat who led the snorkeling was great with him and ensured he was comfortable in the water and knew what to do. We saw a great number of fish and a few rays and turtles. The reef is very healthy with lots of coral and very interesting formations. The water was warm and clear, and it was an easy swim on the day we were there. No fish were caught either trolling or fishing on the bottom which was a bit of a bummer but the views of the area from the boat were outstanding and everyone loved the snorkeling. We've been to Mexico several times (10+) and are experienced snorkelers. It was our first time to Costa Maya it was one of our favorites. In fact, this was the group favorite of all the ports on our cruise other than perfect day. It's hard to compete with those water slides for the kiddos!

Not exactly snorkeling from the beach but I hope this helps and have a great time on your cruise.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Thank you, @JeffM111 for that recommendation.  

1.  Was this a Royal excursion or did you book directly ?  I assume they have a website by which you can make arrangements ?

2.  How did they deconflict snorkeling and fishing on the boat ?  I would be afraid I would swim into a fishing line by accident (if this is possible I WILL find a way to get entangled !!).

We love Costa Maya and we have a few visits coming up early next year.  I think it would be fun to do something new there.  Not sure it would be cost effective for the 2 of us but it's something to consider.

[JeffM111]

Hey WAAAYTOOO,

No worries on the recommendation. It was a good trip so happy to do it .

We booked directly through Costa Maya Cruise Excursions - Costa Maya Cruise Excursions (I copied the link here...not sure why it repeats but I tested it and it takes you to the right website).

You have the boat for half the day and you dictate when you want to fish and when you want to snorkel (they are separate and done at different times). You could also do only fishing or only snorkeling, completely up to you. Once on the boat you're the boss. 

The three boys wanted to fish first so we trolled a couple hundred yards off the coastline (parallel to it). Those of us not fishing enjoyed the beautiful views. We actually went past the ship (Oasis of the Seas) so that was also kind of cool. There were also a bunch of flying fish so that added to the fun. Once done trolling (and with no fish on the lines) we anchored a little further out and the boys tried their luck off the bottom. Unfortunately no fish for us. We then got closer to the coast and in the vicinity of the 40 Cannons resort where we geared up for about 1.5 hours of snorkeling. Once done, it was a short ride (5 to 10 mins back to the beach/resort).

One option would be to just get the day pass at Pez Quadro beach club (www.pezquadrocostamaya.com) and ask if there is good snorkeling not too far out. The landing page has a good photo of the club and beach, and you can see a boat similar that we were on out in the water. The beach was very nice and we noticed some seaweed but not much. We were the only ship in port that day and there was plenty of room at the resort (that same photo almost shows the entire thing so you can get a sense of how small it is). We also noticed that the prices dropped being there in person vs. prebooking. This could have been because it was a little slow and I guess they felt some money is better than none. If the kids weren't so worn out we would have paid the extra and stayed for a few more hours. It's not very big so it could get booked up so pre-booking might be the way to go to ensure you get a spot.

One more thing (it's a sickness I know...long post-itis, no cure as far as I'm aware, although cruising seems to help ) is all the resorts in Mahahual are in a row so any could do the same. We heard good things about Nohoch Kay as well and its pretty much right next door.

Have a great Cruise. Say hey to Cedric at the port side Lime and Coconut on 15 for us. He was great.

Past cruises
November 5, 2022 - Oasis

Upcoming cruises
November 19, 2023 - Oasis