Thanks

Thank you

You can also walk the shoreline Akumal Trail to the south to Jade Bay and snorkel off the beach there. Jade Bay seemed less protected than Akumal Bay, so best to go there on a calmer day. People also go to Yal-ku Lagoon to snorkel (entrance fee) but I’ve not done it.

I haven’t heard anyone think Cancun itself has good snorkeling. Nearby Puerto Morelos has a good surface snorkeling reef but requires an excursion and rigid rules for wearing a safety vest.

We have done some limited snorkeling on Isla Mujeres. We tried beachfront snorkeling on Cozumel, steady current to fight and limited fish and coral. I never did get on an excursion there, that may be the key as its diving excursions are well established.

It seems anywhere south of Playa del Carmen can have reasonably good beach snorkeling, we have stayed at Barcelo Maya Palace twice, it is nice but looking for something new, might try Grand Sirenis, the wife appreciates the larger resort amenities, try to keep everyone happy.

Water clarity was much better on Cozumel then our last few trips on the mainland side. There was no sargassum sea weed on Cozumel, while on the Cancun side it has gotten steadily worse.

As others noted, most of the reefs are offshore and require a boat trip on Cozumel. I found this disappointing having only gone to places with shore snorkeling before. (I didn’t like the limited time and the rigidity of the boat schedules). Reading reviews afterwards we should have rented a car and gone up Island for some of the shore snorkeling.

Something to note about Cozumel is that in certain weather conditions there are Port closures. This means there is no boat traffic allowed… So no snorkeling or diving trips. At the Iberostar it also meant that we weren’t able to swim in the ocean. This was really frustrating because when the port is open there is too much boat traffic to swim out to the reef and the day when there was no traffic we weren’t allowed to swim out to the reef!

Choosing between Akumal and Cozumel, I would choose Cozumel and rent a car. This will allow you to travel to multiple snorkel spots for variety. Crowds are also much smaller than Akumal Bay.

The shore snorkeling is actually better than the outer reef. Areas near Puerto Abrigo to the start of town are fantastic wall reef. We try to stay close to that area. Typically in a condo just north of town.

We also like to snorkel all around (north and south) of Money Barand Punta Sur. We’ve snorkeled with eagle rays, turtles, tons of rays, nurse sharks, beautiful fish, soft corals, cuttlefish, etc.

The people there are amazing and we almost consider Cozumel our second home. Cancun and much of the mainland is super rough and the snorkeling is not great.

We’ve seen lots of rays (even really large spotted eagle rays), a couple small sharks (Cozumel seems to have very few sharks), eels, lots of fish, large crabs/lobsters, sea stars, corals, an octopus, and more.

You will need a guide as most of the reefs are offshore and require a boat for access – we’ve been with Cozumel H2O many times and would highly recommend. If you are feeling adventurous, join them for a night snorkel as well – it is an other worldly experience.