Cozumel is home to some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving spots in Mexico. My boyfriend and I first decided to look at potential tours in Mexico, we knew we wanted something that would involve some amazing snorkeling. After talking with several staff members and tour operators around our hotel, we discovered Playa Mia. One of the best parts of Playa Mia is that they offer tours both for those coming from the Playa Del Carmen or Cancun areas as well as those arriving in Cozumel as part of a cruise. Find out what it’s like to take a Cozumel day trip with Playa Mia!
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Jump To:
- What is Playa Mia Grand Beach Park?
- Cozumel Day Trip: The Full Tour
- Would I Do it Again?
- How Can I Book this Tour
What is Playa Mia Grand Beach Park?
Playa Mia Beach Park is a beach resort and water park located right near the Cozumel cruise port. They offer several different ticket packages and tours for those who are visiting Cozumel as part of a cruise or who are coming by ferry from Playa Del Carmen and Cancun. Offerings range from beach day basses, to buffets, to snorkeling excursions.
Cozumel Day Trip: The Full Tour
My boyfriend and I were stationed in the Playa Del Carmen area, so we chose the their Cozumel Snorkel Tour with Meeting Points at Playa Del Carmen pier option.
From our hotel, we caught a taxi down to the Playa Del Carmen pier and checked in at the Playa Mia meeting point. We had some time to spare, so we walked around the Playa Del Carmen pier area, and were constantly bombarded by street vendors offering to sell us ferry tickets to Cozumel, no matter how many times we told them we already had our tickets.
Once everybody on our tour arrive at the Playa Mia check-in point, we boarded the ferry to Cozumel. It’s about a 30 to 40 minute ride to Cozumel from Playa Del Carmen, so if you are one who get sea sick or motion sick easily, I suggest preparing accordingly.
After we arrived, our tour group split in two and boarded the two catamarans (popular sailing boats) provided by Playa Mia. We’d be making two stops: one at the popular snorkeling spot and one at the sand bar.
It would take us about another hour to reach our first spot, so we were free to relax and enjoy the open water. That in itself was an amazing experience. It was really cool because we were able to sit at the front of the boat behind one of the railings and hang our feet off the side. We were able to appreciate the wind and a bit of the water splashing on our feet. Plus, they had some Spanish music with a good beat playing, so it definitely felt like a party.
Once we arrived at the first spot, we spent about 30 to 35 minutes snorkeling along the reef. Unfortunately, while snorkeling was fun, the experience itself ended up not being nearly as exciting as we’d hoped.
Seeing the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System was really cool. It’s the largest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere and the second largest reef system in the world. We got to see all of the beautifully colored fish that call the reef their home. We even saw a barracuda in the distance, which is a fish “known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behavior.”
However, there was probably about 50 people in the water with us, so I spent about half of the time just trying to avoid running into other people. Plus, we kept having issues with our equipment. We weren’t given an opportunity to clean the masks out, so they kept fogging up on us. Plus we kept getting water in our snorkels – not sure whether it was just because the waves were pretty strong or because the equipment wasn’t the greatest.
After snorkeling, we go back on board the catamaran and headed to the next spot: a sand bar. Here the water was perfectly crystal clear. I don’t think I’d ever seen ocean water so beautiful and clear. There wasn’t any fish or coral in the area, but the water was only about 4 feet deep, so we could just relax, swim, and have fun. They said that if you were really lucky, you could even find some starfish, but we didn’t manage to find any.
After the water excursions, we were off to the Playa Mia Grand Beach Park. Here, we got lunch, and then had about an hour of free time to enjoy the park. It wasn’t nearly enough time to explore the entire park, but we had enough time to enjoy the blow up jungle gym that was a little ways out into the ocean.
After our time at Playa Mia, it was time to head back. We got back aboard the Catamaran and headed back to the main pier where they had the ferry back to Playa Del Carmen. The best part is that, while they don’t announce it, you have the option to split from the tour group and stay on Cozumel a bit longer instead of returning back to Playa Del Carmen with the rest of the group.
In the end, we decided to enjoy Cozumel a bit more and told our tour guide that we would be separating from the group. The tour guide informed us that the last ferry back to the main land would be at 9PM, and then we were free to go.
Unfortunately, since the sun was starting to go down, we didn’t have a whole lot of time, but we were able to at least walk around the downtown area and check out some of the shops. After that, we boarded the ferry to head back to the main land.
Would I Do it Again?
As I mentioned above, we were a bit disappointed with how the snorkeling portion of the tour went, but we had a blast doing everything else.
If you are specifically interested in the snorkeling part of the tour, it may be worth investigating to see if there are other tour companies who take smaller groups to the reef. However, my boyfriend and I had picked this tour because we were interested in snorkeling, and we ended up having a pretty good time despite the snorkeling not quite living up to expectations.
If snorkeling is more of a bonus activity and you’re primarily interested in just enjoying the beach and ocean, I would definitely recommend this tour. Honestly, just enjoying the wind in my face and water on my feet as the catamaran zipped across the open was probably my favorite part.
How Can I Book this Tour?
We actually booked this tour through our hotel in Playa Del Carmen. There were several tour company representatives stationed throughout various parts of our resort, so we were able to ask them lots of questions about the tour and make reservations right from our hotel. Most of the all-inclusive resorts in the Cancun and Playa Del Carmen has similar our operator representatives, so you can speak to one of them to book the Cozumel day trip tour.
If you’d like to make your reservation in advance or are arriving in Cozumel as part of a cruise, you can book this tour online. You can book the tour through the Playa Mia website, but it’s actually cheaper to book the tour through tour websites such as Viator and Get Your Guide.
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