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Palancar Reef

Palancar Reef Tours

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Snorkeling

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Cozumel Snorkeling Tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo Reefs

Badge of ExcellenceSan Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico

From $65.00

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Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance.
Cozumel Tours
All Cozumel Tours
Audio Guides
Likely To Sell Out
Private and Luxury
Unique Experiences
  • 4 hours (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

Whether you're an experienced snorkeler or an absolute beginner, fully trained guides let you make the most of Cozumel's famous reef on this half-day snorkeling tour. Hit three of the island's hottest snorkeling spots: Palancar Reef, Columbia Reef and Playa el Cielo, known for the starfish that decorate its white sands. Your package includes drinks and snorkeling gear; marine fees are payable in cash on the day.
  • Snorkel Cozumel hotspots Palancar Reef, Columbia Reef and Playa el Cielo
  • Stay fueled with water, sodas, beers and a snack
  • Veteran guides point out marine life and can assist new snorkelers
  • Choice of departure times lets you plan your day and fit more in

What's Included

  • Visit to Palancar and Columbia reefs, El Cielo Sandbar and El Cielito Beach
  • Guided snorkeling tour
  • Drinks: Beers, Water, Sodas and a Snack
  • Snorkel gear: Vest, Mask, New tube
  • Insured Shaded Boat
  • Experienced trained guides
  • Marine fee $6 usd Not included

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Maybe Tours Cozumel Quintana Roo México
    Muelle Fiscal, Av. Rafael E. Melgar, Centro, 77600 San Miguel de Cozumel, Q.R., Mexico

    Meeting time is 10 minutes before your Tour time at the Cozumel Ferry, at the Maybe Tours booth. IF you are a CruiseShip customer your meeting location is at the MARINA FONATUR located 5 minutes by taxi from SSA and PUERTA MAYA cruise ports. Please Note Our Tours are operated in Cozumel local time.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • No Sunscreen Allowed due to Reef protection (Please apply before tour starts)
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Operated by Cozumel Tours and Excursions

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

about cancellations.

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Reviews
4.5
572 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 572 reviews
excellent snorkeling in Cozumel!
Jeremy_M, Mar 2023
Excellent excursion, the guides were smart and friendly. Better snorkeling than Honduras and Bahamas but not quite as good as Aruba. Highly recommend it to anyone visiting Cozumel!
Nice trip
txfunmom, Mar 2023
We had a lot of fun. The original trip couldn’t happen because of weather, so they took us to a different reef which was still nice. They communicated this prior and offered a refund if we didn’t want the alternate trip. Guide was good.
wonderful
francia_m, Mar 2023
everything was wonderful as a recomendation check first the details of the travel agency to knows the name and search for it at the ferry station :)
Good and bad
Adrienne_H, Mar 2023
The good: We saw sea turtles, starfish, sting rays, and fish. It was amazing. The sand bar at the end was great. The guacamole they served was great! The bad: The boat ride was so slow. I’m not sure if there was something wrong with the engines, but the tour took 2 hours longer than expected. Was suppose to be 12-4. We missed the 5pm ferry and arrived at the dock at 5:54, almost missing the 6pm ferry. 7 out of the 14 guests were little kids and the music they played on the boat was full of swear words…completely inappropriate. Once you get off the ferry in Cozumel all transfers are included (taxi ferry-marina, boat ride, taxi marina-ferry), but the taxi driver from marina to ferry said each person owed $110 pesos. An argument with a taxi driver at the end of a long day is not how you want to end the day, especially when you have 6 mins to catch the ferry. Conclusion: A lot of tour companies go to this area. It’s a great spot to snorkel, but I’d use another tour operator. Also, if you have little kids who have never snorkelled before…FYI, this spot has a strong current and the boat drops you off and picks you up 20 minutes later. It was scary for the littlest kids in the group.
Heaven!
MTFROST81, Mar 2023
If you’re thinking about this tour…BOOK IT! El Cielo has been on my bucket list forever and it did not disappoint! Great snorkeling at 2 reefs where we saw turtles, rays, and a baby shark. Then on to a shallow sandy area that had beautiful starfish! Last stop was El Cielo which was mindblowingly amazing! The capitan Roman was so friendly and fun…as was Carlos! They made everyone feel safe on the boat and while snorkeling
Fun in the sun!
Andy_S, Mar 2023
I was on a cruise with my husband and we had a port stay at Cozumel. We decided to do a non-cruise line excursion and I was a little worried. I should not have been! The May Be Tours group were amazing! Alex and Mike and our boat captain were the best! They were so helpful, safe, and time conscious. I should never have worried about getting back to the cruise ship on time. All time worries aside, the snorkeling experience was amazing. We were taken to three snorkeling destinations with each having very unique features. One was more coral reefs, tropical fish, and sea tortoises. The other was deeper and FULL of fish that came right up to you. The last destination was more shallow, had sky blue water, white sand, and amazing huge starfish. Lastly, the crew takes you to your own little beach alcove where the captain prepares homemade guacamole to compliment Mexican beer. I had never snorkeled before and this trip was a blast. Great, fun crew! Alex was great a finding treasures to point out to the group below the water. Mike takes great underwater pictures that you can purchase as well. I would highly recommend this group. Great price for a great, worry free time!
This trip barely snorkeles
Bonnie_H, Mar 2023
This was a 4 hour snorkeling trip. However, this trip offers very little time actually snorkeling. I understood that some of the 4 hours would include travel to snorkeling sites. As expected on this tour, the guides were flexible when the first site proved to be too rough for snorkeling and took us to a different site. Thank you. The first two sites where we got in the water were great. However, I have two complaints. The guide kept calling for us to stay near him. Even if there were more interesting things to see a bit away from him, like tons of fish swimming around a block of coral or the turtles. He tried to keep us all together and yelled at us a lot. Then after far too short of an amount of time he pulled us back into the boat to continue on. The 3rd site did not include snorkeling. It was called a shallow snorkeling area. When we arrived, we were a little more than 2 hours into the 4 hour trip. At this final site, there were few fish to see, although there were sting rays. It was meant for us to stand around and enjoy the warm water and chat, or drink. We did this for an hour and a half. Mind you, the first two snorkeling spots included about 45min in the water, combined. If you are looking for a party time, perhaps this trip would please you. And truly, the sting rays were cool. If you really want to snorkel, this trip offers very little time actually snorkeling.
1 traveler found this review helpful
Do it!
Jessica_B, Mar 2023
We absolutely loved this excursion. It was amazing having three places to snorkel. Turtles, star fish and other fish galore. Alex and the driver took great care of us
1 traveler found this review helpful
Fantastic Excursion- Must Do
Anastasia_K, Mar 2023
This excursion was the highlight of our cruise! So happy we booked with Maybe Tours- Alex and Roman were amazing guides. I have been snorkeling a few times before, but this may be the best experience yet as it was not crowded and we were taken to a few different locations. Saw many different kinds of fish, several sea turtles, and starfish as well. Highly recommend!
I loved the friendly...
Ji_J, Mar 2023
I loved the friendly staff and Captain Rudolph who led us on the boat and the 2 staff were fantastic. I really recommend
we had a perfect weather...
Lloyd_C, Mar 2023
we had a perfect weather day on the may be tour.Oscar and Carlos and the captain were incredibly accommodating and friendly and well-prepared and knowledgeable.I needed assistance on and off the boat and they were right there as were others on our excursion. it was just a perfect day complete with many pictures being sent to us at the conclusion. we highly recommend this snorkeling adventure.
Thrilled with our experience!
PeggyParker, Mar 2023
Our guide did all he could to make this an incredible experience and he didn’t disappoint. The snorkeling was crystal clear. We got to see an amazing amount of marine life, turtle, barracuda, stingray, starfish, etc. we stopped for a snack in an area with stingray, which were easily seen because of the shallow clear water. We would highly recommend this experience!
Fantastic snorkeling
Sally_D, Mar 2023
Christian and his crew were fantastic. We couldn't have asked for a better trip! We saw everything we could've hoped for: turtles, sting rays, eagle ray, many fish, an eel, a nurse shark, many beautiful fish and star fish. We loved it and my kids said it was the highlight of our trip. Thanks so much Maybe Tours! ❤️
Maybe tours...snorkeling...Brilliant...
Andrew_B, Mar 2023
Fantastic day.. maybe tours brilliant Roman and his mate great....would definitely recommend doing the snorkel trip at Cozumel...
5 star snorkeling trip!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SHERYL_S, Mar 2023
We have been on numerous snorkel excursions this one was BEST YET! Alberto & Ronan were awesome! Sea turtles, sting Ray, grouper, star fish & even a lobster! 3 reefs and my daughter & I loved it! 5 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Small outfit for a nice tour
Mark_G, Mar 2023
This was a nice tour. It's just a couple guys and a small boat, taking you around to reefs. Alex is a fine tour guide. At the end, you stop at a small, public beach for water, beer, chips and guac. (Note: No restrooms at the beach. It's just a strip of sand.) Tough part is finding it. The directions say that, if you come from a cruise ship, to go Marina Fonatur, which is very close to the cruise ships terminal. But it's a small outfit -- if you go to the Marina, there's *nobody* there to greet you. We went to the Marina, got worried that we were in the wrong place, so we took a taxi and went to the alternative meeting point at the ferry terminal. There, we met up with the group and got into another taxi...BACK TO MARINA FONATUR! They need someone to meet you at Marina Fonatur, or a sign, or something that says, "You're in the right place. Just wait here."
Heaven on Earth.
Rafael_C, Mar 2023
Heaven on Earth, a must do in the Riviera Maya!!! Great tour guide please treat yourself to this tour that will last a lifetime of memories.
Very beautiful and magical but only in Spanish
MarieClaire_D, Mar 2023
We visited 3 different snorkeling sites which were all very beautiful and the guide was making sure that everyone could enjoy the adventure while checking for our safety. The group was small enough so it wasn't overwhelming. I only wished that the guide had done the tour in English. so I would have understand. He chose not to speak English because most people understood Spanish but I didn't find it very good to not at least say the safety measure in English. Fortunately some other people on the boat translated for us.
swimming with the fishes
William_B, Mar 2023
The reefs we visited had to change due to weather conditions. The stops we made were great, the guides took care of us. There was a lot of water time.
not what it was represented as.
mary_s, Mar 2023
This tour was advertised under a catamaran. it ended up being a very small boat. the locations were overcrowded. the crew was good. But it felt rushed. I think they should be more honest.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Dear Customer, In regards to your comment, this tour is Not by Catamaran it is by boat. If you wish to take our Catamaran tour then please go to El Cielo reef by Catamaran with beach club tour we also operate. Our records and Viator show, you purchased the boat version which is what we honored and offered you on the date of your tour. I think your confusion comes from there. Anyway we want to thank you as we will use this reply to send a message to future clients. To all Customers reading this We have 2 different snorkeling experiences: One tour named, Cozumel snorkeling tour: Palancar, Columbia and El Cielo reefs operated by boat. Our other tour is El Cielo reef by Catamaran with Beach club, which is performed and operated in a catamaran. Different options and different prices as inclusions are different. Please make sure to choose the right tour according to your needs. Thank you,
...

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Product code: 103974P5

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