Had a great time. The staff was great, the food was great and we swam with the fishes....what more could you ask for?

I booked this for my son and I through the Travelocity rep at our hotel. The drive from the Hotel Zone was pretty long (almost an hour because of all the pick-up locations), and the van didn't have very good air conditioning. (After experiencing the roads, I have new-found respect for the often maligned roads in Pennsylvania, as well!)

Once we got there and paid our $2 per person "national park fee," we were issued equipment. We brought our own snorkels, masks, and fins, so all we needed were boyancy belts (belts or vests were required). There was a request (issued as a requirement) for us to use biodegradable sunscreen. I'm not sure if that is a scam or not...but they did offer it for sale on site. Fortunately, we had applied ours before we left the hotel, so we didn't feel pressured to buy the stuff.

The beach area was quite nice, with bathrooms, a small bar, and lots of small tables (with palapa-like coverings). There was also a number of hammocks set up, but they were mostly in the sun.

I was very impressed by our guide - Rudi - who gave us very thorough instructions in good English, and then proceeded to repeat the instructions in fluent French for a French couple on the boat.

There were two locations for the snorkeling - one deep, and one shallow. We did the deep area first, and it was interesting. Not terribly colorful, but it was much better than the boring nothingness off of our hotel beach. The shallow area was quite nice, but I was a little worried that we were too close to the coral. I accidentally brushed some with my hand once, and I had a wave break over me...so we were a tad too shallow for my liking.

The process involved one lead guide, holding a red float, and one following guide, who made sure we all stayed together. Unfortunately, we tended to stay a little too close together, and some of the inexperienced snorkelers had no concept of giving others room to swim. I was repeatedly bumped into, cut off, and crowded out. Other than having too many people (14?) on our boat, it was enjoyable.

After the two dives, we returned to shore and had a nice cooked lunch (pork tacos, shrimp, rice, and more - very tasty) and cerveza, followed by some relaxation time. Then another 45-minute snorkeling run.

All in all, it was a nice time, and it was much more involved than I thought it would be. Longer, too. Thank goodness I didn't keep a tight schedule, because all told, the trip took over 6 hours. I can't complain about that, though, as we certainly got our money's worth. If I had it to do over again, though, I would probably look to set up some kind of private group, to limit the number of people on the boat.

2 of our excursions involved snorkelling, and both were amazing experiences:
JUNGLE TOUR: Speedboats to the reef (you drive your own, follow the guide), snorkel for 30+ minutes. It's stunning. Follow the guide whilst snorkelling, we didn't and got cut by the coral at a shallow point. Overall, a wonderful trip, approx 3 hours total.
CATAMARAN BOOZE CRUISE: Aboard the Don Diego, sail to the reef (approx 50mins), with free-flowing booze, half-mile snorkel behing the guide, not for non-swimmers, amazing fish. Day continues with visit to Isla Mujeres (we hired a golf cart for an hour and got right round the island), then on to self-service lunch, then slow sail back with a stop for swimming. Booze non-stop the whole time. Great day, approx 7 hours.

On March 1, 2007 went on the Snorkeling Adventure "Morning Glory Snorkel" 1/2 day trip. We were taken out on a day that the water was so rough we couldn't even load in the proper manner. There wasn't any consideration given to the less experience snorkler, as advertised, just jump in and follow the leader. The water was so rough it was hard to see the leader and we had to swim hard against the current to keep up. The few fish visible thru the murky water certainly didn't justify the price of the trip. The conditions were so bad that we only went to one reef, not two different reefs as the literature advertised. Experienced snorkelers, with there own equipment, on our boat said the trip should have been canceled for safety reasons. This was the most disappointing excursion we ever had.