We had a great tour but then realized that we had been terribly ripped off. The tour costs $50, as advertised on their website, pamphlets and via the phone, however, when they directly "convert" pesos to charge you it comes out to much more, which we didnt realize until we got our credit card bills back in the states! Even worse, when confronted, Cancun Mermaid DENIED that their price was $50! Apparently they only advertise it as $50 to be competitive with other trips and then once you are on the tour decide to charge you whatever they want. I would have recommended this tour had it not been for this overcharge and subsequent terrible treatment by the company when called out on it. Because of this, I would go with any other company as Cancun Mermaid are scam artists!

We did the snorkeling adventures smaller trip, Reef Adventures on 4/4/08. We were picked up at our hotel, (on time) then moved on to 2 other hotels to pick up others. There was a little difficulty getting snorkeling gear for the 2 small children in our boat of 16 – they were pretty young, 3 and 5 I would guess, but they were able to get them jackets and fins, goggles that worked.

The sea was a bit rough that day, but I thought the guides did a great job of moving us around, making sure everyone could keep up and see all the amazing fish, coral, etc. Even a sting ray! The second dive was closer still to the reef, and because it was shallow, even more of a workout, but it was worth it. The staff could not control the weather and did a great job making sure we were all in control.

The meal at the end was excellent, and the staff was very attentive and helpful.

I would do this trip again!

Paradise Reef Snorkeling:

Married Couple 28M, 26F (w/ 1.5M that stayed home in USA)

Not worth the $45US per person, reef has not recovered from hurricanes, didn’t see as many fish as we were expecting and water was really rough. Booked before leaving home. Advertised as 2nd largest reef in the world.

Booked through Cancunvista.com

You are taken by bus 1.5 hours south from Cancun down the Mayan Riviera to Marina Maroma Paradise. It’s a hotel/marina. Then you load on sail boats and ride on top of the boat out to the reef. You are swimming and snorkeling 100 yards from the beach. The boat anchors 20 yards from the reef and then you hit the water.

The day we went the wind was up and so were the waves. It was difficult to do the snorkeling part of it in the rough waters, in my opinion it was not suitable to kids under 15 years of age.

We saw a flounder, sting ray and some other pretty fish. But as difficult as the swimming was and the few number of fish we saw along with the 3 hours in the bus it wasn’t worth the money.

Tips:
Take: snacks, bottled water, towel, sun block, camera and a change of clothes (you don’t want to ride 1.5 hour back to Cancun wet). They have lockers and showers, but have to change in the bathroom Stretch before you get started it is a lot of physical activity.

The Beach club area was where you can hang out after the snorkeling or do other activities (jet ski, 4 wheeler) was beautiful.

I rated this trip Excellent, but some problems occured.
It has been a year today since our snorkle adventure on October 4, 2006.
While we were out in the water, my husband started not feeling well. I was snorkeling away and enjoying myself until the dive master came to get me. My husband was having a heart attack.
Thanks again to Rudy and Tony and the others. Tony got us to the hospital quickly and safely. My husband and I are thankful for all of your help. We will never forget you.
My photos of fish and shells and interesting plants are quite a memory. Rudy, thanks for all of your interesting snorkle stories while we were waiting at the hospital. I wish all of you the best.