Cozumel Private Van Service con Snorkel Tour

You do not get what is in the pictures. We were picked up in an old minivan. We did not get to go to the gorgeous beaches shown in the pictures. Our tour guide already had predetermined where she was taking us. This was not a customizable tour at all. As soon as we got in the minivan, we told the tour guide we only wanted to snorkel if we could go to El Cielo. She claimed there were extra fees, and I said I would pay any extra fees. We drove for 1.5 hours to different parking lots and kept telling her we just wanted to snorkel. Only to find out the port was 15 minutes from our finial stopping place. I don't know what the name of the final location was that she took us so we could snorkel. She never told us; we were basically at her mercy. My mother has walking and balance issues and we had a wheelchair. The description says wheelchair accessible; it barely fit in the back of the minivan. When we got to the place where we were snorkeling the shoreline was so rocky, that I was immediately angry and scared my mother would not be able to get into the water. The tour guide ran over to the employees, I'm sure to let them know how much of a Karen i was being. My mother's safety is number one and the tour guide knew there was a walking issue. If it were not for Mr. Louise at this place this tour would have been ruined. He was amazing and after I saw how incredible he was with my mother and my autistic sister, getting them in and out of the ocean as safely as possible, I was finally able to calm down and enjoy the water. He even put my mother's fins on her feet once he got her in the water and took both my mother and sister out for an amazing ocean experience diving and finding things on the ocean floor they would never see in Ohio. lunch was great. There was nothing customizable about this trip. Even after I said I would pay the extra fees to go to someplace I knew was a sandy flat shoreline and would be safer getting in and out of the ocean for my mother.

This was our cruise 3rd shore excursion and was not the best in our opinion due to the following reasons: - The van was not well maintained. The interior was not clean and the driver seat belt was not working. The check engine light was also “on”. - We had to walk for at least a couple of mins to meet the operator. When we arrived at the meeting place, the operator approached us in the middle of the Mayan Pyramid public area, as they do not have an official booth area. Then we needed to walk down another alley to go to the parking area. On the way back, we were dropped off the parking lot again instead of the cruise port entrance. - We started driving around the area while the tour guide was narrating. Then we stopped by at a couple of souvenir stores. - We also went to a very small “farm” where they make tequila. The moment we arrived, we were introduced to the owner, something was not right. He was drunk from last night and obviously has a hangover. The talk was so long! And we were just literally in front of a house with a couple of farm animals. This was the the worst part as we felt it was a waste of our precious time (yes, we are on a tight schedule because its only a shore excursion and we needed to be back to the ship on time). The freelance cow licked all over the disposable cups, tequila bottles, etc. That’s when we decided we needed to go. They keep on asking us to stay since they will be selling us their tequila. A few bug bites later, we left. It was a waste! - We continued our journey and finally saw the “tourist” area - the beach! The shoreline was beautiful. We wished we could have spent more time seeing tourists areas than stopping to souvenir shops or a local house. - We then went to the very small beach club where we ate lunch and did the snorkeling. The lunch package included are tacos, quesadillas and 1 other choice. Drink or soda extra. The food was so basic and not the best. - My kids enjoyed the snorkeling although we did not go on a boat. It was just in the beach area so very limited fish to see. Overall, I do not recommend this excursion. Its more souvenir shopping than going to touristy spots. The snorkeling was good (but we had better snorkeling in the past) because this one is just in the beach area.

I booked this tour because I needed a vehicle that could accommodate transporting mobility scooters. Gerry Castaneda did a fantastic job of getting us around and handling that task. We took a tour of the beautiful island, visited the Tequila factory for a tasting (best tequila I've had), visited a local market for shopping. Gerry, being a native, shared his intimate knowledge of Cozumel. He drives very well and we felt very safe. We skipped the snorkel part but I did enjoy buying items at the Tortugas restaurant and market where we had lunch. Yes the vendors do approach you while you are eating but I felt as though if I told them I wasn't interested they would go away. Kudos to Gerry and the beautiful island of Cozumel. Will definitely book with Cozumel Tours Excursions again.

Yousef was amazing. He was knowledgeable about the area and was really intent on giving us the best tour and experience possible. He took us all over the island and explained the history, landscape and answered all of our questions. When I come back to Cozumel I will definitely ask for yousef when booking this tour. We had to rush at the end because we were on a tight schedule but that wasn’t yousefs fault. He was a great tour guide.

<p>The tour was okay and the stops were okay. The drive really wanted to play the radio and not explain the area. Part of taking a tour with a private guide in my opinion is to have them explain the local area and culture. Our drive had no interest in doing this. However the beaches, local restaurant and snorkel experience were great.</p>