loomis

My wife and I would have children between eight and 12 years old with us.

Is there safe options to snorkel from shore or do we have to take an excursion?

VidaNaPraia

This doesn't exactly answer the question, but....

One of the most interesting places in the area to snorkel is in Akumal, where you can see huge turtles and rays, in a very calm little cove. You can rent a car for the day (Try Easyway,) take a taxi or a colectivo. There is a Fisherman's Cooperative, and others, that rent equipment and that can take you around the cove or you can try to find the water life by yourselves. There are places to eat right on the beach. Look online for the live cam to see what it's like there.
Also snorkeling in some of the local cenotes can be fun.

tcl

One of the safer (and relaxing) places to snorkel is the Xel-Ha and Xacaret snorkeling theme parks. There's one entry price (a lower price for kids) and is basically a large lagoon to snorkel in that has cavern swim throughs, a natural lazy river, rope swings and even a dolphin petting/experience (extra $, pre-booking required). There are shops that sell sunscreen, tees, sunglasses and rental of the snorkel gear/locker is minimal. I seem to remember that the food is included in the entry price as well and there are several cafeterias around the snorkeling park. At Xacaret, there is a dinner show in the evenings so this park's entry fee is a bit more than Xel-Ha. What I love about these 2 parks is that for the most part, the kids can free roam and there is a large net over the mouth of the lagoon so they can't swim out to sea.

If you're staying at a hotel-resort then there is usually a hotel beach you can snorkel out of, but be careful on the public beaches as there is a lot of boat traffic as well as decreased viz from all that sand being churned up. If you don't have your own gear, be aware of the rental fee and rental rate schedule of your gear. It's easy to accidentally go overtime and end up being charged over $60 per person at the end of the day.

Doc Savage

Take the short ferry ride over to Isla Mujeres, where the water is much calmer and there is decent snorkeling.

http://moon.com/2014/01/scuba-diving...-isla-mujeres/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Peninsula.html

Xelha and Xscaret are really great, but quite a bit further from Cancun.

roknroll

Even if it's safe, most the water off Cancun is just sand with nothing to see. Akumal or other places just south of playa del Carmen are brst for beach snorkeling. Went to Xel ha on a cruise and liked it. Tons of fish and stuff to do. Few years back we did a cenote snorkel and it is amazing. Definitely do it with a 12 year old. We went through EdVenture tours and it was great (highly reviewed on tripadvisor). They offer full day excursions where you can mix/match activities. We did tulum, cenote snorkel, lagoon snorkel (similar to Xel-Ha but isolated), and an amazing lunch at an authentic restaurant in the jungle where they catch the fish fresh each day. They also offer zip lining, and other activities.

JDiver

The main Cancún beaches are swept by current and are artificially maintained (trucked in sand), so not so good for snorkeling. Garrafón park at Isla Mujeres has been hammered over the years and can get very crowded. Nichupté lagoon behind the main string of hotels can be dangerous, so avoid it. Restaurant owners feed sharks, water is murky and Cassiopeia jellyfish are colorful in their upside down shoals resting on the bottom - but tidal currents can stir them up into the water where you can't see them; I have a very visible scar where one stung me on the thigh, causing a serious reaction and infection, over thirty years ago.

Xcaret (though you'll hear many pronunciations, the Maya is SH-CAHR-RETT) is an elaborate "ecological park" (zoo and man-made faux river and jungle cove Disney like park designed to offer you a variety of adventures, services and shopping at premium fares. It's indeed adventurous and offers something for everyone, other than anything resembling a genuine "ecological park", natural habitat or snorkeling experience. Classic case of "green washing".

Cancún's best snorkelling is on the south side near Club Med. Other possibilities include the reefs near Puerto Morelos; Akumal (AH KOO MOLL)where you could encounter sea turtles; Tulúm (TOO-LOOM) cove, hard by the ruins (nice juxtaposition!) and offers various services; Xel-Há (SHELL-HA), and definitely the limestone sinkhole cenotes used by the Maya for water sources and sometimes sacrifices. (Car Wash, Dos Ojos, many others - super clear water, interesting life like blind cave characins and shrimps, snorkeling amidst the jungle.)

There's one more place where a fresh water spring meets the sea that's not as well known, natural and lovely, restricted to how many can use it and chock full of colorful tropical fish. I'm not home for at least another day, where I can view my notes and say more. OK, it's near Akumal and it's called Yal-ku (YAWL-KOO). Google Maps link to area (~105 km / 65 miles). Gotta get there early - they only allow a certain number of people access.

Wear as few chemicals as possible (non-polluting sunscreen and cloth - you can get burned severely whilst cooled off by the water and being intrigued by the fish in the tropical sunlight, reflected further by sand and water) to help preserve the environment.

roknroll

We did this (not sure if exact same place) through EdVenture Tours. I had bene to Xel Ha before, and this was similar in concept but all natural. We were the only people there. It was where the fresh water met sea water in an enclosed lagoon. It was brackish water, and separated in layers which was interesting. The cool fresh water was on the surface, and if you swam down 4-5 feet it was 5-10 degrees warmer (ocean water). You could see a visible line too. Very cool to swim in, and lots of fish and life. Again pretty cool as we were the only ones there. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures.

JDiver

That's the place! The halocline and thermocline are interesting phenomena I've usually encountered cave and cavern diving nearby, but definitely happens up some cenotes and at Yal Ku. Yal Ku is natural, and anyone can visit (there are restrictions on how many, so it's necessary to arrive earlier, and if parking, leave no valuables in the car). Fees, which are modest, go to the co-operative for personnel and keeping the place clean.

We've enjoyed Yal Ku and highly recommend it; Quintana Roo as it once was.

The fresh water seeps attract some fish - and some are used by sharks that like to sleep, like the notorious one at Isla Mujeres by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and may be why pregnant bull sharks are attracted to the deep areas off Akumal in winter.

lhgreengrd1

I'd echo the prior suggestion of taking a trip to Isla Mujeres. I was underwhelmed by Xel-Ha, but the snorkeling around Isla Mujeres was excellent.

parkball2

+1 - Akumal is incredible

Irwin Alvarado

My vote goes for Puerto Morelos. It's just 20-30 minutes south of Cancun and the town is small with very few commercial development which makes it nice.

I paid around $50 for me and my wife and they took us out to the reef with another couple. The snorkeling is amazing, about 1 mile long and has an amazing variety of corals and wild life. I snorkeled next the a fish that was bigger than me!

But please be very careful and don't touch the corals.

loomis

We decided to book seven nights down in Playa del Carmen, then only five up in Cancun, since it seems like the better snorkeling action is south of Cancun.

Thank you for all of your feedback!!

JDiver

You can also take the ferry (schedule) across to Cozumel. If you do, I recommend Sunday, when no cruise ships are in and you'll have exploring, beaches (south of town), the interesting archaeological site that was a place of pilgrimage for women to ask the goddess Ixchel for a child, restaurants, shopping, to yourself.

It's also closer to Tulúm and other archaeological sites (spend the morning at Cobá and feel like Indiana Jones!) and the limestone cenotes (for unique snorkeling in the jungle).

loomis

We ended up snorkeling two days at Xcaret and one day at Akumal. Here is our results:

Xcaret was great for all of our kids, since they did not have to fight waves, and did not have to swim out into the ocean to see some fish in the xenote inlet.

We saw a total of five sea turtles and two sting rays in one short morning at Akumal. The distance to swim out far enough without life jackets was too much for two of our youngest. In retrospect, we should have probably just rented life jackets for them.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Another interesting read ^ Alright after this bump I'm putting this down for the night.