Anybody been to Chankanab?

Hi All

Has anybody been to visit Chankanab park independently?

A few years ago I visited on a RCI excursion, but am cruising with three friends this time who would like to experience swimming with dolphins.

We plan to get a taxi there and explore independently.

Has anybody got any tips?

Many Thanks.

Karen.

Booking on your own will be cheaper than through the cruise line, but the ships may have booked up some of the morning experiences, so availability could be an issue. Taxi to Chank should be about $11-12 each way. Before and after your dolphin time you can enjoy the beach, pool, and snorkel areas. Food, drinks and service were good when we were there.

I highly recommend doing it on your own. We've done this the last two years and loved it. Easy $12 taxi ride, and there are taxis waiting at the exit when you get ready to leave. It wasn't that crowded either time we were there. Most people stopped at chairs on the beach near the restaurant and pool, so we kept walking to the end of the beach and had it all to ourselves. There are nice hammocks in that area too. Go to their website and you can print a coupon that will save you $2 per person on admission. Verify the times for the sea lion show with one of the employees when you get there, because both times we were there the shows did not coincide with the times shown on the signs. It's a cute show.

Make sure you take the time to walk thru the Mayan village.

We have walked through it on two separate visits and are pleased with the way it is done.

They put a lot of time into making this reproduction of early Mexican culture.

Great photo ops.

Good way to walk off lunch.

We were there in July. The beach was nice, and you can do impromptu diving from vendors on the beach. The food on the beach was good, but a little pricy. We did the snorkel excursion from Liberty of the Seas and waited a long time before we got into the van taxi with the driver who was more busy texting on his cell phone that watching his driving. It I was to do it again, I'd save the cash and take a taxi. Oh, and our excursion taxi on the way back dumped us all in a shopping area a bit from the ship without our wanting to be dropped there in the heat.

Cowboy, are you describing Chankanaab Marine park? I've never seen vendors there selling food on their small beach. Maybe another beach on Coz?

Was just at Chankanaab a couple weeks ago. We taxi'd over there from the port. There were six of us and we did it all independently. We paid $99 online for the 4 of us that included the Dolphin Encounter, buffet lunch (I avoided), drinks, and encounter with the Manatees.

When we got there, we wheeled and dealed for the photo package. They threw in open bar as well and the total for all 6 of us ended up being $250. We got a photo book, photos on thumb drive, open bar, buffet (I avoided - kids loved it), use of all facilities and admission to Chankanaab, dolphin encounter (4 of us only), manatee encounter (4 of us only), and they paid for the taxi back to the ship.

We've been there at least four times and have another day planned there in about 145 days! Can't wait!

We've not done the dolphin encounter - we're snorkelers and we just enjoy Chakanaab as an inexpensive beach/chill out day. That can vary with the amount of ships in port, but we usually go early and have a good palapa and chairs staked out way before the crowds arrive.

Seems like taxi is about $12 - $15 each way, there are plenty there for your return, they are lined up waiting for fares as you leave the park. $2 off admission ticket coupons are readily available on the web - just Google it.

We've always had food and drinks delivered to our chairs (and we usually go to the far end, about as far away from the Sea Lion/Dolphin/Swimming Pool area as possible) with no issues and it is good, fairly inexpensive food. We generally just drink local beer and again, very affordable!

Yes, it was Chankanaab. We were under a palaupa by the dive vendors and snorkel area when they came up with a menu. This was August of 2016.

We do it every couple years, including just last week. Taxi $12 each way, admission $21 per adult, shore dive into caves for experienced diver without equipment $45 (no reservations needed). We always snorkel from shore and bring own equipment so that's free. Best thing about doing independently is doing it on your own time schedule more efficiently than a group excursion.

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Do they take us dollars?

Every tourist spot on Coz will happily take dollars - most post prices in dollars, including the cab fare board.

I'll be there! Thx!

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Was just at Chankanaab a couple weeks ago. We taxi'd over there from the port. There were six of us and we did it all independently. We paid $99 online for the 4 of us that included the Dolphin Encounter, buffet lunch (I avoided), drinks, and encounter with the Manatees.

 

 

 

When we got there, we wheeled and dealed for the photo package. They threw in open bar as well and the total for all 6 of us ended up being $250. We got a photo book, photos on thumb drive, open bar, buffet (I avoided - kids loved it), use of all facilities and admission to Chankanaab, dolphin encounter (4 of us only), manatee encounter (4 of us only), and they paid for the taxi back to the ship.

Question: The 2 who didn't do the dolphin encounter. Were they able to watch the rest of your party interact with the dolphins? My grandparents are coming and want to see this, but don't want to actually participate.

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We have the Royal Dolphin swim booked for 11/21/17 for our family of 5. I'm reading that everyone says taxi for $12 one way...is that per person :o We are actually going with 4 other people for the same swim time. Wonder if we can get a ride large enough for 9 people?

The $12 fare covers up to 4 sharing the cab -- there will be larger taxi vans available, but not sure if they can hold all of you. The average per person fare will be about the same. Fares should be posted on a board near the cab line. It might be easier to split into two taxis.

We just went there independently last week. There were 16 of us, so we got 2 cabs 8 people each for $24. We did the swim with the manatees and it was the highlight of our cruise (and we did some really fun things). We did not take a food package. When we got there a guide came up, for us signed in for our manatee experience and then toured us around until it was time for it. Afterwards we had time to look around and buy pictures. They kinda have you on the pics. They wanted $640 for all the pictures. Individually they charged $40 for all the pictures of one person, so basically took the pics of the kids and young adults. All in all it was a great time. There are taxis waiting there to take you back to the ship. Very easy to do on your own. Enjoy

HOw do you book swim with dolphins on your own? It says on their website that they don't do online reservations. I don't want to pay cruise lines prices.

We have one person in the group that wants the dolphin encounter and one that wants to parasail. Do they offer parasailing here or do we need to go another beach? Will we have time to go to two different places? We'll be on Liberty of the Seas the first week in September.

HOw do you book swim with dolphins on your own? It says on their website that they don't do online reservations. I don't want to pay cruise lines prices.

I would like to know that as well? Anyone can help? Thanks!

I would like to know that as well? Anyone can help? Thanks!

We were there the first week of September. We got off the ship early and got a taxit to take us there. I think we were the first people there. We wouldn't have had to go that early, but our friends wanted to make sure they got a spot to swim with the dolphins. They booked the dolphin excursion from one window and we paid for just the park at another window. They paid cash, but we used our credit card, so I assume you coud do either. We went down to the beach until their time slot (10:30?). No one else was there, but there were bar servers taking our drink orders.

We were not able to "see" them do the experience. You can only sit in a certain area and they were farther away in an area where we couldn't see them. We could see the dolphins swim backwards, pull people, etc., but could not distinguish who the people were.

When we took the taxi back they dropped us off in a little shopping area, but it wasn't the one at the dock. We had to cross a street to get to that shopping area to get back to the dock. It was a little confusing. We just kept walking toward the ship.

Hope this info helps.

HOw do you book swim with dolphins on your own? It says on their website that they don't do online reservations. I don't want to pay cruise lines prices.

Hi - I found a link to reserve online. Google dolphin discovery cozumel

Taxi question here...I have read that more than one person said they were dropped off at a shopping area on the ride back and had to walk over to the ship. Is it ok to just tell your driver that you have not interest in shopping and just want to be taken to the ship? We will have our 9 year old son with us and after a long day in the sun he won't be the only one who doesn't want to walk anymore or shop.....

Didn't know what to do since we have been to Cozumel multiple times and been to all the island tourist spots this sounds like the perfect place for us. We plan on just relaxing on the beach, see the sea lion show, Mayan Village and have a snack (maybe). I'm sure they have some shops to browse.

Taxi question here...I have read that more than one person said they were dropped off at a shopping area on the ride back and had to walk over to the ship. Is it ok to just tell your driver that you have not interest in shopping and just want to be taken to the ship? We will have our 9 year old son with us and after a long day in the sun he won't be the only one who doesn't want to walk anymore or shop.....

It never hurts to ask! We walked right past all the shops and then realized we had to cross the street to get past some security (show them our seapass card) and port shops and to the ships. It wasn't really that much extra to walk, just a little annoying trying to cross the street.

It might be that there is not a safe place to drop you off on a busy street. I saw no other taxis dropping people off closer to the security. Everything looked different when we went back. I couldn't even see where taxis were picking people up. But they got there to pick us up, so you would think they could get there to drop you off.