Paradise Beach: SNUBA was great!

Hola, amigos!

 

Well, as the saying goes, while the Tom cat was away, the mice did play at Paradise Beach last Friday, June 17th! The visiting mice, that is...we were sorry to miss the chance to meet Tom, but he'll be pleased to hear that the working crew of mice he left behind ran everything just as if the boss was there. Our party of four spanning the ages from 12 to 75 had a great, relaxing beach day and can only add our raves about the setting, accommodations, toys, cleanliness, friendly staff, customer service, famous chicken nachos and fresh pineapple juice drinks, good value...it was a little bit of paradise, for sure!

 

I specifically wanted to tell everyone about our positive experience trying out Tom's new Snuba operations. Our 12yo son and I (old mom!) have been talking about taking a SCUBA class (DH is already certified), so this was a great opportunity to see how we liked the concept. Our guide for the adventure was Roman, and he was terrific. Roman was well-trained, and his knowledge and "safety first" attitude inspired our confidence. His personality is a good match for working with newbies--he is a very pleasant and perceptive young man. I got a little spooked at the beginning over relying on the regulator to breathe, and Roman knew just what to do to get me beyond that and on with the fun!

 

Here are the specifics: The cost is $45 per person. (We tipped Roman when it was over.) We filled out the usual forms, signing away our lives, but also providing necessary medical information. Roman followed up and asked us specific questions to make sure our physical conditions/history didn't present any "red flags." He outfitted us with fins, mask (good quality, better than your usual snorkel rental version), weight belt and the regulator & air hose arrangement. Roman explained slowly and in detail how everything worked and made sure we understood it all. He patiently answered questions. Then he instructed us as to underwater signals to use for communicating. Finally, we moved into shallow water to try out the equipment and get comfortable breathing underwater. The air line is 20 feet long and attached to an oxygen tank that floats on the surface on a custom air mattress. This means, of course, that you can never go any deeper than 20 feet, and because this area is fairly shallow generally, I don't think we ever got that deep...but it didn't matter, being down on the ocean floor was an incredible experience!

 

When we were ready, we took off and started exploring, with Roman guiding us the entire way. We dropped slowly to allow for our ears to handle the increasing pressure. Roman taught us how to equalize the pressure. It was easy to surface and hang on the air tank mattress if you needed to take a break or readjust something.

 

We were down 30-45 minutes. We saw some beautiful fish, coral, sea anenome, sting rays, etc. It was soooooo cooooool! :) We are definitely hooked on the undersea world now and will go foward with SCUBA-certification, but Snuba is a lot of fun all by itself and a perfect activity for those who love snorkeling and want just a little more!

 

Here's to fun days in Cozumel at Paradise Beach!

Thanks so much for posting this review!! We will be in Cozumel next Friday and are planning on going to Paradise Beach! I read in another thread that they now offered "snuba" but haven't read much more than that.

 

This is something that we will definately do, no doubt!

 

Counting the days...........

Debbie

Wow..what a great review! I showed it to Roman and he was just beaming...you made his day! Thanx for posting, glad to know everything was up to par when I was gone. Hopefully we can meet next time you're here...hasta la vista!

 

DebbieN...See you soon!

Can you reserve the tour or just book at Paradise Beach when you get there?

Are you taken into the water from the shore or off a boat?

 

We will be there in March and are very interested in Snuba!

Our son will be 10yo, what is the minimum age?

 

Thanks.

We will be there in March and are very interested in Snuba!

Our son will be 10yo, what is the minimum age?

There is no "official" age minimum for snuba as it is pretty unregulated, unlike scuba diving. If there is an age limit, it would be set by the operator. I would think they would allow a 10 y/o to participate as that is also the minimum age to get scuba certified. My daughter did snuba in Hawaii when she was 8 and had a great time.

 

Now, someone, please show us some photos of your experience.