JP-Cruise

3 hours ago, salmn said:

We did this while land based on vacation in Cozumel.  It was well worth the time and money.  Call it a bucket list item.

The time frame is long- 45 min. ferry, 1 hr. van to north Cancun, orientation, 1 hr.to 1 1/2 hr boat ride depending on where the whale sharks are located that day, 2 hrs with the whale sharks and then transportation in reverse. 

 

It is snorkeling and you need to be pretty good swimmers. It is not like floating around looking at fish.  You need to jump in off the boat and kick hard to try to keep up with the whale sharks.  There are regulations against diving with the whale sharks and strict regulations about how many people in the water at a time and how close you can get.

 

We went during early June and saw plenty of Whale Sharks.

I believe there is an age limit of 12 years old?

 

Having done this and totally loved it, if I were to recommend to anyone, it would be to do it when land based in Cancun, Isla Mujeres, or Isla Holbox and not from a cruise ship in Cozumel. It would be about half the price and not so much travel time.

 

If going from a cruise in Cozumel, definitely need to do the ship's excursion and not independently as it is a long day and high possibility of not making it back to the ship on time. For us, it was a 12 hour excursion from Cozumel.

Excellent job explaining the details ;). I couldn’t agree more with what you said about Staying in Cancun or Isla Mujeres do this. Strongly considering doing it again next summer this way. I’ve already been looking at the resorts in the area :)  so nice! 

20 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

Is that $194 pp? Eeek. I knew it would be expensive but geesh (especially when there's 3 of us). Is there an age limit for children?

 

So you are talking 2 hours in one direction (then of course another 2 hours in reverse). Geesh. That is a long time. It still sounds absolutely amazing though!

 

Good to know about July and August. Since we will be in Cozumel in another week, I'm going to at least keep my eyes peeled for them as we pull in/out of port. Maybe we'll spot them in the water. 😁

It sure is worth it I promise you. Ya it’s per person. For children it’s 184. Haha don’t count on spotting them in the water near Cozumel. they’re only in that particular area off the coast of Cancun. And this excursion did sell out fast. I remember when I got on the ship, the excursion rep said there were only 5 tickets left. So this is one excursion I recommend purchasing on the carnival website 

7 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

This is amazing and something I have always wanted to do. I didn't realize they had these excursions in Cozumel.

 

Is it only during a certain time of the year?

 

You mentioned the "travel time" and then also a boat ride and then said a ferry ride. Can you explain? Are you taking a ferry over somewhere and then getting on a boat out to the whale sharks? Or...???? I'm confused. How long was the ride (or boat ride)? You also said they allowed 2 people to dive with the instructor at a time. The pictures looked like you were snorkeling not diving? So just wondering. Also, what was the cost?

 

Loved the pictures and thanks for your review!

No problem. The cost was $194. We were snorkelling. From Cozumel, we took a ferry to Playa Del Carmen. The ferry ride was about half an hour. Which picked us up directly from the cruise ship. Then from there we took a van ride to Cancun which was an hour. Then from Cancun took a small boat ride to the whale shark area. Which was about another half hour. We were 52 miles off the coast of Cancun. Like I said though, when you get in the water with these huge magnificent animals, the travel time so worth it! You will be in awe! 

We had to jump in in pairs. We got to jump in the water with them 3 times. 

Any other questions don’t hesitate to ask. Oh yes, July and August are the best months to see them because that’s when they’re all in the area, feeding on the plankton 

4 minutes ago, shark&minnow said:

I too am interested in this. When do you go? I hope that you will report back if you do this excursion. I think it would be so incredible to see these. My concern is the length of travel and the $$ if there is a low chance of seeing them. Please share any info you find.

Thank you!

Well my friend, I am about to make your day with my review :). 

I just returned on Saturday  the 20th from my cruise and I am more than happy to give you a full detailed review of my experience.

First things first I cannot tell you enough how MUCH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO THIS! It was literally one of the most life changing experiences! :). 

I did this excursion on July 18. The travel time was Completely worth it. I am still in shock at how many whale sharks there were. There were an estimation of 150!! Yeah one hundred and fifty!! lol. I had a whole panoramic view of WS’s! So I am totally connived July is the best month to do this excursion. 

So the travel time was well worth it. Me personally I love sightseeing, it was Part of the adventure and for me it lead to the anticipation of getting in the water with these magnificent animals. Regarding the travel time though it’s such a subjective part of this kind of trip because some people just can’t deal with long boat rides or whatever the reason may be. It’s all perspective.

the guides were absolutely amazing, so friendly and upbeat. You dive two people at a time, with a guide. I asked the guide if he could take pics of me swimming with the WS. And he did, he took the most phenomenal pics ever! Which of course I’m going to post for you, and others who are interested in doing this excursion. 

I knew these animals were peaceful and docile, but I didn’t realize just how peaceful they really are. The guide was really informative, and said as soon as they feel like people are getting too close to them, they just swim away from you. I totally felt completely safe in the water with them. 

If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask. 

I’m already planning on doing this again next summer. But this time not with the cruise. Gonna stay at an all inclusive resort in Play Del Carmen or Cancun to avoid the half an hour ferry ride from the cruise ship. But If you have your heart set on a cruise and want to try this out for the first time. Highly highly recommend it once again. There is nothing that will prepare you for this incredible encounter ;)

The most important thing to remember, YOUR CAMERA :D. Here’s why lol....

has anyone booked excursions through the shipmate app? if so I would like to hear about your experience

14 hours ago, JP-Cruise said:

I was wondering if anyone has done the hol chan snorkel excursion with Carnival? If so, does it for sure guarantee they will also take you to shark ray alley?

 

I am a solo traveller, was originally booked on a caye caulker, Shark Ray alley tour with coral breeze company. But they just sent me an email saying they had to cancel the excursion. So this leaves me no choice but to book with the cruise line.

 

just wondering if I should book the Hol chan small group snorkel tour? Or the caye caulker shark ray alley tour? 

 

It looks like the only difference between the two is Hol chan tour doesn’t include taking you to caye caulker. In the reviews on the website most people wrote that they stopped and shark ray alley but it doesn’t say that they stop there in the excursion description. I just really wanna go to shark ray alley also and don’t wanna be let down 

Sorry I made a mistake on the title of this thread. I meant to say “who has been on this excursion? Would appreciate some information about people’s experiences on this excursion 

I was wondering if anyone has done the hol chan snorkel excursion with Carnival? If so, does it for sure guarantee they will also take you to shark ray alley?

I am a solo traveller, was originally booked on a caye caulker, Shark Ray alley tour with coral breeze company. But they just sent me an email saying they had to cancel the excursion. So this leaves me no choice but to book with the cruise line.

just wondering if I should book the Hol chan small group snorkel tour? Or the caye caulker shark ray alley tour? 

It looks like the only difference between the two is Hol chan tour doesn’t include taking you to caye caulker. In the reviews on the website most people wrote that they stopped and shark ray alley but it doesn’t say that they stop there in the excursion description. I just really wanna go to shark ray alley also and don’t wanna be let down 

13 minutes ago, JQTravels said:

It's a pre purchase for the entire cruise. can't do day by day.....we did a review it you would like to take a look

 

Thanks for uploading that. Very informative. Ya this package is not for me as I am doing excursions everyday. I’ll just buy my drinks as needed. Makes more sense :)

47 minutes ago, mapman_2004 said:

 

I wish they had a 3 out of 7 day package.  I might be interested in that, but I'm not a big drinker, and can't sustain that kind of drinking for that many days straight.  Have to be a big drinker at home to take full advantage.

 

Just buy your drinks when you need them, and you will be WAY better off.  Carnival sells this to make a profit from the 90% that aren't big drinkers...

Thanks for all the responses. So it definitely doesn’t make sense for me to get this then since I am not a big drinker and have excursions planned at every destination.

I will buy my drinks as needed 

thanks again to all who replied 🙂

Hello,

I was looking at the cheers beverage program and it says it is 50 dollars per day. 

I was wondering if on days that I don’t drink anything, do I still get charged?  How does this work? 

5 minutes ago, SLCruisers said:

I need to get on here more often.  My camera gave out so I only have a few good pictures to share.  

 

After reading back at my review and thinking back on the experience, it was one of my best in the water and I have 40 dives now. The sharks are beautiful!  The only thing I think would make it better for me is if I were in my scuba gear instead.  

 

The guide did have a camera but it did not work so don't totally count on that.  Because of that, the only pictures I have are from my camera, which it messed up on me (probably user error!).  I have since invested in a better camera so if I ever do this again, I'll be better prepared.  If you are planning to do this excursion, I HIGHLY recommend bringing your own dry snorkel.  They do cost more but are much better with the waves and in rougher water.  That will certainly make your experience better and you will have less chance of getting the salt water in your mouth.  

OH MY GOODNESS IN HEAVEN SLCRUISER!

even though your camera and the guides camera gave out these pictures are absolutely phenomenal!! I can definitely understand how this is one of the best dives! 

This is the first excursion I booked and it is the reason why I booked the cruise. This has been on my bucket list for 5 years! So excited to make this finally happen! I thought the exact same thing with regards to the dry snorkel. I purchase the top of the line dry snorkel last month just for this experience. I have no doubt it will make all the difference in the experience. I also have a mask that has an attachment for my GoPro. So I think I’ll get some amazing national geographic worthy footage ;). 

One question I have for you is, I know you’re not allowed to get close to the whale sharks, but did you have any problems with the sharks getting close to YOU? And you not getting away in time?  

Even if this were to happen to me I highly doubt I would be worried. I would be super thrilled haha :)

36 minutes ago, DownToTheSea said:

Thankfully, no.

 

The sharks moved in and out fairly quickly as soon as the chumming stopped.

 

Truthfully, I found that part less enjoyable than the reef. Just my personal preference but I was a bit uncomfortable with attracting the sharks and rays like they do. Trying to hold them would have been too much. I did see one of the guides try to grab one of the rays and thought that was unnecessary.

 

Next time we hope to find a guide where we can skip that part and spend more time on a reef.

Got it. Thanks for sharing these details and your experience 

2 minutes ago, DownToTheSea said:

We were in smaller groups (3 of us and one other couple in our group) on the reef so it wasn't bad. Only time I got kicked in the face was by my girlfriend, so I can't complain. LOL

 

It was a bit more congested at the shark ray alley, but that is in shallow water so it was more manageable.

 

Oh ok haha. I was wondering also during shark ray alley. Did any of the guides let the people hold a nurse shark? 

4 minutes ago, DownToTheSea said:

There were about 20, including one group that had four kids under 12. I believe one of the kids and two adults stayed on the boat. We were not aware of anyone staying ashore from our boat.

 

There were probably six to eight boats from various tours at both stops.

Thanks. It wasn’t too crowded? No issues with being kicked in the face by other snorkelers like in the cruise ship snorkelling excursions? 

9 hours ago, DownToTheSea said:

They will definitely be able to see the sharks and Ray's from the boat, but that was the shorter of the two times we were in the water. We had one person from our group stay on the boat and the crew kept her entertained and made sure she was comfortable. Staying on the island is also an option - they might enjoy walking or taking a golf cart taxi to the Split to swim.

How many people were on your tour in total?

Hi.

If anyone has done this your can anyone tell me if the guides take your photos for you with either your camera or a progressional camera they have? And do they have photos available for purchase ?

Hi,

I will be doing the whale shark excursion in July. Can’t wait! This is a bucket list item I’ve been wanting to do for a long time!

For anyone who has done this tour, does the guides offer you take your photo for you? Either with your own camera or does the guide have a professional camera? And are there photos for purchase?

On 7/8/2016 at 9:59 AM, evandbob said:

 

Thanks for posting your experience, amazing! Hope to see your pics soon!

 

BTW, reef friendly sunscreen is either biodegradable or oil free! Hope everyone who enters our waters anywhere uses this!

On 7/8/2016 at 9:59 AM, evandbob said:

 

Thanks for posting your experience, amazing! Hope to see your pics soon!

 

BTW, reef friendly sunscreen is either biodegradable or oil free! Hope everyone who enters our waters anywhere uses this!

On 7/8/2016 at 8:18 AM, SLCruisers said:

My husband and I just did this excursion last week while we were on the Breeze. Let me start by saying that it was incredible!

 

There is a long travel time ... Ferry to Playa, van to Cancun, then another boat 20 miles out into the water (about an hour). The water is beautiful! There were snacks for the van ride (water, cookies bananas). Our guide was very knowledgeable about whale sharks and gave us instructions on how to act and what to expect in the water. We learned quite a bit before even getting onto the boat. There were 8 of us on this excursion so we weren't crowded at all.

 

When we were moving from van to boat, we were given the choice of wearing a wetsuit or live jacket. If you opted for wet suit, it was an extra $15. The speedboat was comfortable with lots of room. It took about an hour to find a shark. There were a couple of other boats out there, which resulted in quite a few people in the water. We ended up going further out and I'm so glad we did!

 

We were divided into two groups and each had a guide. We found an area with several whale sharks so we were able to swim beside them and stay in the water for a while. You have to swim fast at times to catch up with them! Listen to your guide ... She was very helpful in getting us to where we needed to be to have the best experience possible. Before we got out the water, I looked around me. You could see sharks coming to the surface to feed in all directions! I know I saw a minimum of 8 sharks at that particular moment! These creatures are beautiful! At one point, I was so close and he turned while feeding so I had to move to keep him from running into me!

 

We probably had about an hour in the water before heading back to shore. They had some drinks including water and beer plus sandwiches on board to eat. I was feeling seasick so I passed on the sandwich. My husband said it was dry and homemade ... Not the best. I do remember they only had 2 meats between bread, one being pork.

 

The time in the water will wear you out! Some of us even fell asleep in the boat on the way back to shore. Take the time to rinse off in the pool where the boat docks. We were covered with fish eggs from swimming in the area.

 

Overall, it was an incredible experience, especially if you are interested in sharks or diving. Even if you are not prone to seasickness, come prepared. You are not in a secluded cove with no waves. The sea can get rocky. I had ginger cookies with me, which really helped. In our review, we noted that they needed to figure out lunch. It's a very long excursion and there is no time to stop anywhere for food. We were starving when we got back to the ship so take something with you, just in case.

 

Equipment - they have all the equipment you will need. We brought our own and have dry snorkels so water never got into our mouths. Some of our group had trouble with the snorkels because they were shorter and open at the top. Their fins are the type where your feet slip inside like a shoe. There are no straps on the back. Make sure to wear sunscreen that is reef friendly.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I still need to download my photos so I'll post a few once I get that done. I hope this helps!

Hi there. I just saw his post and thought I’d ask you a question rewarding photos. I am booked on this tour for July. On the Carnival Conquest ship.  This is a bucket list item I am so thrilled to cross off! 

I was wondering when you did it, did the guides take people photos for hem? Also, did they have photos available for purchase?

On 1/13/2019 at 3:33 PM, Meem47 said:

We are looking at Splash Wave Tours out to Hol Can marine reserve and Shark alley...I believe she said they pick up right in the port. 

Hi there. I checked this site out and really considering this tour. Did you end up doing this one? Hol Chan Marine Reserve reserve shark and ray alley?

2 minutes ago, DownToTheSea said:

Those were the same hours we were in port. You should have no problems.

Thanks. Did you do this same tour with coral Breeze?

5 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Yeah they do wait a while before listing the excursion dates.  I think I booked the wife's April in February.  It wasn't up in January.  Just check back every couple of weeks. 

Will do 

31 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Sea Sport has a good rep for diving.  Wasn't aware of snorkeling, but just dropping you off and going away to a dive site isn't the best arrangement.

 

JP-Cruise---did you look into Coral Breeze yet?

I sure did. I checked their website. There schedule for July which is when Im going isn’t posted yet. I emailed them and they said their July schedule will be available in a couple of weeks. I’ll most likely go with them since a lot of good reviews I read on trip advisor :)

Thanks crewsweeper ;)

3 minutes ago, Athankfulheart said:

Yes with a guide. We are experienced snorkelers but that wasnt ok with me. 

No that sounds sketchy. What if something happens to one of the snorkellers like they get a leg cramp or something. There’s nowhere to swim to for safety? 

20 hours ago, Athankfulheart said:

We had booked with them a couple of years ago. We cancelled when we found out (from sea sports) that as snorkelers, we would be "dropped off" and then the boat would take the divers to another location in the water. So I don't have a personal experience with them to share. I did use this page to vet them before we booked. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g291968-d660871-Reviews-Sea_Sports_Belize-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

They were gonna drop you guys off? In a remote location? But with the guide right?? I hope lol 

Hi, based on all the great reviews I read, seems like I will be choosing this vendor for the Caye Caulker/shark ray alley snorkelling tour.

im leaving port from Miami on the carnival Conquest. My ship time in Belize is 8am - 5pm. So by choosing an 8am tour start time, I should be okay for getting back to the ship on time?