Save a Sea Turtle or Cenote/Sea Turtle Snorkel - Experiences?

LOVE Sea turtles and am having a hard time deciding which to book. Experiences with either of these excursions on Royal Caribbean?

Assume it is the same tour, but we took the turtles and cenotes tour through Princess, and it was hands down the best excursion we have taken in our 4 cruises to date. The Cenotes were just fantastic. Fresh water - crystal clear, colourful fish, amazing stalagmites and stalactites. Swimming with the turtles was great too - there were quite a few around. We did a turtle swim at St Thomas (Buck Island) and at Barbados (Carlisle Bay) and both were good - but Mexico was better. Water wasnt quite as clear, but the abundance of turtles was better.

And to top it off, they took us to a taco bar buffet in Playa Del Carmen that was excellent. Good long day but well worth it.

Don

Does this have to be booked through the ship or can you do it on your own? How long was this excursion?

We did the Save a Sea Turtle through RCI and loved it! We saw a bit of the island, got to the beach, and dug for turtles. Our group (about 6 of us) found the most turtles (some didn't survive) and then released them into the sea. Our daughter (and we) loved the experience. Afterwards we walked though a Mayan "village" where they made chocolate, tortillas (I think - or something like that), and tequila. We got to taste everything. I was considering doing this tour again but did not see it listed for our cruise (may be too early) so I started looking at the Cenotes and Turtle Cove. My daughter just got into snorkeling and I know she'd love seeing the turtles. The only thing I'm not so keen on is the long ferry ride (50 minutes each way) and then a van ride (20 minutes). I'm still researching, which is how I ended up here. :-)

Sun Lover - Save a Turtle is 4-5 hours. I haven't found where you can book it on your own. We didn't have a huge group and we were broken into small groups at the beach.

What time of year were you there? We will be there in February and I think the season for them to hatch will be over then so I don't think we'd be able to do the beach part. Do you think it would be worth it if that part wasn't available? Was the ferry ride rough where you could get sick? If you find out any other information about another tour similar to this, please post it here. Thanks so much for your help.

Do you know if the tour through Princess went to Turtle Cove or someplace else? I'm assuming it's the same as the Royal Caribbean one that goes there. Do you snorkel while in the cenotes or is it too dark? Are you swimming or just wading through the water? Is the water really cold? How long did you actually swim with the turtles? I would love to hear more about this tour. Thanks so much for your help.

Assume it is the same tour, but we took the turtles and cenotes tour through Princess, and it was hands down the best excursion we have taken in our 4 cruises to date. The Cenotes were just fantastic. Fresh water - crystal clear, colourful fish, amazing stalagmites and stalactites. Swimming with the turtles was great too - there were quite a few around. We did a turtle swim at St Thomas (Buck Island) and at Barbados (Carlisle Bay) and both were good - but Mexico was better. Water wasnt quite as clear, but the abundance of turtles was better.

 

And to top it off, they took us to a taco bar buffet in Playa Del Carmen that was excellent. Good long day but well worth it.

 

Don

What time of year were you there? We will be there in February and I think the season for them to hatch will be over then so I don't think we'd be able to do the beach part. Do you think it would be worth it if that part wasn't available? Was the ferry ride rough where you could get sick? If you find out any other information about another tour similar to this, please post it here. Thanks so much for your help.

We were there the end of August. No ferry was needed. I was looking for the excursion to do it again and it's not listed on RCI's site (for November). It may because the turtle season is over! Maybe cenotes will be the one for us.

Assume it is the same tour, but we took the turtles and cenotes tour through Princess, and it was hands down the best excursion we have taken in our 4 cruises to date. The Cenotes were just fantastic. Fresh water - crystal clear, colourful fish, amazing stalagmites and stalactites. Swimming with the turtles was great too - there were quite a few around. We did a turtle swim at St Thomas (Buck Island) and at Barbados (Carlisle Bay) and both were good - but Mexico was better. Water wasnt quite as clear, but the abundance of turtles was better.

 

And to top it off, they took us to a taco bar buffet in Playa Del Carmen that was excellent. Good long day but well worth it.

 

Don

I'm curious about this tour. RCI has it listed as "strenuous". Is it really? Also it says that you must be a swimmer. Can you manage without being a swimmer? I know you have life vests and my husband is not really a swimmer.