Review of Mayan Paradise second boat - Maria del Mar

A few months ago, I posted a review of my Snuba experience with Mayan Paradise. That review can be found here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=103072

A month or so ago, I saw in a thread that they had added a second smaller boat and I decided to investigate and then to try.

The "new" boat, Maria del Mar is smaller (36 ft) and holds few passengers (16 max, I think). It isn't a catamaran but does have character of it's own. One thing that was really appealing to me was that it left from downtown - I didn't have to take a taxi all the way to Nachi Cocom. Good thing, because the Valor was late getting to Cozumel and I was even later getting to the ferry pier downtown. I got there just in time to see the boat pulling away from the dock! I waved at the boat in such a way that they knew I wasn't waving bye-bye. If it had been a cruise ship tour, they might have just kept going, but they brought the boat back to the pier for me to board. Score one for the crew (Jose, Ricardo, and Jose) of Maria del Mar!

Once on board, I counted the passengers and there were a total of 8 - a family of four, a family of three, and me. Not too many people, not too few. The tour can be either combination snorkel/Snuba or all snorkel. On this trip, all of us were just doing the three snorkel stop tour, but I have little doubt that the Snuba experience would have been on par with what I had on their other boat last November.

The reefs listed in the email I received were listed as Pariso, Dzul Ha, and Villa Blanca. The reefs we ended up snorkeling were Paradise (which I may have misunderstood or may be the same as Pariso), Chankanaab Reef and then Dzul Ha. I really liked all three locations.

Like the other tour, there is an open bar included. Since there was no Snuba takers on our trip, the Bar was OPEN from the beginning. I did exercise some restraint and wait until after the first snorkel stop. There was music playing - not too loud and mostly Jimmy Buffett as I recall, but know they had other selections.

What else? I have my own snorkel equipment so didn't try the tour provided equipment, but the other passengers raved about it - something I had never heard and I've been on lots of snorkel trips. When I eyeballed it, the masks were of high quality, but they also had semi-dry snorkels, something novice snorkelers could appreciate.

My tour lasted 3 1/2 hours - from 11am to 2:30pm which was a perfect fit for my (aka Valor's) schedule - if the Valor hadn't been late! But it all worked out. My understanding is that you can arrange custom tours outside of the normal tour window and/or just charter the boat with some notice.

I checked the Mayan Paradise website and still don't see any info on the new boat or trips, but you can contact them for the latest tour information.

Think I have rambled enough, so here are some (the normal TOO MANY) pictures from my trip. There were some really HUGE parrotfish at Dzul Ha, but I have yet to figure out how to get the color right on those, but someday...

zydecocruiser's Album:Valor - Cozumel - Maria Del Mar

Click on the link above to view the 139 pictures in this album. As the recipient, you can download, re-share and order prints and merchandise containing these pictures. Please do not use the owner's pictures in an unexpected way.

Great pictures. What type of camera do you use?

Thanks. A new camera for me - a Canon S1 IS with Canon's waterproof housing. I'm still learning, so think the pictures will get better. I also let Photoshop autofix most.

I realize I took/posted too many pictures of Dzul Ha palapas and such, but there seems to be lots of interest about the area.

Nice pics :)!

There is a Northern Exposure snorkeling tour on Cozumel cruise excursions, is this the same boat? Sure looks like it, is it the same tour? We also like the idea of leaving right from town, less for us to worry about. Was the boat okay? Was there a bathroom onboard?

There is a Northern Exposure snorkeling tour on Cozumel cruise excursions, is this the same boat? Sure looks like it, is it the same tour? We also like the idea of leaving right from town, less for us to worry about. Was the boat okay? Was there a bathroom onboard?

I wouldn't bet my life, but I'd bet a lot (certainly more than the price of the tour) that it is the same boat/tour/etc. Description and times are the same. I booked directly through Mayan Paradise, but the prices are the same. The boat was fine. Bathroom onboard with a standard marine toilet (pump to flush). I didn't test it, but heard no complaints about it and four of the passengers were female.

Crew was friendly and no lack of bar service. Assorted fresh fruit platter and chips for snacks.

I did like the downtown location - centralized to shopping, restaurants etc. Across the street from Hard Rock. There is even a Burger King on the Ferry pier, if that is of interest.

A minor correction, just in case I gave anyone the wrong impression. Water and soft drinks were available at any time, but the real bar didn't open until after the first snorkel. It isn't a booze cruise. For that matter, I was the only one that had any alcohol at all. But it is included.

I waited until later before I really started drinking, but that's another story and, of course, more pictures. But AoHell seems to be having picture sharing woes at the moment. Stay tuned for the next chapter...

zydecocruiser -

Hi from Laveen!

Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Hi Laveen. Small world!

In another thread, in another port, I noticed a general question about what sort of cleaning procedures are used for the snorkel equipment. That made me curious so I sent an email off and asked. Obviously it can vary by Company, but this is the response I got from Gary at Mayan Paradise:

The equipment we give to people is cleaned in the

morning in a mixture of detergent and chlorine.

Between tours, we clean the equipment again with the soapy

chlorine mix, rinse it with salt water and then store it back in

the fresh water(the big barrel) ready before giving them out to

the new clients. The big barell also has a small

amount of chlorine in it....but not that you'd notice.

WOW Bill! Those photos are great. I forwarded the link to my son...who is really into the salt water fish stuff. He loved them!! He is going to cruise with us in November.

I am waiting for the next set of photos..keep em coming!

Did you enjoy the Snorkeling in Cozumel or Grand Cayman better? I can't decide which to do?

I enjoy snorkeling, and try to find some in every port. I never get tired of it.

If you haven't been to either island before, and you can only do one, without a doubt, I would go Stingray Sandbar in Grand Cayman, which really isn't snorkeling, but is often packaged with a snorkeling stop or two, especially on non-ship tours.

I also really like Mayan Paradise and Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel.

There are no restrictions on fish feeding in Grand Cayman, there are lots of restrictions in the Marine Park in Cozumel.

Since they are both islands, most anything you do is going to be in or around the water.

So I guess the answer is flip a coin, although I would still find a way to snorkel both.

Can you tell me approx where the ferry pier is downtown?

C

It is approximately directly opposite Hard Rock Cafe. (Main Plaza)

Left of center bottom of this map:

http://www.gocozumel.com/map.htm

We will be there soon! What kndo of alcohol did they have to choose from?

Some that I recall are: beer, pina colada, rum punch and some tequila things. It isn't a booze cruise, but you can catch a buzz. If you are going to snuba, no booze until after you snuba. Don't know what the brands were, pretty sure you have no choice, but everything I tried hit the spot!

I mostly was doing rum punch.

They also have bottle water and coke and probably more that you can get as soon as you board, fyi.

We will be there soon! What kndo of alcohol did they have to choose from?

My guess is you may be going out on Zorro, which I really liked to. I was asking about the boats and this is what I received:

I sent an email to mayan paradise asking about the boats and this was the response:

"the boats are fine but he huricane affected us a fair

bit...mostly because of the drop in people coming.

Also big time because our Zorro tour was impacted

drastically by the closure of 4 of the five hotels we

sold our tours from.

We have changed our schedules drastically. We run the

Zorro out of downtown to do what was virtually the

same trip as the MARIA DEL MAR.

The Maria Del Mar is basically staying in port until

things pick up...but it's going to be very very hard

for the next few months."

You can find my Zorro review here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=103072