snorkeling in costa maya or mahahaul

[leeleent]

are there any places to snorkle from the beach on your own without going through a shore excursion? where to rent snorkeling equipment? how far is the reef from shore?

[1MaidenVoyage]

I saw several people snorkling right off the beach in Mahahaul for free. It was probably 50 yards out, 3 feet deep. Have no idea how good it was, but the beach is nice and the water very clear.

[GCurry]

You can snorkle freely in front of any of the clubs in the village, wade out and swim over the reef, (don't walk on it, Nitro doesn't like that) just past it is great snorkling.

Tapas is a good place, get a beach table, have some beers(Negro Modelo) snorkle and they'll watch your stuff. The conch cocktail at Tapas is great.

[dkbryan]

My family and I went snorkeling from Mahahual through Mayawal Tours. It was $20 each which included all equipment. However, some in our boat paid the same for the tour in Costa Maya and took the boat from their. The boat picked us up from Mahahual and then we took a very short ride to a reef. Actually, the reef goes out about 200 yards from shore, so I believe that you could probably see a lot if you went from shore.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

How nice is the coral on the reef that you can swim out to? Are there a lot of fish? DS & BIL want to snorrkle on a coral reef, but are hoping not to have to do an excursion from Costa Maya, just relax in Majahaul. Thanks.