Snorkeling in Cabo, Acapulco, and Zihuatanejo

[mcmarya]

Just got back from the Oosterdam Panama Canal cruise and was pleasantly surprised by snorkeling experiences at these ports. In Zihuatanejo, we went to Playa Las Gatas by water taxi ($6 round trip each) and saw lots of fish and a couple of eels in the rocky area which is a little way out in front of the beach. There is not much in the way of coral and the water is not super clear, but it is pretty shallow so visibility is fine.

 

In Acapulco, we took a yellow tourist bus to Caleta beach ($1 for 2), then the water taxi to La Roqueta island ($4 each round trip). When we got to the island, our trip became more expensive when a guide latched on to us. But, he showed us where to snorkel around one end of the island, then took us to the lighthouse. The visibility was not the greatest, but we did see a ray and lots of interesting fish, including a very large puffer fish that came up when one of the glass bottom boat tours came by. If we had more time we would have gone to Playa las Palmitas (also on La Roqueta) which is supposed to be the best place to snorkel--maybe next time.

 

In Cabo, we took a water taxi to Lovers' Beach ($10 each which included the tour around Land's End) where we were dropped off for 2 hours. As you look out toward the Cabo side, we had the best luck going to the right. At one point I swam out to a free standing rock which had tons of fish around it. There were several very large schools of fish and visibility was excellent. You do have to watch out for boats. According to friends who had been to Cabo several times, the day we were there was much calmer than normal which probably contributed to the snorkeling success we experienced. The water in Cabo was definitely the clearest of these 3 ports, as good as many spots in the Caribbean. While riding out to the beach, we saw tons of fish looking through the glass bottom in the boat.