Nachi-Cocum and Dolphin experience

[kcmo74]

Not sailing til next December but figured I'd ask a question as I want to book some things sooner rather than later. Nachi-Cocum sounds right up my groups alley, so I'd really like to make it the spot we spend the day. However, my wife is dead set on doing a swim with Dolphin experience in Cozumel so I'm wondering about the logistics of doing both. I know one dolphin spot is in Chankanaab so I'm guessing you have to pay park entrance fee on top of dolphin costs, which seems like a waste if we aren't staying in Chankanaab. The other option seems to be Dolphinaris, but I have no idea if it's easy to just go there and do the hour experience and then move on to Nachi-Cocum. Or would it be better to go to Nachi-Cocum first for most of the day, and then head to a dolphin experience within the last 2-3 hrs before we have to be back onboard? Our group has 11 and not sure if anybody else besides her is wanting to do Dolphins or not. Thanks for the insight!

[JohninDC]

Book the dolphin thing as early as possible and then cab from there to Nachi.  If some in your group don't want to make the dolphin stop, they can cab separately to Nachi.  Taxis are well regulated on Cozumel (unlike the crooks in Philly! 😡).

[c-leg5]

A lot depends on which pier you dock at and how long you are in Cozumel. Also care with local time if you are booking dolphins independently 

 

Do uou have other ports where dolphins may be easier?

[kcmo74]

7 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

A lot depends on which pier you dock at and how long you are in Cozumel. Also care with local time if you are booking dolphins independently 

 

Do uou have other ports where dolphins may be easier?

Only other port is Costa Maya, and currently their dolphin area is closed for maintenance or some such. We do appear to have a full day in Cozumel 7am-5pm.

[kcmo74]

10 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Book the dolphin thing as early as possible and then cab from there to Nachi.  If some in your group don't want to make the dolphin stop, they can cab separately to Nachi.  Taxis are well regulated on Cozumel (unlike the crooks in Philly! 😡).

That was kind of what I was thinking, thanks for the response.

[bguppies]

On 1/13/2023 at 7:05 AM, JohninDC said:

Book the dolphin thing as early as possible and then cab from there to Nachi.  If some in your group don't want to make the dolphin stop, they can cab separately to Nachi.  Taxis are well regulated on Cozumel (unlike the crooks in Philly! 😡).

Yeah let the people determined to do the Dolphin swim do that on their own first, as it will be closer to any cruise pier. (our group did that a few years ago. DW refused to lose one minute at her favorite spot in the world, Nachi,  for a dolphin encounter. LOL)

Then have the ones just wanting a fantastic beach day go straight to Nachi and you can have them set aside some palapas or loungers by the pool for the rest of your group arriving later from the dolphin swim.

 

Remember Nachi has a limit of 125 people a day, so make sure not to wait too long to book it. (Especially if it one of those heavy passenger days with multiple huge ships [Oasis, Mardi Gras, etc], or 10-12 average sized ships scheduled to be there that day)

[c-leg5]

On 1/13/2023 at 4:13 PM, kcmo74 said:

Only other port is Costa Maya, and currently their dolphin area is closed for maintenance or some such. We do appear to have a full day in Cozumel 7am-5pm.

 

Costa Maya does appear to be open for bookings according to their website but of course there can be many changes between now and December.

 

You still haven’t stated which pier but if Langosta, Dolphinaris would certainly be more convenient and en route to Nachi. You could walk but that would depend on mobility and comfort level. Even from the other piers it would be $8-10, same as what it would cost to  get to Chankanaab.
 

Not sure if budget is an issue,  but I would certainly compare prices and promotions between Chankanaab and Dolphinaris. Personally I wouldn’t like to pay for admission to Chankanaab and then waste the experience and then pay for AI to Nachi.

 

[kcmo74]

On 1/17/2023 at 10:19 AM, c-leg5 said:

 

Costa Maya does appear to be open for bookings according to their website but of course there can be many changes between now and December.

 

You still haven’t stated which pier but if Langosta, Dolphinaris would certainly be more convenient and en route to Nachi. You could walk but that would depend on mobility and comfort level. Even from the other piers it would be $8-10, same as what it would cost to  get to Chankanaab.
 

Not sure if budget is an issue,  but I would certainly compare prices and promotions between Chankanaab and Dolphinaris. Personally I wouldn’t like to pay for admission to Chankanaab and then waste the experience and then pay for AI to Nachi.

 

No idea on the pier, idk how to look that information up, or how to see what other ships are in port that day.

[bguppies]

On 1/18/2023 at 2:02 PM, kcmo74 said:

No idea on the pier, idk how to look that information up, or how to see what other ships are in port that day.

If you are on a Carnival ship (Princess, HAL etc.) you'll be at Puerto Maya pier.

If you are on RCL (Celebrity etc) you be at international pier. (literally right next door to Puerto Maya)

If you are on NCL or some smaller lines you'll probably be at the old pier downtown, which is a few miles north of the other two piers.

 

The two main dolphin excursions are both on the way to Nachi from either southern pier.

 

To find out the cruise schedules just use google and type in cruise port schedules and Voila....

(you can't link to any in here.)

The Island of Cozumel posts the schedules for the current week with the finalized pier schedule each week.

Edited January 19, 2023 by bguppies

[c-leg5]

41 minutes ago, bguppies said:

If you are on a Carnival ship (Princess, HAL etc.) you'll be at Puerto Maya pier.

If you are on RCL (Celebrity etc) you be at international pier. (literally right next door to Puerto Maya)

If you are on NCL or some smaller lines you'll probably be at the old pier downtown, which is a few miles north of the other two piers.

 

The two main dolphin excursions are both on the way to Nachi from either southern pier.

 

To find out the cruise schedules just use google and type in cruise port schedules and Voila....

(you can't link to any in here.)

The Island of Cozumel posts the schedules for the current week with the finalized pier schedule each week.

 
This is certainly true in  general.

 

However, on days with full port load -  (8 or more ships), smaller older ships from Carnival and Royal will dock at Langosta if their piers are full.
 

Also, I have seen MSC and Norwegian at International.

 

I have never docked at Puerta Maya so not too familiar with there although I thought I heard Celebrity docked there recently?

 

If really high port load, Norwegian seems to be the cruise line to tender.

 

Chankanaab is south of all three piers. Dolphinaris is south of Langosta, but north of Puerta Maya and International., so it would be the opposite direction to Nachi from those two piers. It is between International and Langosta. It is possible to walk there from Langosta. However, as I said before there isn’t much difference in total taxi fare to either dolphin experience and on to Nachi - the difference would be price of experience at Dolphinaris vs Dolphin experience at Chankanaab, which includes entrance to the park.  You would need to check what promotions are current at the time. We actually have booked  Chankanaab cheaper through the cruise line directly occasionally when it is on sale, since transport is included. Of course you would need to let them know in your case you wouldn’t require return transport. Also keep in mind the cruise lines often block book the dolphin experiences so they are not available for individual bookings.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by c-leg5