Whale Sharks, Cenotes and Cozumel advice please!

[DandyDon]

I would fly to Cozumel and stay there for the first week.

I would too, but she's not in the Great State of Texas. From London, she can fly to Cancun non-stop for $300-400 less than Coz based on round-trip, not sure about open-jaw - maybe half that extra, or maybe as much.

And to get to Coz, she'd have to change planes in Canada or worse - in the US dealing with our TSA and maybe even our I&C?!

 

[driftwood]

Just a few thoughts. First, I don't think you need a couple days on IM to do the whale sharks. One trip out to see them should be enough. You can do that on the last day of your trip and stay in Cancun before your flight back home.

Second, when you arrive in Cancun, take the ADO bus from the airport straight to Playa Del Carmen. The bus station is within sight and a short walk to the ferry to Cozumel (last I heard there is no ferry from Cancun to Coz). Spend the majority of your time diving the reefs off Coz.

Cenote country starts around Puerto Adventuras and extends south to Tulum. If I where making the decision, I would stay in Playa del Carmen. If my wife makes the decision, we stay in Akumal (call it 45 minutes from Playa). The beaches in Akumal are world class and in late June you are at the end of turtle nesting season. The CEA, conducts nightly turtle walks to mark nests and collect the young when they hatch. A very cool thing to watch. I like the Akumal Dive Center, not the Akumal Dive shop. Save your time and money in this part of Mexico for the cenotes. The reefs are not in the best shape.

Here are a couple of links you might find useful,

cancunmap.com-Maps and travel guides.Your information source to Cancun,Cozumel,Isla Mujeres & Riviera Maya

Great maps and guide books. Well worth the money.

Riviera Maya Hotels, Resorts, Rentals: Mexican Caribbean Vacation

Very good for a beach front Condo in Akumal

Centro Ecológico Akumal | Ecology Center CEA | Quintana Roo | Mexico

If you want to have a reasonable chance of seeing turtles nesting/hatching, these are the people to talk to.

 

[DandyDon]

See turtles nesting or hatching would be neat! :turtle:

Just a few thoughts. First, I don't think you need a couple days on IM to do the whale sharks. One trip out to see them should be enough. You can do that on the last day of your trip and stay in Cancun before your flight back home.

Well, we did 2 days of Domino chasing - and I am glad we did. :shark2: There is always a chance that the boat won't find the Whale Sharks one day, so it would be sad to plan only one day of such before flying back to the UK - and miss! Otherwise, whether best to plan that at the first or last of the trip is a personal call.

 

[cmulvaney]

I would too, but she's not in the Great State of Texas. From London, she can fly to Cancun non-stop for $300-400 less than Coz based on round-trip, not sure about open-jaw - maybe half that extra, or maybe as much.

And to get to Coz, she'd have to change planes in Canada or worse - in the US dealing with our TSA and maybe even our I&C?!

I personally would spend the extra 200 or so to fly to Coz so I wouldn't have to lug my luggage and dive gear on a bus, then a ferry, then a taxi all the way to my hotel not to mention the couple of hours of time to get to my hotel after flying from London. Much better to do Lon - Dal - Coz and return Can - Lon if the timing allows.

Also she will be in the International terminal and will only be changing planes and not staying... so no INS or Customs in the US. I would also check Lon - NYC or MIA or CHI or HOU etc.

 

[DandyDon]

I personally would spend the extra 200 or so to fly to Coz so I wouldn't have to lug my luggage and dive gear on a bus, then a ferry, then a taxi all the way to my hotel not to mention the couple of hours of time to get to my hotel after flying from London. Much better to do Lon - Dal - Coz and return Can - Lon if the timing allows.

Also she will be in the International terminal and will only be changing planes and not staying... so no INS or Customs in the US. I would also check Lon - NYC or MIA or CHI or HOU etc.

Oh, maybe so. Looks like London-Cancun round-trip, non-stop starts at £638 GBP = $990 USD

Compared to London-Cozumel & Cancun-London, open-jaw, 1 stop each way starts at £827 = $1284
I couldn't get the site I wanted to work earlier so wasn't sure what the difference would be, so less $300 more to fly to Cozumel, returning from Cancun. Bonus: the 1 plane change is in Canada so no having to mess with our TSA. I don't know what the Canadian agents are like. Last time I flew out of Montreal, they had US TSA agents who live there to work our flight - who shut down the line for an hour to listen to a speech by George Bush. :silly:

You are right tho, in that it's nicer to land in Coz if possible - depending on the details of the trip, so your idea has merit. I would rather save $300 and go into Cancun, even with the expense & time on the bus & ferry, but then enjoy a private cab in Coz than the airport sardine van, but to each his/her own.

If she does pack light as she mentioned, she might also fly non-stop to Cancun, then take the commuter plane to Coz: 1 plane change in Cancun instead of Canada, and I am sure the commuter plane is much less than $300 one-way.

 

[MissDoo]

cmulvaney, if I do the Isla Mujeres trip out of PDC, how long of a day is it please?

 

[driftwood]

Whether you do the IM whale shark trip from either PDC or Coz, expect to spend a full day. Last June a couple of people in our group did the whale shark trip from Coz. Apparently, all the boats are working to inform each other exactly where the sharks are on a given day. This greatly increases the odds of seeing them on one trip.

On a side note, forget about doing the turtle walk in Akumal and being able to catch the last ferry back to Coz.

 

[MissDoo]

Apart from avoiding the long day, is there any other advantage to going to IM, staying there and actually doing the whale shark tour from there? (other than seeing the island )

 

[DandyDon]

fftopic: Would y'all be interested in visiting Mayan ruins while you are on the peninsula? There are some fine ones. Mayan Ruins Mexico: Yucatan Peninsula Mayan Ruins, Mexico

 

[MissDoo]

If I can drag my partner away from the cocktail bar