Why You Should Say NO to the Cruise Shore Excursion

Are shore excursions worth it? That’s a question I hear a lot. Like really a lot. The answer is not a simple yes or no. It depends on the port of call, what you enjoy doing, the cost, how much time you have, and the quality of the tour operators not associated with the cruise line.

In Cozumel, our first port on the cruise, we decided not to take a shore excursion. I’ve been before but not since before Nick was born. Still, the family’s been enough times to give me some pointers: “The park is like 3 miles from the port. Don’t walk.” One of the national parks, this one a place to snorkel.

We stepped quickly through the terminal village, leaving lots of “No, thank you” head shakes in our wake. We stopped at the giant Puerto Maya sign with all the other tourists and waited our turn to take a photo, took some photos, grabbed a couple of tour brochures with pricing, then headed to the left towards downtown. About a half mile into our walk we came across a local selling a tour “for only $12 each”, to include entry to the beach resort, beach chairs, snorkel gear, and one drink each.

“Transportation?” I asked.

“No taxi. You on your own.” He pulled out a map and was kind enough to show me where the beach resort is in relation to downtown and Chankanaab Park. He said about 2 miles to the beach.

“How much do they charge if we just show up?” He began writing out a coupon.

“$10 deposit required here, and then $14 you pay there.” That pretty much tipped me off. Most of these guys aren’t associated with the attractions at all. This is just an easy way to get $10 USD.

“Thanks. We’ll think about.”

We walked a hundred feet or so further, crossed the street, and turned around. I have this thing about blatantly dismissing someone so didn’t want to just take this guy’s info and run with it. Didn’t want to appear that way, I should say, even though that’s exactly what we did. And that’s how we ended up at Nick’s first-ever snorkel spot.

The walk to the beach was interesting. The road forks about a mile from the port, the beaches and park on the right fork. At that very intersection (is that an intersection?) huge white letters announced something called Caleta so we turned down the side road to explore. A few hundred feet down a sign with an alligator on it read “Zona de Crocodilo”, crocodile/alligator area. Awesome! Behind the sign a cenote – sinkhole filled with water – sat peacefully among mangroves with a bright blue sky and white clouds reflecting on its surface. We took a walk around part of it before moving on further down the road. At the end, at the water’s edge, we found a local marina filled with dive boats. For the most part, the marina was quiet but men worked at several boats, and I started to get a little nervous. A few of them looked up, but they ignored mostly ignored.

We left the marina the same way we’d come in and stopped back at the cenote for another look.  It appears to be unique in the world among cenotes. The sign reads in part:

The word “cenote” comes from the Mayan word ‘dzonot’ or ‘ts onot’, means natural well or pond. A cenote is formed when limestone rocks collapses and exposes water to its surface. These magnificent natural wells are found especially within the Yucatan peninsula.

One of the cenotes, names Aerolito, has no connection to the sea yet is filled with salt water, therefore considered an anchialine type cenote. Although its opening is located on the island’s coast, its underwater caves extend 18 km inland.

‘Aerolito’, a biological treasure, houses the Copidaster Cavernicola, a star fish that … is the only sea star that lives in caves. Also, 82 diverse anchialine species have been found there, representing 1/6 of the world’s total. Many of these are considered endemic.

Crustaceans are the dominate fauna in most of the world’s caves; however, Aerolito’s fauna is only 10% crustacean. Other types of organisms such as sponges, sea urchins, starfish and sea squirts are found only in this cenote, being the first time seen in a cave.”

Our sidewalk had ended at the fork, so as we exited this side road and continued to the beach, we walked along the shoulder. The shoulder was semi-grassy, semi-rocky with asphalt on the one side and a border of trees on the other. Taxis zoomed by, two stopping to see if we wanted a ride. I shook my head and kept walking. With the wooded lots on both sides of this coastal road, the trees blocked the sea breeze. After an hour of walking and exploring the marina and cenote, Nick was cranky though I was probably more cranky than him. It was hot, and we were out of water. When the trees broke to reveal water, it was one of the most gratifying sights ever. Signage announced Arrecife de Mexico Parque National.

Like lost desert travelers (it was really hot behind those trees!), we dragged ourselves half-unseeing to The Money Bar, grabbed a table by the water, and quickly downed a Coke and a half bottle of water each. There was no entry fee to get into the resort or sit and sip at The Money Bar. The staff were very friendly and made recommendations for food and activities. They laughed when I told them about the man in town who had wanted $10 for a deposit to get into the resort. Perhaps he meant a different resort, they said.  Perhaps.

After locating lockers, we stowed our backpacks and headed into the water. Snorkeling: first, this is no white sandy beach. It’s water-hewn limestone with large jagged holes ready to rip your feet to strips. If you go anywhere other than a “resort” planned entry area, take water shoes and be careful. Once in the water, the bottom levels out nicely. It’s just getting in and out of the water that can be dangerous to your feet. Second, this is no stunning barrier reef or even Florida Keys reef. I’m sure those kinds of reefs exist around here but not anywhere along the immediate, accessible coast. That’s okay though. Even for an experienced snorkeler like myself, it was a lovely hour spent with the fish.

What did we see? A lot of fish. I’m talking big schools and bigger fish than I would have imagined in a touristy spot like this. Maybe The Money Bar feeds them to keep them around. I was thrilled to see two fish to show Nick within seconds of dunking my head, but then I spied urchins waving their arms from all the crevasses in rocks, and tiny purple fans sprouting from the bottom, parrot fish and grunts, wrasses, and a silver species of fish that kept slapping themselves against the bottom. And then I saw a baby barracuda, and remembered I had stupidly left my silver necklace on. (Barracuda love shiny things so it’s best to remove all jewelry before snorkeling or diving). Nick dragged me all over exploring this rock and that piling and another rock and the hole over there. He had a blast! So much so that before we even left the water he declared, “I want to learn to scuba!” Right, okay. Look into scuba lessons…

By the way, all those snorkeling tours that cost $100+…guess where they take their customers to snorkel? About a hundred feet from where we were at The Money Bar. Sometimes walking and exploring really pays off (literally). And you get to explore things, like the cenote, which are not on the tourist literature.

So are shore excursions worth it? For us, in Cozumel, no. This port is well-populated with a lot of things to do within walking distance of the port so it’s ideal for exploring on your own. As noted above, some of the shore excursions go exactly where you can get to on your own without spending all the extra money. This is not  a high crime area, compared to other ports. We took a taxi back because we were exhausted and wanted to explore the Terminal Village and pick up a couple of gifts before boarding the ship. In this location, it’s easy to make it back for boarding without worry that you’ll be stranded. Just keep your head about you and an eye on the time. Other ports on this cruise, we did take shore excursions, primarily because the ports were not centrally located and crime tends to be rampant in those areas so it really was a safety issue.

Tomorrow, we take a cruise-sponsored tour operator in Belize and go cave tubing. Check it our here and why I chose a shore excursion for that day.