We were up early today and had a quick breakfast and then headed to the lobby to catch the transportation to the Snorkel tour.

It was a short ride, (25 min) to the beach area where the snorkel tour was run. I was happy to see the national part sign up saying you must wear biodegradable sunscreen, not touch the coral, fish, plants etc.  It looks like they are really trying to preserve the reef.

Once we were out in the boat it was a really short ride to the reef. They have buoys on the reef so they don’t have to drop anchor.

I guess Cathy and I are spoiled being divers. This is what I would describe as a cattle boat tour. There were about 15 of us in the water (from our boat, but there was 3 boats) and the guide wanted us to follow him “closely”. He kept telling me to get closer to the group. I finally had to say, NO, I’m not going to get closer because I keep getting kicked in the face or am kicking someone in the face because everyone is packed together.

The first snorkel was not very good. The current and waves kept us from getting over the reef. So we ended up seeing a few rocks and lots of sand.

The next snorkel was better; they took the boat really close to the reef and had us all jump in. So we were a very short swim to the reef. This was better. Much more to see and you could swim back to the boat with the current/waves.

The snorkel operation itself left much to be desired. We booked through The Original Snorkeling Adventure (also know as Morning Glory Snorkeling http://www.snorkeladventure.com/morning.htm Their logo is a fish with a cowboy hat on it) I guess all I can say is if you are going to this area of Mexico don’t use them. In the course of two snorkels they broke most of the reef conservation rules. They were handling the fish. (Picking up an octopus, they were picking up conch and feeding the fish.) And to top it off they have no idea how to help the guests back on the boat. People were trying to hang on to the ladder and throw their fins into the boat before they got in. The people running the boat did nothing to help people onto the boat. It was not until Cathy went up and started to do their job that they even thought to help out.

I ended up writing an email to the company letting them know of my displeasure with their operation. I was surprised to get an email back from them. They did pay the right lip service, saying that they should not be doing feeding and touching the fish etc, and that the people on the boat would be disciplined for it. But for me, that is too little to late. They should have had a much better training program for their guides so they knew not to do that sort of thing. So, please, don’t give them your business.

After we got back to the resort I finally got around to booking a hot rock massage. I’m all set for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. One of the benefits of booking something at the SPA is they have a beautiful hydro pool that you can use the same day.