15 Snorkelling Trips in Playa del Carmen to Build a Day Around

1.Half-Day Sea Turtle and Cenote Snorkeling Tour from Cancun & Riviera Maya

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2,039 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $99Our pick

Half-day snorkeling at Akumal for sea turtles plus a Yax-Muul cenote swim, with pickup, gear, and empanadas.

“If you have never been snorkeling before, or if you are snorkeling with children, this is a great tour. The guides are wonderful, professional, and make sure that everyone can use their snorkel and sees the same amount of turtles. Life jackets are also required, so no need to be an excellent swimmer. That said, the tour wasn't at all what I was looking for. Once you get to alkumal bay, there are TONS of people there, and each group takes a small boat out a few hundred yards, you hop in the water, and swim back to shore with your guide. If anyone happens to see a turtle, it…”

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2.Hidden Cenote Swim: Snorkeling, Sea Turtles and Beachside Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1,222 reviews · 4 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $169

Swim in an ancient cenote near Tulum, then snorkel with sea turtles at Akumal Beach, ending with lunch at a beach club.

“Absolutely amazing experience. Our guide Henry was amazing and our driver Victor was also amazing. Incredible experience definitely rememberable.”

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3.Beach Escape: Isla Contoy and Isla Mujeres with Snorkeling.

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 717 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $169

Snorkel Isla Contoy’s reef, watch birds in a protected sanctuary, then enjoy Isla Mujeres for shopping and beach time. Lunch and beer included.

“The two islands were very beautiful, but we thought it was over priced. The tour guides were fun and very kind, but we were disappointed by the time given for the different activities. My fiancé booked this trip because of the snorkeling, but there is only about 20 minutes of areas worth snorkeling. I wanted to spend time on Isla Mujeres, but we were only given an hour to explore the entire island. This activity is sold as a 12 hour day. Little did we know that included 5 hours of shuttle service. It took us over 2 hours to pick up all of the other couples/families and then took…”

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4.Catamaran Cruise in Riviera Maya With Snorkeling & Beach Club

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 440 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $85

Catamaran cruise from Maroma Beach with two reef snorkeling stops, hotel pickup, equipment, drinks, and free beach access for an easy Riviera Maya day.

“The staff was super friendly and energetic. Our tour guide in the water navigated us to some great sea life. Super knowledgeable as well”

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5.Private Snorkeling with Sea Turtles in Akumal Beach

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 364 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $65

Private snorkeling in Akumal Bay to see guaranteed green turtles in the CONANP circuit. One hour, lockers, showers, equipment included.

“The tour was very well organised. Marlene gave us all necessary information in advance and Darwin, our guide, was incredibly knowledgeable about the marine life we encountered. Darwin also ensured we had ample opportunities to view the turtles and other marine life without disturbing their natural habitat. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a magical encounter with nature in Akumal. Thank you, Marlene and Darwin!”

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6.Mayan Adventure Snorkeling Tour from Playa del Carmen or Riviera Maya

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 313 reviews · 7 hours (approx.)

7-hour Playa del Carmen snorkeling tour with cenotes, an underground river, and Akumal lagoon, plus lunch, gear, and hotel pickup.

“It was very convenient being picked up at our hotel, we had fun, beautiful cenotes, different experience on each.”

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7.Bestseller! Tulum Private Tour with Turtles and Cenote Snorkeling

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 266 reviews · 6 to 7 hours (approx.) · from $279

Private Tulum tour with early ruins entry, cenote snorkeling, and Akumal sea turtle swim. Hotel pickup, lunch, and gear included.

“This was such a wonderful experience. Josh (our guide) and Carlos (our driver) were fantastic. It was exactly the experience we were looking for. We wanted a variety of activities in a day trip without the hassle of navigating everything on our own. The pickup time was prompt and we never felt rushed through any of the activities. We appreciated the option of choosing our cenote experience and chose Taak Bi Ha. Snorkeling there was my favorite part of the day. A recommendation for anyone booking this trip…schedule an early pickup time to avoid crowds at the national park. We did this and felt we had the place to ourselves.”

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8.Playa del Carmen Jungle Tour: Tulum, Cenote Snorkeling, Ziplining and Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 244 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $148

Playa del Carmen jungle adventure with Tulum ruins, ziplining and rappel, cenote snorkeling, and a buffet lunch plus pickup and drop-off.

“This tour has over 200 good reviews of people that probably was never in a cenote before or this was the first activity they did in Cancun, Tulum or playa del Carmen! But since I been lucky enough to have prior experiences in different cenotes and experience doing different activities in that area, by far this one is disappointing and over priced! Let me start with setting up the meeting point even thou I thought I was going to be picked up as the description of the activity stated, well I had to email, send WhatsApp messages and call 2 days prior because I didn’t know what was happening, finally…”

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9.Cozumel Luxury Sailing & Snorkeling with Lunch and Open Bar Onboard

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 244 reviews · 4 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $139

Luxury catamaran sailing and snorkeling in Cozumel from Playa del Carmen, with open bar, lunch, paddleboards, and hotel pickup.

“The crew was awesome!! Lunch was good, cocktails flowed easily. The reef could have been better. 8/10”

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10.Akumal; Snorkeling and Photos with Turtles

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 204 reviews · 1 hour 10 minutes (approx.) · from $35Best value

Shore snorkeling in Akumal’s turtle-protected area with small group care, GoPro photo album, and a realistic plan for extra beach access fees.

“Awesome Experience! Would highly recommend! I did a ton of research about which tour to pick and eventually picked this one. I liked that it included photos and was a small (max 6 ppl) or private group. Some of the groups we saw were quite large... and we definitely would not have enjoyed our experience as much in a large group. They also had great communication through WhatsApp to prepare and coordinate for the experience. Our guide was Melqui, who did an awesome job! We had a group who needed both English and Spanish communication, and Melqui helped to communicate so everyone understood and felt included. We had a private…”

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11.Private Escape: Isla Contoy & Isla Mujeres with Snorkeling

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 132 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $800

Private speedboat day from Playa del Carmen to Isla Contoy and Isla Mujeres, with reef snorkeling, eco time, Caribbean lunch, and free beach hour.

“Awesome. No complaints. Weather was not for snorkeling which sucked, but tour was great, guided great, food amazing. Islands awesome.”

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12.Dos Ojos Cenote VIP Private Tour – Snorkeling & Mayan Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 125 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $184

Private Dos Ojos snorkeling, bat cave flashlight swim, and à la carte Mayan lunch, pickup from Playa del Carmen or Tulum.

“First and foremost, Claire, our tour guide, was a gem! She spoke great English and was very inviting. Secondly, go early! We left at 8am and missed the crown altogether! We were the only ones in both eyes (ojos!¡) and the bat cave. Without her a guide, we wouldn’t have been allowed in many unique areas within the adventure! She was very helpful getting pictures taken for us as well. (I tried to upload our air jump picture into the clear blue water but it wouldn’t let me). The lunch after the swimming was really good and had some unique and local Mayan artisan souvenirs as well. PAY THE EXTRA…”

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13.3 in 1 Private Tour Tulum Cenote and Snorkeling in the reef

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 111 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $210

Private 8-hour Tulum plus reef snorkeling and Cenote Xunaan-Ha, with lunch, snacks, and private pickup options from Playa del Carmen.

“This private 3-in-1 tour was everything we wanted and more. Our guide (Limbert) exceeded every expectation. He is professionally educated in Mayan history. Which offered us very in-depth and informative transportation ride conversations; highly detailed tour of the Tullum Ruins; and the best local cuisine (absolutely listen to his recommendations for what to order from the lunch menu). Limbert was extremely understanding, compassionate, and supportive regarding my extreme anxiety of open water. He offered very thorough verbal and visual instructions and pointers for a smooth and successful coral reef snorkeling experience, while also going above and beyond with assistive measures to help me ...”

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14.VIP Tulum Ruins Private Tour with Snorkeling in Stunning Cenote

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 107 reviews · 5 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $223

Private Tulum ruins plus one cenote with snorkeling, early entry to beat crowds, hotel pickup, and an included jungle lunch from Playa del Carmen.

“Claire was amazing. Very informative, kind, and well-spoken. The driver was excellent as well. The private tour of the Tulum ruins and cenote was the highlight of my trip.”

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15.Small Group to Tulum Ruins Cenote Cave and Sea Turtles Snorkeling

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 102 reviews · 10 to 11 hours (approx.) · from $131

See Tulum ruins, swim in Cenote Tak Be Lum, and snorkel with sea turtles in Akumal on a small-group day trip from Playa del Carmen.

“This was a good time to three different places. Ezekiel The tour guide did a great job. Do be careful of mosquitoes at the cenote”

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