Chankanaab with dolphins at Cozumel on our own

[Minnie368]

We are planning to do the dolphin swim at Chankanaab in Cozumel. Looking forward to enjoying our day at the park too. I’ve read that it’s safe and easy to get a taxi there on our own. Just wondering if anyone can recommend a tour company to book the dolphin portion through? I like the idea of doing it on our own and saving the wasted time of going with a big DCL group. Also, how early would we be safe to book it? One site I looked at offered a 10:00 time slot. Our ashore time is 8:30 that morning.

 

[RedStars]

We did it and I'm trying to get our money refunded. The water was super rough that day and we all went under at some point from the waves and I cut my hand on the chianlink fence (that they told me to cling to in order not to get swept away by the waves). We didn't last 5 minutes before I had us all get out. Even my 6'3" husband was having troubke keeping his head above the water (and that's WITH life vests: although they were clearly old and some straps were frayed)

If you do it, book through DCL.

 

[Minnie368]

We did it and I'm trying to get our money refunded. The water was super rough that day and we all went under at some point from the waves and I cut my hand on the chianlink fence (that they told me to cling to in order not to get swept away by the waves). We didn't last 5 minutes before I had us all get out. Even my 6'3" husband was having troubke keeping his head above the water (and that's WITH life vests: although they were clearly old and some straps were frayed)

If you do it, book through DCL.

Wow. Thanks for that info. Most of the reviews I’ve read have been so positive it’s interesting to hear that. We were hoping to get to the park early that day and I know admission is included with the dolphin swim. If we book through DCL and our excursion time isn’t until later in the day, can we get there earlier and do other things at the park beforehand?

 

[lklgoodman]

Wow. Thanks for that info. Most of the reviews I’ve read have been so positive it’s interesting to hear that. We were hoping to get to the park early that day and I know admission is included with the dolphin swim. If we book through DCL and our excursion time isn’t until later in the day, can we get there earlier and do other things at the park beforehand?

I don't think that would work. When you book with Disney they provide your transportation, but more importantly you go in together as a group. If you tried to go earlier, you wouldn't be able to show that you had already paid for it. We did it with Disney and really enjoyed it, no bad issues like the other poster. I would suggest you either book with Disney and try to get an early time, or book directly with Chankanaab. When we did it we had a 9:45 meet time on the ship. By the time we got there and did the push pull excursion, we probably had about 3 1/2--4 hrs to explore the rest of it. We saw the sealion show, ate lunch at the beach, went to the tequila hut, and walked along the mini ruins trail. Also shopped at the gift shop and had ice cream. The last shuttle back to the ship was at 3. We did it last January.

 

[Minnie368]

I don't think that would work. When you book with Disney they provide your transportation, but more importantly you go in together as a group. If you tried to go earlier, you wouldn't be able to show that you had already paid for it. We did it with Disney and really enjoyed it, no bad issues like the other poster. I would suggest you either book with Disney and try to get an early time, or book directly with Chankanaab. When we did it we had a 9:45 meet time on the ship. By the time we got there and did the push pull excursion, we probably had about 3 1/2--4 hrs to explore the rest of it. We saw the sealion show, ate lunch at the beach, went to the tequila hut, and walked along the mini ruins trail. Also shopped at the gift shop and had ice cream. The last shuttle back to the ship was at 3. We did it last January.

How many people were in your group? Did you feel like there was a lot of wasted time? This is our first cruise and it just seems like I’ve read a lot of references to being “herded like cattle” and waiting around a lot since it’s such a big group.

 

[lklgoodman]

There were a lot of people who signed up(75-100) to do it, we all walked together to the shuttle area. When we got there they went over info with all of us. I had already looked at the park's website, so I knew what was available to do afterwards, so for me this was wasted time, maybe 15-20 mins. For those who hadn't looked at the website, it was probably helpful. We were then put into groups for the dolphin interaction, we had 10 in our group. Afterwards we were on our own.

 

[CinderellaDream]

Not on a Disney cruise, but we also wanted to be there earlier than the Royal Caribbean excursion allowed for last summer so we booked directly through the Dolphin Discovery website and took a cab there by ourselves. Cabs were lined up right outside our dock and the ride was short to the park. We were some of the first people there that day and it was wonderful!

For our dolphin experience there were only 8 of us, 4 of us and one other family. It can be a little difficult to stand up in the water but our experience was all positive. The only thing I was not expecting was the exorbitant amount they charge for pictures. I'm crazy about pictures and felt like I had to buy them all which resulted in a huge bill but I still think it was worth it.

There was a sea lion show and a great pool and beach area. They also have ziplining at the park but we didn't try that.

I would absolutely go back here again and would not hesitate to book it independently.

 

[RedStars]

Update on my situation: I got a call this morning from Dolphin Discovery - they're refunding us the total amount. I'm very happy that they did the right thing.