Safe Tours Cozumel — Local services in San Miguel de Cozumel

I want to start off by saying that our tour guides for the 2 hour snorkel tour were excellent. Braulio and Julián were very welcoming and did a great job bouncing between Spanish and English for our multilingual group. Also, before going on the tour I thought that 2 hours might be too short, but it was actually the perfect amount of time for this trip. Now onto my real issue which is with the booking agent, Arturo Diaz. We were met by Arturo at the launch point around 10 minutes before the tour. He informed my group that we would be leaving soon and that this would be our last opportunity to apply sunscreen before getting on the boat. I promptly began applying my sunscreen while he walked away to converse with the Spanish speaking members of the tour. When he returned five minutes later as I was still applying sunscreen he immediately began to berate me for applying sunscreen saying that he told me "specifically not to do that." What? He then went on a tirade about how millennials like us are supposed to be the ones that care about the environment and malented that even though he doesn't care about the environment that he has to be the one to tell us to care about it. Totally ridiculous and unnecessary. Pretty sure me putting on my reef safe sun screen 19 minutes before snorkeling vs. 20 minutes before snorkeling is not the primary reason for their damaged reefs. Give me a break. Arturo should learn some customer service if he wants to continuing working in the...

We got a bit of a bait and switch. We ended up on a tour with Sharks Adventure through Safe Tours. They pig piled too many people on a small boat. The tour guides were not cheery, they didn't make it a good time like your guides usually do. We had to put all our things up top and give our shoes only to get them back on the dock after the tour after. It was very strange. We didn't go to Palancar, Columbia, and El Cielo like we were supposed to. Only palancar and El Cielo. We left pretty late. I've never had a bad experience on a snorkel tour and this one was just not great. Also we were not permitted to wear sunblock and were told this after we got on the boat (not 30 minutes prior like they say in their reply). Then when we were in the water the put the ladder up so we couldn't get back on the boat and in the shade. If these are the rules they need to tell you before so you can prepare or decide not to go.

I should also mention that we did not try to "pass off" teens as children. We simply did not notice there was a price difference when booking and did not notice that they considered children to be 10 and under. Simple mistake and it shows you the character of the company for trying to denigrate my review by pointing this out.

Just check out the services for sharks adventures and see for yourself.

I should mention that the people at check in WERE fantastic, however the tour itself...

Arturo was friendly and easy to work with. Overall, the kids had fun and the photographer had food to keep the fish close by. Staff was helpful. 4.5 stars.

DETAILS: I made a same day reservation (literally called from the ship) to go snorkeling two hours later. He told me to not book online because it may be too late, but that the price was the same.

We arrive and he tells me that the “last minute” price is normally $45/adult (30% higher versus the $30/adult online price) but to “not tell anyone” and agrees to honor the online price (which he already agreed to over the phone). That was a little annoying, but typical touristy kind of stuff I’ve come to expect in Mexico and other locales.

The boat ride itself fine. Staff was fluent in English and helped everybody get their equipment ready. You pull up to a spot and they have you jump off. Much easier to use a float and relax while snorkeling (especially with kids) as the waves were a little choppy at times. After a bit, they pick you up. We went to three spots.

Two hours was plenty of time for our group. Didn’t need the third stop imo as we got our fill sooner. The reefs themselves are OK. Better ones out there, but hit the spot. They also have water, soda, and beer available as part of the price, which was nice.

I did love that it was only two hours versus four hours with lunch. Price...