Isla Mujeres Snorkeling Prices and Fees, Fare by Fare

What does it cost to snorkel off Isla Mujeres? The fare is only part of it. There is no gate ticket, but most trips add a cash fee on the day, and the extras add up. This guide sets out every fare, every fee and what each one buys, so you can compare the snorkeling tours in Isla Mujeres on what you will pay in the end.

What does a snorkeling trip cost?

Shared reef trips cost $50 to $89 a person. The shared whale shark days cost $155 to $160, and the Isla Contoy day just under $178. The private boats are priced per group: $599 for the museum boat, $720 for the yacht and $949 for the catamaran. The private whale shark boat is the odd one out, at $699 a person.

Every fare here is in US dollars, per person unless the card says per group. Every one refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before.

Is there a ticket?

No. The reefs and the statues sit in a national park, not behind a gate, so nobody sells an entry ticket to them. What you buy is a place on a boat.

The park does charge a fee. CONANP collects MXN 125 a person a day and gives you a wristband to prove it. On a trip, the operator deals with it for you, inside the fare or inside a cash fee on the day.

How does the park fee work?

It is charged per person per day, in pesos. Under-12s pay nothing, and neither do seniors, pensioners or people with disabilities. Students and teachers with a current card pay a quarter; Mexican nationals and foreign residents with ID pay half.

Isla Contoy is a separate park with its own fee, MXN 225 a person a day. Its trips are a different day, with a different bill.

What do the operators charge on the day?

Most listings add a per-person charge they call a dock fee, a dock and park fee, or an environmental tax. It runs from US$5 to US$20, and most crews want it in cash. Each operator names its own figure; the table below lists them.

The Isla Fun Tours trip and the Isla Sea Tours three-spot trip put all the fees in the fare. The Island Adventures trips include the marine reserve but add US$5 for the dock. The whale shark days add US$10 or US$20. Bring small notes.

Per person or per boat?

Shared trips are per person. The museum boat and the catamaran are priced per group of up to twelve, and the yacht per group of up to six. The cash fee stays per person, even on a private boat.

So a private boat gets cheaper per head as it fills. Split twelve ways, the museum boat comes to about $50 each; split six ways, the yacht about $120. The private whale shark boat is priced per person, so it does not.

What do children pay?

Children under 12 are exempt from the park's own fee. The fares are another matter: each listing sets its own age bands, and several price children the same as adults. Check the total for your family before you book.

The operator's cash fee may apply to children too. The Contoy Adventours bird-island day charges its US$20 dock tax for every adult and every child. Our guide to snorkeling with kids lists the age bands trip by trip.

What extras should you budget for?

• Tips: no fare includes them, and several name tips or gratuities as extra.
• Photos: several crews film you in the water and sell the photos or GoPro files at the end. Ask the price first.
• Lunch: the Isla Fun Tours trip sells it for US$10. The whale shark days, the Contoy day and the Contoy Adventours reef trip include it.
• Drinks: some trips pour margaritas or beer, and some charge for everything but water.
• Towels: several trips leave them out. Bring your own.
• The ferry: on any trip that starts on the island, you buy it yourself.

What does the cheapest trip leave out?

The Pocna Dive Center trip is the lowest fare, at $50, for four hours at the museum and the Manchones reef. It includes the gear, cookies, fruit and water. Its listing counts the fees as included and also asks US$15 in cash on site, so budget about $65.

At that total, the Isla Fun Tours trip at $59 with every fee included, or the Isla Sea Tours trip at $69 with the park tax paid, cost about the same. Compare what each one feeds you and how many share the boat.

What is the real cost, fee included?

Add the cash fee to the fare and the order changes a little. The Island Adventures reef trip comes to $68, the Contoy Adventours reef trip $75 and the semi-private trip $93. On the whale shark days, the Isla Fun Tours day comes to $165 and the Isla Sea Tours day $176.

Then add tips, the ferry and lunch where it is not included. For a couple on a reef trip, that is the real budget.

What does a couple or a group pay?

Work it out per party, fee included. Here are four examples from the fares and fees themselves, before tips, the ferry and lunch:

• A couple on the most-booked reef trip: two fares of $63 and two US$5 fees, $136 in all.
• A couple on the most-booked whale shark day: two fares of $155 and two US$10 fees, $330.
• Six friends on the yacht: $720 for the boat and six US$10 fees, $780, about $130 each.
• Twelve on the museum boat: $599 and twelve US$10 fees, $719, about $60 each.

So for a full boat, a private trip lands near a shared fare. For two people, it does not come close. Whatever your party, count the fee once per person, not once per booking, and carry it in small notes: crews collect it at check-in or on the boat, and change can be short.

Is a whale shark day worth the higher fare?

It buys a different day. For $155 to $160 a person you get six to six and a half hours, lunch on every one, a ride far out to sea and a swim beside the largest fish there is. A reef trip is three or four hours near the island, for a third to a half of the price.

Two things to weigh. The season runs only from 15 May to 17 September, and the sharks are wild: one operator says it may find one, more than a hundred, or on rare days none. If you can only afford one trip and you are here in season, the whale sharks are the one you cannot do at home. Compare the days on Isla Mujeres whale shark tours.

Can you get a refund?

Yes, on every trip here, up to 24 hours before the start. Inside 24 hours, a refund is not promised. Most listings also say that if the operator cancels for poor weather, you are offered a different date or a full refund.

That makes booking early cheap insurance, especially for the whale sharks, whose season is short and boats small. Watch the forecast the day before and move if you need to.

How do the fees compare, operator by operator?

Here is each trip's fare beside the cash fee its own listing names. Fares are per person; the fee is per person, on the day.

Choosing on more than price? Our guide to choosing a snorkeling trip weighs the boat size, the hours and the stops.

Frequently asked questions

Trips at three price points

Isla Mujeres: Snorkel Tour at Musa and Manchones Reef

The underwater statues and the big reef from a downtown dive centre, with gear, cookies, fruit and water. The listing counts the park and dock fees as included and also asks for US$15 in cash, so bring it.

From $50 per person

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Isla Mujeres Snorkeling Tour Adventure

Three hours from the dive shop on Avenida Hidalgo at noon: two reefs and the underwater statues, with a margarita on board and a snack served ashore afterwards. Admission to the marine reserve is in the fare; bring US$5 cash for the dock fee.

From $63 per person

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Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Riviera Maya: Swim with whale sharks!

A six-and-a-half-hour whale shark day with a certified bilingual crew, lunch, and a stop at a beach or a reef on the way back. From the downtown pier or the mainland; US$20 each in dock and park fees.

From $160 per person

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