Palancar snorkel boat
Cozumel Mexico
Following our excellent snorkel adventure in Cozumel, the Palancar docked at Playa Mia Beach Park. They had tables reserved in a large roofed restaurant area for our excursion group. Workers served us all some lunch and we could get whatever we wanted to drink at the bar. They even served non-alcoholic pina coladas upon request. I don’t suppose they got a whole lot of requests for that since most people would take full advantage of free alcohol, but it worked for me. Somewhere in that somewhat vast restaurant area my watch fell off my wrist and I never saw it again. It was a cheap watch with a tendency to come undone, but losing it meant I had no watch for the rest of the trip. I could buy a new one on the ship, but I never like any of the ones they sell.
restaurant at Playa Mia
We had a couple hours to spend there before our excursion boat would return us to the Norwegian Pearl at the cruise ship dock. John forgot to take his watch off before we went snorkeling. His was supposed to be waterproof, but it quit working shortly after I noticed mine had disappeared. Though we knew what time we needed to get back to the boat, we now had no way of knowing when that time drew near.
kayak and water trampoline
sailboat at Playa Mia
The wrist bands they put on us at the start of the tour also gave us access to all the beach toys at Playa Mia. They had kayaks and a small sailboat with a brightly colored sail as well as the paddleboats you operate with foot pedals similar to those on a bicycle. Out in the water they had trampolines and a blow-up slide people could climb up on and either jump off or slide down.
people in a paddleboat
We got in one of the paddle boats with foot pedals and paddled about taking photos of whatever struck our fancy for a bit. Eventually we ended up out at the far end of the roped off area where we were allowed to go, near the slide thing. A couple girls had climbed to the top and wanted to jump off the highest point, but felt a bit scared to do so.
slide at Playa Mia
We sat there with camera poised waiting for them to jump in hopes of a better picture than we’d taken of other people jumping earlier. Glancing toward the dock, I noticed the other people walking toward the boat. The picture forgotten, we started to pedal as fast as we could. Wait for us please, we thought. Furiously pedaling toward shore we noticed more and more people heading to the boat. It’s one thing to pedal about without a care, quite another to go a distance at top speed. Our legs got tired, but we pedaled madly anyway, unbuckling the required life jackets along the way for a quick exit once we reached the beach.
It’s a long way back to the beach
“Our boat is leaving,” we called to the guy working at the boat shed area as I pulled the boat as far as I could on the shore. John started heading up to the life jacket area, but since the guy who worked there had started moving the boats further up the beach I just ditched mine on the boat we’d just gotten out of so John dropped his there too while letting the worker know we had to leave in a hurry.
Playa Mia beach
Luckily we did make it to the boat on time. While I’d love to interview someone who’s been left behind in port when they didn’t get back before the cruise ship departs, or better yet have them write a guest blog for me, I’d prefer to have someone else’s story on that and not a first hand experience. While getting left behind could become quite an adventure, it would have a hefty price. At least in Playa Mia we had our clothes, credit card, and ID, unlike if we had gotten left behind in the water while snorkelingat the reef where everything but our swimsuits stayed on the boat.
We saw people parasailing near the beach
This was one of the better shore excursions we’ve ever done, and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who likes to snorkel. We had one first time snorkeler in our group and she loved it too. They do offer an excursion that goes straight to Playa Mia, so for those who just like beach breaks that would be a good one as it was quite a nice beach with a lot to do. It also had a whole lot of hammocks and beach chairs for those who would rather just rest, and a swimming pool too.
pool at Playa Mia
More Adventures in Cozumel: Palancar Reef Snorkel, Tulum Mayan Ruins, Atlantis Submarine, Cave Snorkel
Cruise Stories 
If you did get left behind, that would have been quite an interesting tale, but not likely one of your more pleasant memories. That must be a nightmare for travelers when it happens. When you returned to the boat, were you able to get new watches? It seems they have everything on these massive ships short of a roller coaster.
I can just imagine the gut-wrenching feeling of returning to the dock to see the back of the ship pulling out of the harbor without you. Catching back up would be quite the adventure I’d imagine, but it would most likely come with a huge price tag. Although that particular port was the last of the trip so at that point I suppose we’d have just needed to make arrangements to get home and have our luggage shipped or get back to Miami to pick up the luggage and take our scheduled flight home. Whichever would have cost less I suppose. Luckily we got to the boat on time and did not have to do either.
Cruise ships do have watches for sale in the gift shop, but the cheap $10 watches were gone at that point and neither of us wanted to spend the kind of money they wanted for the ones they had left so we went without watches until we got home.
A roller coaster you say? Now that’s an idea for a cruise ship. Just think of the excitement rough seas would add to the ride! There are ships with merry-go-rounds and zip lines and things, but I haven’t heard of one with a roller coaster…..yet.
When the marriage of theme park and cruise ship happens, I anticipate reading about that here, but I don’t think anything can possibly outdo the posts you’ve published about towel animal origami. Seriously, you have come up with some pretty entertaining angles on the industry and I also liked that video you shot riding that water sled on the rails. I like seeing the world virtually from the comfort of my Manhattan apartment.
I like to see the world for real, though New York is one place I’ve never been. Someday maybe. Cruises to Bermuda leave from New York and I’d like to take one of those, but flights to New York are expensive.
Tell me about it! Every year I visit my family on the West Coast a few times. Flying across the country is not cheap. I so wish I could just email myself everywhere I want to go. I’d gladly upgrade to turbo internet speed for that capability.
Wow, YOU have never been to the Big Apple! Who’d a thunk it?
I haven’t been to the northeast corner of the country at all. One for the bucket list.
Save the best for last I say.
I love the pictures of the beach. I have never seen a palm tree in real life – you are so lucky!
Wow, it’s hard for me to imagine never having seen a palm tree. Sounds like you are way overdue for a vacation to a warm climate!
You’re not kidding! Maybe someday… 🙂
I have a friend who goes to Cozumel every year to dive and snorkel. From what I hear it doesn’t get much better unless you go to Australia or somewhere else around the coral triangle. A trip to the Caribbean is a lot closer then one halfway around the world.
The water at Cozumel was very clear, we could see the bottom cruising along on the snorkel boat. The Meso American Reef runs from Cozumel to Honduras and is second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in size. The coral in the Caribbean is not as big or as colorful as the coral on the Great Barrier Reef though. Often there is just young coral in areas where hurricanes have gone through. Cozumel had some of the biggest and best coral we have seen in the Caribbean, and it did not have the damage there that other places often do.