Bucket list experience:
Visitors flock to this little park for one thing: swimming with dolphins. It’s highly touristy and often overwhelmed with cruise passengers (cruise boats docking at Cozumel sell the dolphin encounter onboard), but there’s no denying the pleasure of swimming with these endearing mammals – especially for children.
You can also swim with manatees and sea lions here, and the Chankanaab Reef, just offshore within the park, offers safe and accessible, if fairly mediocre snorkelling.
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Destination Guide >You can fly into Cozumel International airport from Cancun, or take the ferry from Playa del Carmen (from 6am-10pm, about 30 minutes). Taxis are available at the airport to take you to the park (and to take you home again), or rent a car at the airport for the day.
You must book ahead https://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/ for the dolphin or manatee encounters, and can rent snorkel equipment there (but it’s cheaper to take your own). The admission price includes dolphin and sea lion shows as well as beach access, but the encounters cost extra.
The park is open all year round, seven days a week.
Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[22.1 miles]
Feeling very Miami, this upscale hotel is split between an urban singles hotel in downtown Playa and an intimate balcony-fronted, ocean-view annexe. Adults only.
Official star rating:
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[22.3 miles]
This big beachside resort in the heart of Playa del Carmen offers great value stays with a view and five-star amenities. Great for families, with good facilities for kids.
Official star rating:
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[22.3 miles]
This adults-only, all inclusive party hotel sits right in the heart of Playa del Carmen’s nightlife district and offers Miami-style comfort a stroll from the beach.
Official star rating:
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[22.4 miles]
Beach and jungle casitas with a Tulum-feel set on the beach in a coconut grove a stroll from Playa’s party-central.
Official star rating:
Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Mexico
Talc-white beaches, reefs teeming with life, ruined temples in misty rainforests – the Riviera Maya offers a family or romantic beach holiday with a dash of Indian Jones adventure.
Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[20.4 miles]
An adrenaline-pumping close encounter with this top of the food chain predator, in glassy-clear water.
Best for ages: 16+ | £150 | 6-8 hours
Mayan Riviera, Mexico[27 miles]
A unique destination for exceptional snorkelling experiences – underwater art galleries, lakes fringed with jungle, cenote sink holes in stalactite-encrusted caverns, plus crocs, manatees and whale sharks.
Best for ages: 6+ | Free | 1+ hours
Mayan Riviera, Mexico[27 miles]
Dive with whale sharks or crocodiles, drift over spectacular drop-offs or through stalactite-filled caves: the Mayan Riviera is a world-class scuba destination
Best for ages: 18+ | £100 | 2+ hours
Mayan Riviera, Mexico[27 miles]
With caverns covered with stalactites, glassy water, terrapins and cave fish, these natural sinkholes offer uniquely spectacular swims, snorkels and scuba dives.
Best for ages: 4+ | Free | 1+ hours
Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..
Playa del Carmen, Mexico[20.1 miles]
With glassy pools and shallow lagoons offering dolphin, nurse-shark and manatee swimming, tame jungles, and spectacular Mayan dance shows, this huge eco-theme park is a Maya World, and a snorkel-friendly Disneyland.
Best for ages: 4+ | £80
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[24.8 miles]
A family-friendly cenote adventure park – with cliff-jumps, rope-swings, jungle trails and onsite changing rooms and lockers. Cristalino sits right outside Playa del Carmen, making it easy to reach, and immensely popular.
Best for ages: 4+ | Free
Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico[27.4 miles]
This big, open swimming hole – set in low jungle and filled with fish is safe enough for small kids, has changing rooms, life jackets and water-entry platforms. It’s easy to reach, sitting right off the main Cancún-Chetumal highway 15 minutes’ drive from Playa.
Best for ages: 4+ | Free
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[27.6 miles]
Designed by Greg Norman, the course weaves its way through dense jungle, beautiful stretches of white sand and mangrove forests, with cenotes – natural sink holes – providing natural hazards.
Best for ages: 13+ | £125
![Swim in a cenote [snorkelling & scuba diving]](https://familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Yucatan-Cancun-and-Tulum-Cenotes-lead-SH...jpg)
