By Lisa T. Bergren

Looking for a fun Cancun tour? On the recommendation of fellow travelers, we escaped the glitz of the hotel zone and headed south for some reportedly fabulous snorkeling in Puerto Morelos, just a short drive away. Puerto Morelos is a small village, but if I were to go back to Cancun, it would be a serious contender for our condo dollars. I liked the quieter, more manageable, family-friendly feel of it.

A man with a clipboard, seeing us drive around, obviously not quite sure where to park, waved us over. He was a front man for Los Pelicanos, our dinner restaurant target anyway, and coincidentally, he ran snorkel tours. Better yet, he had a glass bottom boat, which gave my non-snorkeling MIL a glimpse of the depths below (but not a whole lot—don’t go to them just for that). In half an hour we’d changed and gotten our equipment organized and moved down the wave-battered pier, off-kilter at the end, to a bobbing boat.

The Pelicanos guys aren’t the only option. If you head down to the pier, you’ll see all kinds of tour operators, eager to take you out for a couple hours to snorkel the protected national marine park—part of the second largest reef system in the world, The Great Mesoamerican Reef—definitely a worthwhile adventure (about $25pp; our man charged us $12 for the younger kids and my MIL who just rode along; plus $20 tip). The benefits of Pelicano’s guys, from what I could see:

• Glass bottom boat
• Roof on boat for some shade
• Ample time on the water with three stops, 1.5-2 hours
• Freshwater shower option after (stall outside; rough, but at least you can wash off the brine)

It had been a couple of years since we’d donned mask and snorkels in the West Indies, and the snorkeling in Cancun was pretty good, but not great. (I hear there are some great locations on Isla Mujeras and Cozumel.) We got some serious snorkeling satisfaction in Puerto Morelos, though, and saw tons of fish and lovely coral. My just-turned-seven-year-old was so entranced, he forgot that he wasn’t really fond of snorkels, ignored his fogging mask, and stayed face-down in the water for a full forty-five minutes. (I held his hand and helped him keep up with the group.) My father-in-law, 70 years old, snorkeled for the first time in twenty-plus years, and loved it too. Truly a great multi-generational family tour!

Our guide took us to three locations, pointing out an eel in a cave, picking up a baby manta ray from the sand and helping us discover countless, brilliantly colored fish, but by the third stop, we were a bit chilled and the younger kids were feeling a little sea-sick from bobbing atop the waves, so we called it quits. (Note: Because it’s a preserve, you have to go out with a guide and wear life jackets to keep you off the coral.) But we loved the fact that we felt like we were getting more than enough for our money.

We showered, changed and went up the steps to the veranda of Pelicano’s for a wonderful dinner, watching the sun set before us. As we lingered over the remains of our meal and ordered a second margarita, the kids played down on the beach, writing their names on the sand. Dreamy!

Interested in other Cancun tours? Check out our daughter’s report on our zip line experience with Selvatica. Fun!

Have you had an amazing snorkeling experience in or around Cancun? Comment below!