Islas Mujeres Catamaran

It was a great trip! The booze was flowing all day! Bring a jacket it can be cold and windy. The ride from Tulum to picking up other passengers at other resorts and then to the dock is a long way away. When you show up it’s a mess and super unorganized. They have docking fee charges and booze fee charges at the restaurant. Other than those hiccups, it was a great trip.

I want to first compliment the staff of this trip, those on the boat and on Isla Mujeres. All were wonderful, attentive, and personable. They alone deserve 5+ stars. The excursion altogether, however, was a bit disappointing. At the time of booking this, the description gave me a different impression of the excursion than what was received. It seems to have been slightly updated, but still misleading. Our group wanted to go to Isla Mujeres from Tulum, as we had heard it was highly recommended. We also wanted a catamaran experience. Shuttle pickup was great and as expected, but upon arrival to the marina, we were coaxed into spending an additional $45 USD on the “luxury” experience, which included a nicer, less-crowded boat, a “spinnaker” experience, and special beach club access. The spinnaker activity was never mentioned after purchasing the upgrade. Snorkeling was available on the boat, but we chose not to do this since it was cold, so I have no opinion on this. The food at the beach club was nothing special and very Americanized (pizza, burgers, spaghetti), which was also supposed to be an upgrade. While the beach club itself was nice, it was located on a less than impressive beach with rocky wakes just feet from the beach and not worth leaving the beautiful beaches closer to our accommodation. Additionally, the only option given to explore the island is through a golf cart tour advertised by the boat that cost an additional $35. We were not under the impression that this excursion was directly associated with and limited to the Albatros Beach Club. This should be more clear in the description. Had I known this, I may have opted for a different excursion. Especially since we came from outstanding beach clubs in Tulum. Not worth traveling the distance from Tulum because the time on Isla Mujeres is limited to 3-4 hours, and you do not have freedom to explore the island, unless you choose to do the guided golf cart tour. It easily turns into a $150+ USD activity, and I think Isla Mujeres has much nicer things to offer than through this excursion. It felt extremely commercialized, which I should have expected. But again, I want to recognize the staff for their hard work, friendliness, and wonderful attitudes.

Crew was great, and did a great job of serving. The time spent sailing was quite enjoyable. That said, we came from Tulum, which isn’t worth it, you spend far more time in a van, than actually on the boat. All the tours Viator offers are essentially the same thing at different prices: get on a boat, sail to the island to eat lunch, snorkel, maybe stop at at another beach full of shops, sail back. On the boat on the way over we were immediately up sold an island tour in golf carts, if you don’t buy the tour you just wait at, honestly the worst beach I’ve been to in the area. Lunch was fine, not great, but didn’t get sick. Because you are apparently snorkeling in a marine reserve they say to not put on sunscreen unless it is biodegradable (which they are happy to sell you). My advice, definitely wear sunscreen, don’t go snorkeling. The snorkeling was very rushed, which is actually okay because there are very few fish to actually look at, it’s pretty much a bunch of people swimming awkwardly in a big group. We then went to another beach which was just another opportunity to spend a bunch of money on the same crap you see everywhere else. Following that stop we then “sailed” back to Cancun. The online description said there was a spinnaker, and the photo showed an attached seat you could sit in, which was the reason I purchased the version of the trip I did. This boat had no spinnaker, but they did hoist a jib sail, which was in such poor repair it broke almost immediately. In conclusion, if you are close to Cancun and just want to drink on a boat, book the cheapest version and it’s a good trip.

Misleading sales pitch. That being said, still not a bad value for the price. Just a day of boating swimming food and drink. Not a bad value all things considered.

Tour was great , the upgrade was worth it the catamaran is bigger and nicer , you have a private beach part as well not too crowded , the crew is awesome I would def recommend it

Highlight of our trip to Playa. This Included 4 stops, snorkeling, swimming off the coast at Isla with the more turquoise water you will see, couple hours at the beach club, and a quick attempt to ride on the sails of the boat over the water. The Platinum experience was well worth it as they only allow a certain amount of people on the boat. The others were packed and not a ton of sitting room (non-platinum). Drinks were flowing the entire time and the staff did a fantastic job making you feel welcome. We were worried what this would look like in the midst of Covid, but everyone did a great job.

AWESOME EXPERIENCE. The crew on the boat were awesome. Extremely attentive and made sure you had a great time. Nothing felt rushed and it felt like they genuinely enjoyed their jobs. The "platinum upgrade" was definitely worth it. Will be using this company again.

We ended up upgrading to a platinum experience and it was really awesome. The tour guide was fun and informative and great to be around. The crew kept us safe and kept the drinks flowing. The beach club was nice (food was just ok) but the drinks were very good. There were not too many fish to see when we were snorkeling but I still had a very good time and the underwater statues were cool to see. Also, i felt very safe considering the whole COVID situation, there was social distancing enforced, we had our temperatures checked, hand sanitizer before we got on the boat.