Manatee Swim and Chankanaab Park

We swam with the manatees and added a swim with sea lions as well as a photo package and meal with drinks. The cost ended being way up there but it was worth it! You only live once and these experiences are priceless!

We followed the instructions to the park and our tickets were waiting for us. We were in the water swimming with and feeding the manatees over twice as long as we expected to be. We really, really enjoyed ourselves. We would highly recommend this tour.

Our whole family loved feeding lettuce to the manatees. Very exciting experience. Sturdy wooden stairs allow easy entrance into the water.

An absolutely wonderful tour which we enjoyed with the whole family. Appropriate for all ages. Highly recommend this tour.

This was the hilight of the whole trip

Loved this excursion the manatees are very gentle creatures they reminded me of a puppy we were in the water feeding the manatees for about 30 minutes would do it again

The Manatees were soooo BIG & friendly! Loved that we were able to swim with them and feed them tons of lettuce! This was the best excursion out of the 3 we did and will definitely do it again

We had no problems and the experience was amazing!

We loved this tour and the manatees even more. My family of 4 got a private tour with just us in the water with 3 manatees! It was so cool swimming with them. They are so gentle and cute! The trainer and photographer were awesome (and patient!) making sure we got all the poses we wanted. Highly recommend!

This was a really fun excursion. The manatees are huge, but so gentle. We stood on a platform while the guides got the manatees to pose with us for pictures (pretty costly if you want the pictures, though). Then, they give you romaine lettuce to feed the manatees.We lucked out and were the only two in our group, so we also got to swim out in the enclosure with the manatees and continue feeding them for quite a long time. We went through 5 heads of romaine, one leaf at a time. The manatees actually grab onto your legs with their flippers to pull themselves closer for the lettuce. Nothing scary at all, just a lot of fun! I would actually do this excursion again, just to spend more time with manatees!

We had the most amazing expierence swimming with the manatees! It wasn't just a photo shoot like other swims with marine animals, we actually got to freely swim with them. They are so gentle, and slow and super cute. I highly recommend this excursion. We had the most amazing time and came home with unforgettable memories.

A beautiful park, who alone and manatees, and dolphins and seals. For a small surcharge, you can take dolphins to manatees, in this case also lunch for free. Good equipped beach, restaurants and souvenirs. In general, everything would be great to spend a day. Separately about the excursion - we were three together with three manatees !!! Everything is just super!

We had all ages, 3 generations on this excursion and all 9 of us loved it. We have traveled a lot and have never had the opportunity to swim with manatee's. They were such gentle giants and truly amazing. The guides knew so much about them and were able to answer all questions we asked. My only complaint would be how expensive the photo's were. We would have loved to have some to remember this event, but they cost so much we could not get them. Such a shame because the pictures were good. Make sure you spend time in the whole park, many things to see.

The whole family, aged 5 to 68, really enjoyed swimming with the manatees. We made life-long memories with these wonderful animals. They are gentle and like to interact with people. Great must do excursion.

we had a great time swimming with the manatees. Staff was very friendly and helpful. only wish we would have been instructed to wear water shoes, platform was painful to stand on. Plan on going again next year

Swimming with the manatees was a great experience. When we got there we had time to walk around the park, which was beautiful. They would not allow us to bring our own cameras during the swim. They also tried to talk us into the sea lion encounter. Both experiences were a blast but the pictures were expensive.

We were all stoked to swim with manatees, even though I previously "swam" with dolphins elsewhere and never actually left the platform. However, when they advertise this as manatee swim, know that you WILL swim with the manatees and you will love it! We learned so much about them and fell even more in love with these gentle creatures. Also note that on arrival, they will attempt to upsell you on a picture/lunch/drink/+1 experience package and it is worth every penny! We EACH got a printed picture of our choice, a CD full of the day's pictures, a VIP buffet lunch, unlimited drinks at all the park bar's, AND an experience with Sea Lions that was nearly as amazing as the manatee swim. Do this excursion, stay all day!

we had so much fun and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Really wish we knew we needed to wear water shoes because it was very difficult to stand on the platform in the water

We really enjoyed the manatee swim. There were only two of us in the 10:00 am swim. The later swims had more people. When we arrived we were offered the sea lion encounter and lunch buffet for an extra $30. In order to avoid disappointment, be aware that the photo prices are ridiculous. In fact the photo can easily cost more then the swim or animal encounter. For the two of us they wanted $140 for all the photos from the manatee session and another $140 for all of our photos from the sea lion session. Individual photos were priced at $35. You can bargain but will most likely just get a photo book or mug added with no reduction in price. Of course they will not let you bring you own camera to the session. Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed feeding and petting the manatees.

We did this and it was amazing, very small group that day, only 6 of us. When we arrived we were offered a really good deal to add the dolphin swim, lunch and taxi back to cruise ship. Unfortunately we had not brought enough cash with us. Saving my cash to buy some pictures. While the pictures are quite expensive, they were really good. Also, our cruise ship arrived two hours late due to a medical emergency, the park still accomadated us even though we had missed our reserved time, Kudos to them.

This was the best excursion ever. All other passengers wanted the dolphin encounter, so we had a LONG time with the manatees. The process was smooth and the park is located only 4 miles from the pier. It was the highlight of the trip. All of our friends were jealous to have missed out. AMAZING!!

Kids wanted this so glad we found this excursion. Missed our appointment as we were on "ship time" Park accommodated us for a later time, they offered the Dolphin encounter including buffet so we upgraded. Did the Dolphin swim which was fun but looked forward to the Manatees and worried we'd miss our time. Staff reassured us we wouldn't. An employee escorted us to the pen. Was a little confusing because the combo Dolphin-Manatee encounter has people walk through the pen and feed them, kept wondering if we're in the wrong line? Then trainer gave us lettuce and we swam with the Manatees. Manatees are truly gentle giants and this was a great experience. About the food. Reviews said food was not great. Was perfectly fine with a good variety. We ate in the 2-story restaurant. Tip: Upstairs has the same food so save some time as the line can get really long.

This was an outstanding excursion. It was definitely the highlight of our entire cruise. Despite my trepidation we found it very easy to obtain a taxi to take us from the pier to Chankanaab Park and then back to the ship afterwards. There were local officials at each end of the ride to make sure that we did not get gouged with the price. The actual swim was wonderful and not physically demanding at all. Each of us were provided with life jackets and the creatures were very friendly and gentle. The staff there made sure that each of us in our group of six were the subjects of some wonderful souvenir photos. While I thought that the price for the photos was a little high, they accepted a variety of credit cards for payment and both printed the photos and showed us how to easily download them to our mobile devices. This is an outstanding adventure and one that should not be missed.

This was my first time, and I enjoyed it! These lovely creatures are not only friendly but loveable! I plan on doing this excursion again!

We had a great time swimming and feeding the manatee and relaxing on the beach would love to do it again.

my wife wants to go back

the most enjoyable, educational and fun excursion I have ever been on....it was so great. the staff made sure each and every one of us had lots of time to feed and swim with these amazing creatures

we piggy backed our manatee swim with a dolphin swim....SUPER PRICE with lunch included...staff was great and spent lots of time with each of us....it was a great experience and probably the lowest price dolphin swim that I have ever seen...

My son has been wanting to swim with the manatees since 6 years old. He finally was able to on this excursion and he is the happiest 15year old right now. His memories will last a life time

Chankanaab Park was a great place to spend our day. Our son loved the Manatee Swim and the Dolphin swim experience. Professional photos are taken of individuals participating in the manatee and dolphin experiences. Unfortunately, the pictures are outrageously expensive. We waited until they were about to close (last minute) to purchase our photos and they offered us a great deal. The drinks were reasonably priced. I wish they had had more of a food variety at the buffet, but the food was good. Finally, we were able to enjoy snorkeling at this family friend location!!! We plan to do this excursion again on our next trip.

This was the standout excursion of our cruise! The facility was nicely kept and even offered a beautiful pool with swim up bar. That was a welcome option after swimming with these friendly & gentle creatures. Highlight was - after the usual kiss/pose/photos - being given our own swim mask and allowed to just swim anywhere within the enclosure and interact with the manatees. This doesn't happen with a more pricey Dolphin encounter! We fed them lettuce and they would grab onto your leg for stability. My 9 & 11 year old girls were delighted, as were Mom and Dad. So unique. For $30 more, our 9 year old added the Sea Lion encounter, which she liked even better. That $30 covered the encounter, one free lunch buffet, plus the taxi back to port. Great day.

I had been booked for a later morning manatee swim but received notice to show up earlier so I hopped a cab at the end of the pier and was there in no time ( $15 cab fare). I was the ONLY person in the first swim of the day so I had all FOUR manatees all to myself for 20 mins. They were amazing to be around - they hug, they kiss and mostly they want to eat the lettuce you feed them. I loved every minute of it! You cannot take any photos on your own and the photos they take, while they were lovely, were VERY expensive! Also, I had only booked the manatees but when I got to the park, I was offered the dolphin encounter at a very reduced rate so I added that one. The encounter involves standing in the dolphin pen while a handler talks about the dolphins and you get the chance to hug, kiss and pat the dolphin. Luckily, our dolphin is a mama and her 6 month old baby was with her so we had double the entertainment. I'd highly recommend the manatee swim and the dolphin encounter!!

My husband and I LOVED this and would do it again in a heartbeat!! It was just the two of us and the trainer during our excursion which made it that much more enjoyable!! Three manatees and us! We will never forget it!!

So glad I ventured into the world of non cruise ship excursions! Swimming with the manatees was not offered by the cruise line but Orbitz hit the mark! Easy taxi ride from the port to the park. The manatee swim was incredible (but be prepared to pay a lot for pictures if you want them), the trainers were great too. Definitely the high light of our trip. The sea lions show at the park was a winner too. Money well spent!

Our in water time with the three manatees was approximately 45 minutes. The whole experience was about an hour. Our group size for the 10:15 experience was 7 people, not to bad if you consider 4 of them were in my group. It is a photo op type experience. We all posed for photos of kissing , touching, hugging and holding the manatees. We were all given heads of cabbage and allowed to float around the area feeding the manatees for about 15 minutes.

Had a blast!! Had 4 manatees with us a one time. Also swam with Sea Lion Much fun!

We went to this park as a family. Very nice accommodations. Our kids swam with sea lions. There is a pool and 2 large sandy beaches to enjoy. At least 2 restaurants and beautiful scenery. All of the only 5 miles outside the city of Cozumel.

Amazing experience - the manatees are simple awesome. The guides were so knowledgable and friendly and patient. We spent plenty of 1:1 time in the water with the manatees. Even with the higher cost of any arranged mammal experience - I would do this again! Way better experience than when we did a Dolphin one a few years back. I cannot recommend it enough! The overall marine park also has so many things to do and see - or do nothing and relax on a beachside table with a fruity cocktail and fresh guac. Note on cost: as always, they ""get you"" with the photo package at the end. Remember - everything is negotiable.

My wife and I went on a cruise, during which we stopped and went on this shore excursion. Being seniors we wanted a more casual and relaxed experience. This was perfect. We have done the Dolphin things, so this was a pleasant change. As always we enjoy the packages that this ""Shore Excursions"" company makes available at a reasonable price, and time without the shipboard hassle and crowds.

good experience, we had bought the manatee excursion from home, printed the e tickets, once we arrived we upgraded to add lunch an swim with the dolphins for $30.00 more, great time, the pictures cost around $70 pp per excursion

Once in a lifetime experience interacting with manatees. I was a little apprehensive about finding transportation to the park with just me and my two young daughters, but cabs were easy to find and reliable.

Wow! What an experience! We had so much fun. It was amazing how gentle these giants really are. Only 3 of us in the group so we really had a great one on one time with the manatees. Feeding and seeing them underwater with the goggles on was just AMAZING ! ! This excursion is a must.

Swimming with the manatees was the highlight of our cruise. The manatees are an absolute hoot and as long as you have lettuce you'll never be lonely again. Was also pleasantly surprised by Chankanaab Park as well. You could spend the whole day there enjoying the beach, exhibits or Mayan ruin section. Well worth the money.

I have wanted to swim with manatees for years, but when we usually travel in the Winter, it is too cold where we stay in Florida to do this. I was so thrilled to see this offered and didn't hesitate to book the 2 of us for the adventure. Thank you to all at the park who made our experience the best ever, especially thank you to the manatees themselves. It was hard to say good bye. We will be back someday!

The animals are wonderful!!!! Who thought something so big could be so gentle and lovable....

The Manatee experience was phenomenonal! The instructors and photographer had a great relationship with the animals and the experience was very well organized. If you enjoy learning about the Mayans or Olmecs, the Mayan walk is a must. Chankanaab Park offers so many different activities beyond the marine mammal experiences that make worth exploring for all ages.

We really enjoyed our experience with the manatees. Having little knowledge before the trip about them, this gave us a great deal of information.

The only thing bad thing was the photos were very expensive. Tip: Take 1 photo with whole group in it with the manatees. That one photo will cost you $40.00, the whole cd was $250.00

Manatees were great

This was an annual trip with me and my two granddaughters. We took a cab to the park and they were ready for us. The groups were small and manageable. Everyone got to participate and had fun. After the swimming we were able to change and then Zip line right across the walkway. There were other things to do like snorkel and performances but we elected to go back to the ship.

We were in Cozumel last week and wanted to do the manatee swim. It was easy to get a cab from the port where we were docked. We arrived early and walked around the park for awhile and they even had free Wi-Fi. We only had four people in our group and our guide was awesome. She taught us so much about manatees and we got to spend a lot of time petting them, hugging them, feeding them and swimming with them. This is a once in a lifetime experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

You take on your own a short cab ride to the park. Once there you wander around the area with many things you can do: Myan culture area, tequilla tasteing, dolphin, manatee swims, shopping, restaurant. The manatee swim was well organized and very safe. We spent time playing with them and feeding them. Yes they take many shots for pictures for you to purchase, but not very expensive. We had all 81 pictures placed on a disc to be able to print out once we got back. They had a pool and beach area you could use. Well worth the time. No wait for taxi back to the ship when we were ready to go.

This was a wonderful excursion and so glad we did it. Everyone else at the park seemed to be doing the dolphin experiences so had a small group of only 8 people that really allowed for extensive time with the two manatees. The park itself was pretty cool but do not get the ""buffet"" they offer when you walk in - not very good for $15 a person.

Loved the manatees. These were VIP tickets. My husband and I had 3 trainers and 3 manatees to ourselves. We got to feed them, kiss them, swim with them and have lots of pictures taken. The manatees are so sweet natured. They love to be fed lettuce. It was so much fun to swim with them. The next group after us did not have these VIP tickets and there were 18 people + 3 trainers in with the manatees. They didn't have the close-up experience that we had.

Feeding and interacting with the creatures was outstanding. Both my wife and I thought this experience was the high-lite of our trip and we did several excursions. The only downside was the fact that we had to wear vests.

This was exciting to swim with the manatees and feed them

Swimming with manatees was such a fun experience. They are wonderful, gentle, beautiful and fun creatures and we are so grateful that Chankanaab Park gives people the opportunity to spend some quality time swimming with and feeding and interacting with them. The guides were very friendly and knowledgeable, and truly cared about the animals under their care. We had a good long time in the water with the manatees and would definitely recommend this excursion to everyone. Families....don't pass this one up. Afterwards, you can tour the park and swim and have a meal. Lockers and everything are provided so we felt very confident that our personal belongings were safe as we went and had FUN.

We would not have missed swimming with these '' Big Puppy Dogs '' of the ocean for the world. Truly a once in a lifetime experience for all , young and old! The guides are knowledgeable and friendly. The manatees are huge and adorable. You are not able to photograph on your own. The excursion was priced right, the professional photos a tad spendy.

Had a great time lots of things to see and do!!

Overall, this is a great excursion. The manatees are so gentle and swimming with them is a unique experience. It is well organized, although it does seem like it is planned around photo opportunities instead of the adventure of swimming with the manatees. Our guide did not speak English well, so he barely talked. It would have been great to learn more about the manatees. I went into the park knowing that the photos would cost an arm and a leg, although I was able to negotiate the price down. The food at the park was tasty and reasonably priced, and the sea lion show was informational. Before the trip I was worried about finding transportation to the park, but it was so easy as Cozumel taxis are incredibly well-organized and have flat rates, so there is no haggling or worrying about getting ripped off. If you have already done the dolphin swim and are looking for something exotic or more relaxing, then do this excursion!

I really enjoyed this excursion and thought that it was definitely worth the money. There was only myself and a family of four in the group so we got to spend a lot of one on one time with the manatees. The trainers were very friendly and patient. It was nice to listen to the information they would tell you about the animals. I am so glad I chose to do this and I have no regrets.

Swimming with the manatees was a once in a lifetime experience for our family and we loved it. The pool and the beach were also an added bonus we enjoyed both before and after our swim. On the down side the photos they took were soooo expensive we left with nothing to share of our wonderful time there.

You must arranged your own transportation to & from the park. Taxi cost $11 each way. It's the same price @ the door as if booked in advance. Ridiculously overpriced photos. Make sure you bargain with them.

The manatees were gentle giants. I was so surprised by their gentle nature and how affectionate they were. The trainers shared their knowledge of these amazing animals. Loved the opportunity to interact with the manatees while a photographer was taking pictures of our special opportunity! I would recommend this excursion for everyone!

A once in a lifetime adventure to swim and interact with theses gentle sea mammals. Don't miss this adventure

We were fortunate that we only had to share this wonderful experience with one other couple - and they were great! We had lots of one on one time with three manatees, who are just beautiful, sweet, affectionate and gigantic creatures. They were so friendly (because we were feeding them lettuce) but you could pet them, kiss them, hold their flippers, etc. Just gentle giants. Better than the stingrays, better than the dolphins. Make it a point to meet the manatees up close and personal!

This was a bucket list must for my wife and I. We will remember this activity forever. The Manatees were curious, gentle and friendly. They seemed to relish the touching, petting and human interaction. If we weren't touching them, they were touching us. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and the Manatees looked and seemed well taken care of. A must do while in Cozumel. We plan to repeat the trip.

My husband and I love Manatees and we have always wanted to do something like this but never knew we could as they are endangered in the United States. All prior reviews of this excursion said you could use an underwater camera and so we were very unhappy to say the least when we got there and said no. So we tried to comply . Definitely the best ""Swimming with the"" excursion I have ever done and I have swam with everything you can do. Spent 99% of the time feeding them while standing on a platform (wear water socks)and then got a few minutes to swim out with them wearing a snorkeling mask. The pictures they took were good and of excellent quality, however outrageously priced. We purchased 2 individual pics, but after we tried walking away. They lowered the price when you tell them no. The property at Chankanaab was nice and we relaxed the rest of the day at the pool and beach area's and the Sea Lion show was adorable. My husband got a kiss on the cheek from one of the sealions. Would do this again with our little girls!

We loved it but the fact we couldt bring our own camera was horrible. The photos were $40 a pop. Don't eat at the restaurant by the manatee and dolphin holding area. Go over to the snorkel beach and eat there. We got six beers and two shots and chips and salsa for $20. The manatees were wonderful

This was one of the best excursions EVER ! Taken our clients on Dolphin , Turtle , Stingrays & other swims ! This is a fabulous & unique opportunity ; all at a great price that provides entrance to the beautiful Chankanaab Park too !!! This is definitely a great place to spend the whole day ! Do your Manatee Swim , have lunch , walk & even enjoy the spa ! Had a GREAT day & will definitely book our clients here again ! Melissa @ South Seas Travel ,LLC , Louisville , KY

Just two in our group, 45 minutes of constant contact with the ""gentle giants."" They are amazing creatures.

Swimming with the Manatees was fun, everyone else was with the dolphins but a small, select group chose manatees instead. Two recommendations: 1) wear water socks. The wire grate you stand on in the water is pretty painful with just bare feet. 2) Get ready to pay $$$ for low res photos. They will try to get you to buy the photos but if you push back and tell them you're not interested the price of the photos goes down and down. It went down twice for us. The photo CD was good for posting online but I was surprised that, considering they took them with a digital SLR, the pictures were all less than 1MB in size. Guess the camera resolution was set pretty low. Overall a fun experience and the guided tour before hand of the simulated Mayan ruins was an unexpected bonus.

The manatee experience was everything we hoped for. Our three guides were wonderful! This was the highlight of our trip.

We loved every second of it!!!

This was a fabulous outing. The swim with the manatees was extremely rewarding especially if you love animals. Glad to say I have experienced this. What a fabulous time we had.

What a special experience. My husband and I were in the last group to go of the day and ended up being the only two people. It was just us and the 3 Manatee. They were so amazing...and big! I couldn't stop laughing when we were feeding them. The guide told us all about them. It was truly interesting to hear about them. I would suggest everyone do this at least once in their life time!

The tour allow you time to explore the park both before and after the actual Manatee encounter. With the other shows and activities the price was a real steal. It is too bad that the trip does not include transportation as it seems like the Taxi rides to and from are relatively expensive for such a short trip.

Once in a lifetime experience!!!! There are only 3000 manatees left in the world and to have the chance to touch, interact and feed them was unbelievable. I spent at least 20 minutes swimming with the manatees and feeding them lettuce. Chankanaab Park is without a doubt the best place in Cozumel to spend the day. Great facilities. The only bummer was the photos they take of you with the manatees they want $90 for a CD disk of them. That was really high for a CD of photos and you still have to print the photos out. I wanted only 1 photo but they will not sell you 1 photo, you have to buy the entire CD.

This was a fantastic excursion!! The manatee experience was fantastic! We got to feed them, pet them, get and give kisses from them, and swim with them. It was fantastic. They take pictures for you (that are outragously priced), but they allow you to take your own pictures as well, so remember to bring your waterproof camera! The only thing that I can complain about is that the life jacket gave me a rash on my back. It has since gone away, but I would recommend that you wear a shirt while wearing the jacket to avoid my experience.

time of my life. individual attention. Unbelievable

Our cruise rerouted the ship and I actually showed up at Chankanaab on a different day than I had reserved and they were perfectly fine with the exchange. It was very easy to get a taxi to and from the park to the dock, but on the way back the driver dropped us off at the wrong dock and we were not paying attention and didn't realize it! We were lucky to have the next taxi driver take us to the right one for free! So be careful of that! I think it would be easier if the excursion provided transportation.

This was a great experience if you want to do something just a little bit different. There are 3 manatees at the park, and they are all quite large. They do like to socialize, especially if food is added to the mix. We had a great guide who gave us tons of information, and we spent the whole time hands on with the manatees. Towards the end we were even allowed to snorkel with them, the stingrays and nurse shark that shared their enclosure with them. We thought this would be a once in a lifetime experience, but next time we are in Cozumel we will definitely go back and do this again!

The manatee swim was definitely the highlight of my cruise. No one else was signed up for my time slot, so my daughter and I had the guide and the manatees to ourselves! We got to spend the whole time feeding and playng with the manatees and talking to the guide. It was like having a private swim. Not to mention, this excursion wasn't even offered on our cruise ship and it was much cheaper than the excursions they did offer!

The encounter with the Manatees was an increditable experience. There are very gentle creatures. The people running the encounter where wonderful. The whole park was very clean and very accomodating. We enjoyed the experience very much and would do it again in a heartbeat!