Snorkling at Occidental Cozumel vs Allegro

[Shawn C]

If you enjoy food, pick the Occidental. Allegro has cafeteria level F&B. The resorts are located about 7 minutes apart by walking along the beach so you can easily snorkel either one.

 

[Rob9876]

I would consider the Westin up north for a mix of both beach and good snorkeling. It's not flat sandy beach you walk for miles, but sand and some rock you can walk & explore, carrying your sandals for the rocky part.

And Buccanos just south of the Westin is also good for snorkeling -- there we walked south near the dock for the half-finished building and entered the water there, working our way North.

Agree with others about Allegro & Occidental -- some of the nicest soft sand beach entries on the island, but the trade-off is not much structure for fish to hang around. We mainly saw white/silver bait fish and a couple of small sand rays. Places with rocky entry ("iron shore") generally have better snorkeling -- and I would recommend scuba booties/water shoes entering the water in those places (the Mares Equator 2mm booties are thin enough to fit some snorkel fins -- sizing seems to run a little big [I wear 11 in sneakers and a 10 in these booties]).

South of town, both Money Bar and Sky Reef have good snorkeling and no charge to get in (they do expect you to buy drinks or something). Chankanaab also has good snorkeling, but costs a decent bit to enter.

We've also enjoyed both of these boat snorkel tours:

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[Bookworm11]

The Intercontinetal Presidente has good snorkeling, and is the nicest hotel on the island ( but you pay for that!) The Westin is lovely, and has HUGE suites, but a bit remote. The snorkeling is good there too. Without a car, the restaurant choices are very limited at the Westin.

 

[Shawn C]

I'm not sure that someone who is looking at staying at Allegro or Occidental, which is what the OP asked about, will have the accommodation budget to swing staying at El Presidente. Westin would a closer comparable but, as noted, is at the far end of the island VS Allegro or Occidental (though a much closer taxi to restaurants than Allegro or Occidental).