Inha & La Bocana Tour — 5 Hours

This is the long one, and it is the only trip that does both stops. An hour north to the Inha reef for the snorkelling, then back down to La Bocana to finish — which means you get the good reef and the easy shallow anchorage in the same day instead of choosing between them.

It is also the only trip with hot food off the grill. Cheeseburgers or fajitas, cooked on board, alongside the ceviche and everything else. On the shorter trips lunch is cold; here it is not, and over five hours that turns out to be the difference between snacks and a meal.

How the day runs

Welcome drink, then out of the marina heading north for about an hour to Inha — a semi-sheltered stretch of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-largest reef system in the world. The water is clear and calm and there are sea turtles, rays and tropical fish in it. You get a long stop, in and out of the water as often as you like, and the crew keep serving whether you are aboard or not.

Not a swimmer? Fine. Plenty of people spend the reef stop on deck with a drink. It is your private charter and nothing about it is compulsory.

Once everyone is back aboard we head to La Bocana, the sheltered pocket by the marina mouth where the water goes flat and shallow. This is the wind-down stop — most people eat here, some of them standing in the water, and the music goes on. It is the part of the day people remember.

We troll on the move. Anything you land, the crew will cook on board with their own sauce, and they will not tell you what is in it.

Which trip is yours?

They all leave from Puerto Aventuras with the same crew, the same open bar and the same boats. What changes is where you stop and how long you are out.

Half day

• Riviera Maya Cruise — 3 hours. La Bocana only — the half-day option, and the cheapest way onto a private boat.
• Inha Snorkel Tour — 4 hours. The Inha reef. Book it if snorkelling is the point.
• Paamul Bay Tour — 4 hours. A semi-secluded bay with a beach you can go ashore on.
• Inha & La Bocana (this trip) — 5 hours. Both stops, and the only shorter trip with hot food off the grill.

Full day

• Cozumel & Palancar — 8 hours. Across to Cozumel for the island’s most famous reef.
• Tulum Ruins from the Sea — 8 hours. South to El Castillo, seen from the water. Motor yachts only.

The full-day trips are quoted flatter across the fleet than the coastal ones — a crossing costs what it costs regardless of the boat — and they run on fewer boats, because the slower catamarans would spend the day in transit.

The open bar

Open for the whole charter — no tab, no per-drink charge, no counting. Beer, tequila, vodka, rum, whisky and soft drinks, with margaritas made on board. The brands aboard, plus premium spirits and bottle service, are on the open bar page.

Snorkel gear, fishing gear and towels are aboard for everyone, and the sound system takes your phone over Bluetooth — your playlist, not ours.

Where you should be staying

Every boat leaves from the gated marina at Puerto Aventuras, closest to guests in Puerto Aventuras, Akumal, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the stretch between them. It is not the trip for a Cancún stay — there is a separate fleet up there, and bringing one of these boats north would spend the charter on the journey.

How the price works

You charter the boat, not a seat on it, and your group has it to yourselves. The size of your group — not the number of people paying — decides which boat you want, and the ladder below is the real decision. Every boat runs this identical itinerary with these identical inclusions.

Five hours is the standard here. Longer is quoted rather than listed — tell us the date, how many of you there are and roughly how long you want on the water.