Anyone spent time on Calica?  Wondering what you think is worth your time there?  We are sailing on Carnival.

Well, first of all, Calica is just a port - it's actually a sand pit where they load ships with sand.  The only "touristy" thing there are some small souvenir booths that sell overpriced souvenirs.  There WILL, however, be lots of cabs and buses that can take you to other places, such as Playa Del Carmen (about 10 miles north) where you can shop, eat and lay out on the beach.  Or, if you want to do an excursion, I would recommend the Yal Ku Lagoon and Sea Turtle Sanctuary Snorkel trip.  My husband and I did this while there in 2006 and we had a FANTASTIC time!  It cost a bit more than the typical snorkel excursion, but it was WELL worth it!  The guides actually went into the water with you and carried waterproof fish books which they used to point out the different fish we were seeing so we had an idea of what we were looking at.  We spent close to an hour in the fresh water lagoon, then drove another 10 minutes to the bay where the sea turtles were and snorkeled for another hour or so there.  Then, we still had time to check out the souvenir booths and grab a lite lunch and some tequila at the little beachside cantina - all in all, we were gone more than 4 hours and enjoyed every minute of it.  The guides were the best and even had bottled water for us in the van, so don't buy any of the overpriced Carnival water if you're going on this excursion.

My family went to Cozumel and Calica a couple of years ago and ended up enjoying Calica most!  It is true there is nothing there when you get off the ship but there is a van that will take you to XCARET - google it and check out the underwater rivers, etc.  We were able to float in underwater rivers all the way across the park and they definitely had the most beautiful beaches we saw anywhere in Mexico.  They had pools, bathrooms, places to eat, butterfly houses, everything you could ever want.  My husband and I loved it and so did our kids, ages 11 and 7.