How Much Does A Marietas Islands Tour Cost?

The cheapest firm-priced boat to the Marietas Islands here is from $67 per person, and it is a 2 hour 30 minute collective trip from Punta de Mita that carries snorkel gear, a life jacket, non-alcoholic drinks and a waterproof bag for your phone. At the other end of the ladder, a 6.5 hour Hidden Beach tour from Nuevo Vallarta is from $168 per person, and a private snorkeling safari with a local guide runs from $369 for the whole group of up to six. Between those poles sit catamarans, pangas, sailing trips and small-group Hidden Beach tours, and the sticker price rarely tells the whole story, because the MXN 125 park fee, port taxes and optional Hidden Beach entrance fees are included on some tickets and excluded on others. Where you launch from changes the math as well, and the guide to staying in Punta de Mita near the Marietas boat piers covers the town, its beaches, and which tours leave from its docks.

This guide lays out the full cost picture across 30 bookable listings. Every figure below comes from a bookable listing, the official CONANP park page, or both, and where a tour publishes no price that is stated plainly rather than guessed. The companion piece on the park fee and conservation wristband covers the MXN 125 payment in more depth; this page is about the total you should budget for the day.

What Does A Marietas Islands Tour Cost In Total?

Budget from $67 to $168 per person for the ticket alone, plus the port tax and conservation wristband charge (MXN 30 to MXN 220 as listings state them) on tours that exclude them, plus cash for the optional Hidden Beach landing where the listing offers it. A family of four on a mid-range catamaran pays four tickets plus two adult park fees, since children under 12 are exempt from the fee.

The ticket price is only the first of up to four numbers that make up your day. The second is the CONANP park fee, MXN 125 per person per day, which the park sells as the conservation wristband and which foreign tourists pay in full, with exemptions for children under 12, older adults, pensioners and people with disabilities, and discounts for students, teachers, Mexican nationals and foreign residents with documents. The third is the cluster of port, dock and marina taxes that many listings exclude, typically MXN 35 per person at the dock and a SEMARNAT or CONANP bracelet line ranging from MXN 110 to MXN 220 depending on the operator's own wording. The fourth, only on tours that offer it, is the optional Hidden Beach entrance, which individual listings price at MXN 600 or MXN 900 in cash, or US$20, each attributed to the listing that states it.

Whether you actually pay those extras depends entirely on which ticket you buy. The featured Eco Explorer Vallarta snorkel tour from Marina Vallarta, from $99 per person, lists the CONANP bracelet and official park permits as included, leaving only a US$6 per person government fee and the optional cash Hidden Beach entrance outside the ticket. The Grimar collective boat from Punta de Mita, from $67 per person, states nothing about park fees either way. The Chica Locca all-inclusive catamaran, from $130 per person, does not state its fee position, while its sister listing by the same operator also at $130 includes food and drinks but excludes only tips and photos. Reading the inclusions block before booking is the single highest-value minute you will spend on this trip.

How Much Do Boat Trips To The Marietas Islands Cost By Tour Type?

Small-group boats from Punta de Mita cluster between $67 and $157 per person, full-day catamarans and cruises from Puerto Vallarta run $79 to $130, and snorkel-focused day trips span $89 to $168. The only firm per-group price is $369 for a private snorkeling safari with a local guide, while nine tours publish no price at all and must be checked directly.

The price ladder below uses only firm "from" prices stated on listings. Durations come from the same listings, and where no duration is stated we leave it out rather than estimate. Note that price and length do not move together cleanly: the second-cheapest ticket is a 7 hour tour, while one of the most expensive Punta de Mita options lasts just 3 hours.

Nine further listings publish no price, including the private Eco Explorer charter, the Shark's Tours private Hidden Beach trip and the Oceanus private safari; for those, check the listing for the current price rather than trusting a figure quoted anywhere else. The pattern worth noticing is that the cheapest ticket is rarely the cheapest day: the $67 collective boat excludes the Hidden Beach entrance and food, while the $133 Ecotours Vallarta trip includes a box lunch but excludes the US$13 park entrance and US$5 port fee per person. Add those up and the gap narrows considerably.

Two tickets mark the ends of the spread. The Grimar collective boat is the floor price for a short snorkel-and-beach outing, and the Chica Locca all-inclusive, 4.8 from 771 reviews, is the upper-mid option with an open bar and water toys. The Eco Explorer snorkel tour from Marina Vallarta, 4.8 from 1,033 reviews, sits mid-ladder with permits included. Whether the extras are worth the difference is the small-group versus large-boat question, which we cover separately.

Is The MXN 125 Park Fee Included In The Marietas Tour Ticket?

Sometimes. Of the 30 listings on this site, a handful state the CONANP bracelet, permits or conservation fee as included, several state the fee or a separate MX$ bracelet as excluded, and the majority state nothing either way, which is why the same sticker price can hide a MXN 125 per person difference on the day. The fee itself is MXN 125 per person per day, charged by CONANP, and children under 12 are exempt.

The official CONANP page for the park lists the entry fee plainly: MXN 125 per person per day, collected as a federal rights payment through the "Brazalete de la Conservacion" wristband, with exemptions for older adults, pensioners, retirees, people with disabilities and children under 12, a 75 percent discount for students and teachers with credentials, and a 50 percent discount for Mexican nationals and foreign residents with documents. Foreign tourists pay the full amount. See the fee detail on the park's official CONANP page.

Notice that fee treatment does not follow price. The $99 Eco Explorer listing includes permits; the $133 Ecotours Vallarta listing excludes US$13 plus US$5 per person in fees; the $156 Marieta Sport Fishing trip includes everything. If you are comparing two tickets within ten dollars of each other, the fee lines will often decide which is actually cheaper. For the deeper breakdown of exemptions and how the wristband works, see our guide to the park fee and conservation wristband.

What Extra Costs Come Up On The Day At Hidden Beach?

The optional Hidden Beach landing is the big variable: listings that offer it as an extra price it at MXN 600 or MXN 900 per person in cash, or US$20, each stated only by the listing that charges it. Add excluded port taxes of MXN 30 to MXN 220 per person, photo packages where sold, gratuities, and lunch on tours that provide only snacks, and a $99 ticket can carry a meaningful stack of same-day spending.

Hidden Beach, the crater beach CONANP calls Playa del Amor and listings also call Playa Escondida, is a separately managed site inside the park, and landing there is never simply part of a boat ticket unless the listing says so. The Eco Explorer listings price the optional landing at MXN 600 per person in cash; the Vallarta Nature Trips listing from Punta de Mita prices it at MXN 900 per person payable to the captain; the Vallarta Adventures 3.5 hour tour lists a US$20 access fee as not included. The Nuevo Vallarta tour at $168 lists the landing as included but excludes the MXN 220 government bracelet tax. The Chica Locca all-inclusive explicitly lists Hidden Beach access as an extra fee with very limited access, and the Vallarta Adventures BBQ tour states the landing is not part of its itinerary at all.

Entry itself, on any listing that offers it, still depends on tide, sea state and the park's daily rules; the Ecotours Vallarta tour states plainly that operators cannot confirm entrance ahead of time. The caps operators still describe come from the reopening rules CONANP set in 2016: at most 116 visitors a day at Playa del Amor, groups of at most 15, thirty minutes per group from leaving the boat, helmets and vests compulsory, no fins or snorkel at the entrance. CONANP has published no update restating or changing those numbers, so treat them as the 2016 rules operators still work under rather than as a fresh confirmation. The CONANP reopening notice is the primary text.

The Ecotours Vallarta trip from $133 per person, 4.7 from 192 reviews, is a useful worked example of extras math. The ticket includes a marine-biologist-led tour, snorkel gear, a box lunch and bottled water, but excludes the US$13 park entrance and US$5 port fee. Count the excluded lines and the real floor for that day climbs well above the sticker price, and the gap to the $168 Nuevo Vallarta ticket narrows once that tour's MXN 220 bracelet tax is added. We compared this trade-off in detail in whether Hidden Beach is worth it.

Which Punta de Mita Tours Are The Cheapest Way To Reach The Islands?

Punta de Mita, 9 km from the islands per CONANP, holds five firm-priced tickets: $67, three Hidden Beach tickets between $156 and $157 per person, and the $369 per-group private safari. The shortest options run 2.5 to 3.5 hours against 6 to 9 hours for Puerto Vallarta departures, so you spend fewer hours getting to the water.

The Grimar collective boat from $67 per person is the cheapest option: a 2 hour 30 minute trip with snorkel gear, life jacket, non-alcoholic beverages and a waterproof container for your phone, capped at 8 travelers, with the Hidden Beach entrance listed as an extra fee. Its sister Grimar listing, from $157, includes the Hidden Beach entrance in the ticket, covers boat transport and drinks, excludes food, and caps at 8 travelers. Shark's Tours' Hidden Beach trip from $157 lists the landing as included with snorkel gear and drinks. Marieta Sport Fishing from $156 states all fees and taxes included, which on this route makes it effectively the cleanest price of the five once you count what others add. The tours from this pier are compared in our guide to departing from Punta de Mita and La Cruz.

The related budget pick on this site, the Grimar collective boat, is the one to check first if price is the deciding factor, and you can check dates for Collective Boat, 2 Hours 30 Minutes alongside our collective boat tour page. Booking early in your stay buys a weather buffer: tours can be cancelled for sea conditions, and every Punta de Mita listing above offers a full refund if cancelled at least 24 hours ahead.

Do Pricier Puerto Vallarta And Nuevo Vallarta Tours Include More?

Generally yes, in food and drink rather than in access: the $79 to $130 Puerto Vallarta band layers breakfast, lunch and open bars onto the day, with one 9 hour cruise from $87 serving all three. But fee treatment stays inconsistent, ratings vary from 3.4 to 4.8, and the most-reviewed tour, at 1,150 reviews, is also one of the cheapest.

The Vallarta Adventures BBQ tour, from $79 per person and 4.3 from 1,150 reviews, includes a BBQ lunch with drinks at Majahuitas plus snorkel and kayak gear and paddleboards, excludes the MXN 40 port fee and US$20 conservation fee, and states plainly that it does not visit Hidden Beach. The Chica Locca all-inclusive from $130, 4.8 from 771 reviews, lists a premium all-inclusive menu with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, an open bar, waterslides, paddleboards, kayaks and a floating mat, capped at 66 travelers, with Hidden Beach access an extra fee and photos not included. Its sister Chica Locca listing, also from $130 and 4.8 from 59 reviews, is the one that lists the freshly made guacamole, blue corn chips and fajita lunch; the two are different products and the food lists do not cross over. The Live & Travel Tours 9 hour cruise from $87 includes breakfast, open bar, lunch and paddle gear, but excludes both the MXN 35 dock tax and the MXN 220 CONANP and SEMARNAT tax per person.

One budget reality worth flagging: ratings on this band are not proportional to price. The $87 nine-hour cruise carries 3.6 from 76 reviews; the $130 Chica Locca carries 4.8 from 771. When a cheap and an expensive option both appeal, the review count beside the rating is the more reliable signal. The catamaran formats are compared side by side in catamaran and sailing tours to the Marietas Islands.

How Much Is The Day Pass At Hidden Beach Mexico?

There is no standalone day pass you can buy for Hidden Beach: access is by boat with authorized providers only, per CONANP, so the real cost is a tour ticket plus the MXN 125 park fee where the ticket excludes it, plus the landing fee the listing states. The cheapest firm-priced ticket that lists the landing as included is from $157 per person from Punta de Mita, plus any excluded extras.

The park does sell the conservation wristband directly, and the fee exemptions and discounts apply to it, but the wristband alone does not put you on the water. CONANP's page states that movement within the park is by boat with authorized private tourism providers of Banderas Bay, so an independent swim or kayak approach is not a bookable alternative; our piece on visiting the islands without a tour covers what is and is not possible. On the beach itself, the site is open Wednesday to Sunday 8:00 to 17:00 and closed Monday and Tuesday, while the wider park is closed Monday, so no tour runs there on Mondays.

Durations on the beach are short by design. The Ecotours Vallarta listing allows 10 minutes on the beach; the 2016 CONANP reopening rules, which operators still describe, allow 30 minutes per group from leaving the boat, with entry and exit along a buoy-marked lane, helmets and vests compulsory and no fins, mask or snorkel at the entrance. If a short, regulated visit sounds thin for the money, the answer is in our review of whether Hidden Beach is worth it.

What Does A Private Marietas Boat Cost Versus A Shared Tour?

One firm private price exists: $369 per group for up to six people on a 3 hour snorkeling safari with a bilingual local guide, port and park package taxes included. The other private listings publish no price, so compare them by asking for a quote. Split across a full group of six, the private rate lands near the bottom of the shared-ticket ladder, below even the collective boat's sticker once that tour's excluded extras are counted.

The $369 safari by Marieta Tours includes the private boat, a personal bilingual guide, snorkeling at the islands, Playa Nopalera, bird watching, gear and hydrating drinks, with taxes in the ticket; the Hidden Beach landing is an excluded extra fee and alcohol is not allowed. Around it sit unpriced private products: the Eco Explorer private charter, 4.8 from 86 reviews, with park permits included and the MXN 600 Hidden Beach landing excluded; the Shark's Tours private Hidden Beach trip, 5 from 5 reviews; and the Oceanus private safari, 4.9 from 81 reviews, which lists an Acapulco-style shrimp ceviche lunch, beer tasting and a beginner surf class. For those, check the listing for the current price. The full private landscape, including yacht-style options, is in private Marietas tours and charters.

Timing matters as much as price on the private side. The Oceanus listing notes the start can slip by about an hour when the tide is high, to wait for the water to drop before swimming the tunnel. That is a listing-specific fact, not a park rule, but it is the kind of detail that a fixed group schedule absorbs better than a shared departure.

Whichever band you buy into, the same three checks protect the budget: read the listing's included and not-included blocks line by line, carry cash for the fee lines stated in pesos, and book with a day or two of slack in case sea conditions move the departure. Every listing quoted above allows a full refund with at least 24 hours notice, and the cheapest weeks of the year to test that flexibility are covered in our guide to the best time to visit the Marietas Islands.

Common Questions About Marietas Islands Tour Cost