When I went in 2008, Puerto Morelos offered options for snorkeling in a protected area (I think it w

Any decent beach-access snorkeling in the Riviera Maya? We're planning a visit (have never been), and this would be one criterion to use to select among the seemingly millions of properties. Would prefer to be less than an hour drive from the Cancun airport. Where is "the best" snorkeling in the area? Overall, how does the snorkeling compare with, say, Grand Cayman cruise travel packages or the Virgin cruise travel packages Islands?
When I went in 2008, Puerto Morelos offered options for snorkeling in a protected area (I think it was a national park, but could be wrong). As I recall, that's the most northern reach of the great Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, which is closer to the shore there than anywhere else.
And at least when I was there, Puerto Morelos was a bit less tourist-y than many areas near Cancun. Enough of a tourist industry to ensure a range of decent lodging and dining options, but not overrun by tourists.
Puerto cruise travel packages Morelos is about 20 min south of the Cancun airport. But there is no beach access snorkeling there. You would hire a small boat, with other tourists, to go out to the reef. It is only about 10 min offshore by boat, but you can not swim off the beach to get there.
i was thinking of staying at Barcelo Resort Hotel because i'm on a budget and they offer all-inclusive w air. i read other posts saying snorkeling cruise travel packages is good there. has anyone stayed there and is the snorkeling on par with akumal and tulum?
Oops - thanks for pointing out my mistake. I meant Turtle Bay in AKUMAL but posted in a hurry and since the photo was in the Tul m collection (because we were staying cruise travel packages there) that's the word that popped into my head and came out my fingers.
thank you jamie99! really appreciate it because staying in akumal will be much more expensive as the hotels there do not include airfare, etc. so i was in such a dilemma about spending a huge chunk of money. but now i'm more confident to book at Barcelo!!
jamie, just get out the highway cruise travel packages from Barcelo and take a colectivo to Akumal, or take a taxi there and back. You don't have to stay at Akumal to snorkel there. You can just go pend a half day snorkeling there and go back to your resort. Certainly an option.