cococay bahamas info???

[LaShelle2]

do they have umbrellas? i have looked at some youtube viseos and don't seem to see any umbrellas anywhere. i sunburn easily, so that would be a disaster.

 

also the beach seems to be nasty, not like NCL great stirrup cay which is right across from it? spent a day at GSC last year and it was very nice and well maintained. hoping RCL's island will be nice too :(

[cb at sea]

There's plenty of shade...no need for umbrellas! If you want less crowded beaches, keep walking past the 1st beach area you come to...most folks will plop their behinds on that beach....if you pass that, you'll come to some beach areas that are not crowded, and there are hammocks under the trees, swaying in the breeze...not far from the BBQ and restrooms!

Coco Cay is a lovely day!

[LaShelle2]

thanks cb. the youtube videos show a lot of trash in the water and sand. is it always that way?

[jahcruiser5]

Good advice. Keep walking... there are even umbrellas! That was our favorite find our last time there.

[funfamilyof6]

People on cruise critic are constantly talking about how beautiful Cococay is, I highly doublt it would get great reviews if garbage was consistantly on the beach. I am going in April, I will let you know.

[ssb]

We will be there next week!

[reney313]

I personally prefer Coco Cay over GSC. Both are nice. GSC you can walk to the lighthouse, etc. But, Coco Cay has WAY more beach space, trees, hammocks, umbrellas, imho. There are a ton more places on Coco Cay to spread out, just walk to the left or keep walking on the right for awhile after getting off the tender. Don't misunderstand, I do like both islands....The trash, etc, you see in the pics is right by the main area. And when I say, walk a little, it's really "a little". Enjoy, you'll have a great time!

[DivingPrincessE]

do they have umbrellas? i have looked at some youtube viseos and don't seem to see any umbrellas anywhere. i sunburn easily, so that would be a disaster.

 

also the beach seems to be nasty, not like NCL great stirrup cay which is right across from it? spent a day at GSC last year and it was very nice and well maintained. hoping RCL's island will be nice too :(

 

If you get there early, there are some seats that are underneath a straw umbrella type thing. There are also several seats under trees for shade. However if you want to sit close to the water, there are no trees or other shade down there. I THINK (key word think) that you can pay to rent an umbrella, similar to other beaches in the Caribbean.

 

I live about 5 minutes from the port so we usually bring our own beach umbrella...that's why I'm not sure if you can rent one. I seem to recall that we rented in the past, before we started bringing our own.

[LBumb]

we will be there next thursday. unless weather is bad.

[ValerieJo]

Check out this flyer. Not sure how current it is though.

 

http://www.robinsons1874.com/cruise/PDFs/coco_cay_map.pdf

[crookedhalo]

There are clam shells available for use at the first beach area you come to...but they are very limited and you probably need to be like the first person of the first tender to ensure you get one. That being said, if you go past the first beach area and both bbq areas, you will come upon Barefoot Beach - it is beautiful:D The area right before it has plenty of hammocks swaying gently in the breeze. <sigh> Wish I was there again;)

 

I am very fair, just make sure you have good sunscreen liberally applied and take a tee to cover up with if you start to feel too roasted:cool: I've been to Cococay three times now and never burnt once:p

[hotrod1954]

thanks cb. the youtube videos show a lot of trash in the water and sand. is it always that way?

Been 5 times and never seen trash anywhere

[storm1of4]

COCO Cay is great!!

 

It is less great when you are there on a large ship like FReedom class ships... too many people. Better when there on Monarch..

 

Also not as nice if you are there during low tide... beach is not so pretty at low tide.

 

Other than that.............great place.. make sure you walk around and explore.....wonderful!

[JustUs275]

I loved Coco Cay! We were sailing on Monarch and the captain altered the schedule due to weather, so we were there on a different day. We were surprised how crowded it was - we did walk a bit down the beach right away and did find nice lounge chairs under palm trees...aaaahhhhh wish I were there! Within 30 min or so though, there were very few available lounges which we thought was a bit odd. Come to find out, there were actually 2 ships there that day (unfortunately due to OUR ship's rescheduling!) so I can see where that made things crowded. Still, we really enjoyed it - didn't seem dirty at all, plenty of food at the BBQ, just a lovely day. :)

[NotTheBatesMotel]

We loved Coco Cay. I burn VERY easily. With sunscreen and a lounger chair in the shade, I didn't burn at all. I even swam for a couple hours without burning. I agree with the PPs, just keep walking to find shaded areas. There is plenty of seating/lounging on the island. I also did not see any trash in the water when I was there.

[alexkrn46]

We were there on January 2, the island was wonderful, my husbands can't be in the sun, we found an area with many hammocks it was wonderful. We saw no trash and the island is well maintained.

 

What are they building near the pier? Does anyone know?

[coquette]

I didn't like Coco Cay for a couple reasons.

 

We paid for the snorkeling and during the prep session the guy warned us about lionfish and all he said was that they have brown stripes. He had no pictures to show us. None of the group I was with had any idea what they look like. He made sure to tell us not to go near one if we saw one because they are deadly. So we get out there and, of course, see some random fish that have brown stripes and we panic. We ended up staying in the bay close to shore because we were terrified to go further. And since the water is in a bay, close to shore it is very cloudy. Of course after we got home and googled what a lionfish actually looks like, it was nothing like we saw. So the guy leading the sessions should really have some visual aids... lol.

 

I wasn't a fan of the water. You had to go pretty darn far out to find clear water. Nothing like the water at Cabbage Beach in Nassau--I wish we had our snorkel equipment there. We've made the decision to buy our own snorkel equipment so we can do it ourselves wherever we want next time.

 

Make sure you get there early. We had never been there so we arrived a hour or so after the hoards started going over. All the umbrellas were sold out, and all the palm tree shade close to the water was taken. So we baked on our loungers. I'm very fair so I slathered on the sunscreen frequently but still got a little toasty. Maybe we should have picked up our chairs and looked for shade and clearer water further down the beach, but we were with such a big group and others were off doing excursions so we had decided early on to remain in that spot just to be able to find each other.

 

The lunch that they had was good, but make sure you get your food when they first put it out. My husband went back for seconds an hour or so into the lunch and decided not to have any more because the food wasn't covered so there were flies everywhere. And we're normally not that picky with food, but he said it killed his appetite.

 

To be totally honest, next time I'd probably just stay on the ship unless we were planning to go parasailing or on the glass bottom boat (excursions which others in our group raved about).

[LaShelle2]

Just wanted to clear up my prev post. By trash I meant sea weed and sticks and stuff, not litter.

 

Guess it's my Georgia accent coming across the text y'all. :D

[newbiecruiser09]

I didn't like Coco Cay for a couple reasons.

 

We paid for the snorkeling and during the prep session the guy warned us about lionfish and all he said was that they have brown stripes. He had no pictures to show us. None of the group I was with had any idea what they look like. He made sure to tell us not to go near one if we saw one because they are deadly. So we get out there and, of course, see some random fish that have brown stripes and we panic. We ended up staying in the bay close to shore because we were terrified to go further. And since the water is in a bay, close to shore it is very cloudy. Of course after we got home and googled what a lionfish actually looks like, it was nothing like we saw. So the guy leading the sessions should really have some visual aids... lol.

 

I wasn't a fan of the water. You had to go pretty darn far out to find clear water. Nothing like the water at Cabbage Beach in Nassau--I wish we had our snorkel equipment there. We've made the decision to buy our own snorkel equipment so we can do it ourselves wherever we want next time.

 

Make sure you get there early. We had never been there so we arrived a hour or so after the hoards started going over. All the umbrellas were sold out, and all the palm tree shade close to the water was taken. So we baked on our loungers. I'm very fair so I slathered on the sunscreen frequently but still got a little toasty. Maybe we should have picked up our chairs and looked for shade and clearer water further down the beach, but we were with such a big group and others were off doing excursions so we had decided early on to remain in that spot just to be able to find each other.

 

The lunch that they had was good, but make sure you get your food when they first put it out. My husband went back for seconds an hour or so into the lunch and decided not to have any more because the food wasn't covered so there were flies everywhere. And we're normally not that picky with food, but he said it killed his appetite.

 

To be totally honest, next time I'd probably just stay on the ship unless we were planning to go parasailing or on the glass bottom boat (excursions which others in our group raved about).

 

We had a very different experience on Coco Cay. Hubby and I went in May (09) and did snorkeling. Did not hear the talk (as we did it later in the day) so no fear of fish instilled in us. We went right out by where all the chairs are and saw a TON of fish, especially out by the barrier/rocks and then more way out by the "lifeguard chairs" in the water (not sure what they are really called). We were on Monarch so the crowds were not an issue for us,except for lunch. I agree the lunch was not the best but we did not spend too much time eating on the island (too much fun doing stuff) and then got a bite when we got back on ship. We also made Cococay last April with our kids (on Majesty). The kids loved the blow up park and had a great time on the island. We are all of the pale and pasty variety but just made sure to use a lot of sunscreen and reapply and find chairs under trees and we had no problems (except when I was snorkeling and having such a good time, lost track and got burned on my shoulders). Not sure what it is like with the larger ships in port but our 2 times were awesome!

[storm1of4]

We were there on January 2, the island was wonderful, my husbands can't be in the sun, we found an area with many hammocks it was wonderful. We saw no trash and the island is well maintained.

 

What are they building near the pier? Does anyone know?

 

 

Lol Wow are you from Utah?

[starlake]

It is my understanding they are going to build a dock so that they will not have to tender anymore.

I love Coco Cay, it is so relaxing and beautiful. There are many areas that most people never go to and people are few and far between.

I have said this before and I am saying it again, Coco Cay to me is what Labadee use to be. I hope they never ruin this small spot of paradise.

[pandi77]

If they are still there snag some chairs in the cabana area next to the lighthouse. I can't imagine a better location as there is a bar about twenty feet behind you and with the cabanas situated the way they are you can control how much if any sun exposure you want.

 

There are only about 15 or so chais and they are (or were) FREE both times we were there! I think people didn't notice them right away and when they did they thought there was a fee. When you are in a chair there looking ahead gives you a view of the main beach and looking to your left gives you a view over the seawall looking at the ship. Climb the lighthouse a few yards away and get some great photos. Great proximity to everything including snorkeling and the freshwater showers too!

[Merion_Mom]

We were there on January 2, the island was wonderful, my husbands can't be in the sun, we found an area with many hammocks it was wonderful. We saw no trash and the island is well maintained.

 

What are they building near the pier? Does anyone know?

 

Lol Wow are you from Utah?

 

Yeah, I was wondering "how many"?, too. :D