Nassau & Coco Cay

[Crew32]

Just back from Nassau & Coco Cay... anyone have any questions???

[MizzouMary]

Yes, what did you do while you were there, how much time did you have and what would you recommend for a family of 7 (all adults) to do for approx. 4 hours (5 have never been to the Bahamas). They don't like to gamble and we are on a tight budget since we have two college age girls with us.

 

Thanks!!

[Aloyicus]

Was getting on and off the ship a hassle? I am getting married on a 4 day cruise on the majesty and we will be stoping at both ports.How was the weather? :D Most important did you have a great time?

[Crew32]

Okay.. first what I did.

 

Let me say first that I had been to Nassau before as a child with my parents... because there was so many of us and mom and dad didn't like to be on a schedule.. we never did ship excursions. My parents were the tour guides.

 

1) Nassau... We were there from 12 pm to 3 am. Went to atlantis and did the dig ($29 pp) It did allow you to roam almost the whole property with the exceptions of the pool area. I would recommend it for anyone who has never really had the chance to see marine life before. And of course the architechture is amazing. We got to Atlantis around 12:30 and were done by 3:30. However you could easily spend a few days there and still not see everything. After that we went to Ardastra Gardens (sp?). It was cool because of how close you were to the animals... peacocks, flamingos and other birds out in the open. Aligators only seperated by a 3 foot high wall, tigers only seprated by chicken wire. There were not a lot of animals, but you could definately get close. One cat (not sure what kind but fairly big, and odd ears) came right up to the wire cage and wanted to be pet!! Spent a little bit of time in the straw market and on Bay street. Not much for drinking so never made it to Senor Frogs or other night life.

 

2) Coco Cay. Weather was perfect. about 80 and no clouds. We did the 11am kayack tour. good time of day as the sand was not yet kicked up from the jet skis and boats. You could see sea cucumbers, star fish, etc right from the boats... the water was so clear. Next time however I will just rent a kayack instead of doing the tour. I would rather explore on my own time. Did snorkeling on my own and was pretty pleased with it. A manatee was near the shore right before I got in and atleast one reef shark was spotted near shore in another area, so marine life was pretty abudant.

 

Had a great time overall. I love parasailing but my gf doesn't, so we didn't do that. But from what I saw of Coco Cay the view from above must be spectacular. The water was bluer that I ever remember seeing and I am a Floridian who has lived a stones throw from various beaches all my life.

 

As for getting off the ship in Nassau... had maybe a 5 or 10 minute wait.. but we didn't rush to get off. We they made the call that we could leave, we were eating lunch, so it was about 20 minutes or so later that we attemoted. Getting off the ship in Coco Cay wasn't bad either. We didn't go until about 9:30 though. Getting back on the ship from Coco Cay was a different story. Our boat that took us back to the ship had to circle several times waiting for the boat beofre us to finish letting people off. Total time from decided to leave Coco Cay to getting on the ship and through security was probably about an hour.

[JerseyGirl23]

Can you walk up and rent Kayaks on Coco Cay?

[Crew32]

Yes you can rent Kayacks on Coco Cay. Someone had told me that you could not and that is why I did the tour. when I got there I saw kayacks and thought "this must be where I check in".... wrong. You check in at Coconut Willies (or something like that) and the kayacks are available for rent at the place where the jet skis are (can't remember where but you get to it before the last bar). anyways i think the price was $15 per 1/2 hour. Not sure if this was pp or per kayack (the kayacks were all doubles I believe).

[LKitt82566]

I am not Kayacker but the tour sounds interesting but I am an 57 year old woman that is not sure she could paddle the boat. Do they go at a fast pase? Are the Kayacks the flater bottom so not so hard to turn over? I guess I am afraid if I turn over if I could get back in. Did you see any older adults doing this tour? How far did you go? The tour sounds like you go away from the island to maybe another little island. Is there anything else you could tell me about the tour?

[laurasue]

I didn't know you could rent kayaks without the tour!?! I love sea kayaking, but was turned off by a group tour. We like to explore on our own :D Thanks for sharing that info!

[Crew32]

There were several older adults on the tour. The tour lasts about an hour or so. The tour leader is in the front of the pack and every so often she would stop, allow everyone to catch up and do a short talk about various sea life. another person was assigned to the back of the group to stay behind everyone else and will go as slow as you need. The water that we went over was all quite shallow, You may have to even get out and walk a foot or two in the extremely shallow places. (A few people had to do this.)

 

A few people got out to swim, and one or two had trouble getting in the boat by themselves, so their neighbors helped. (basically, if your partner cannot stabalize the boat enough, get closer to another one and they can hold onto your partners paddles to assist in stabilization) I did not see anyone who was completely unable to get back in.

 

At one point we had to paddle like crazy to catch up, but only because my partner was determined to find a sand dollar and we got way behind!!!

 

Don't worry about not being strong enough, you should be fine. Plus, make sure your partner is stronger and you won't have to do as much.

[LKitt82566]

I am going on the trip with my sister, so she is not strong either. Can you take the tour if you don't have a partner? I would love to get a sand dollar too. How far out did you go? Or did you just go around the Cocoa Cay Island towards the back. I have been there before and saw the tour out in the ocean but I did not notice what else they did.

[JerseyGirl23]

We kayak also and like to go off on our own. Actually, I like to row out to a few hundred feet and just soak up the sun. We rented kayaks during a land vacation in the Florida Keys and it was nice just kayaking up and down the beach, in crystal clear water, admiring the fish.

 

I think I'm not going to book an excursion and hope that by walking up I can rent a kayak for an hour.

[MizzouMary]

Thanks for the great info. and for taking time to answer our questions, Crew32!

[Crew32]

I do not know if you can go on the tour as a single. You do not go very far out, but stay pretty close along the length of the island. I would recommend the tour over renting to anyone who has never kayakced or for anyone wanting the information (this is a sea cucumber, touchit. this is a star fish and these are some facts about them.)

 

I too love to kayack at my own pace and just soak up the sun. I never noticed a time when they were out of kayacks at the rental.

 

For the record, i did not take a sand dollar. My partner merely saw one and we stopped and backtracked trying to find him.

[MosaicSun]

I will be going on the Majesty next week and ports include Nassau, Coco Cay, & Key West. We are Key West regulars and will go on our own there, but I have desparately been looking for advice on the other 2 ports. We definately want to do some snorkeling, which stop should we do this. I saw in Nassau there are 2 different choices, Rainbow Reef & Seahorse Sailing. Has anyone done either of these?

 

Then in Coco Cay there is only Sea Trek snorkeling, which there is 'at your leisure'. This could be good because there is no assigned time and it is only $27pp versus $41 & $34 for the others. I would rather spend the additional $$ to get a better experience, but not if one is just as good as the other.

[laurasue]

MosaicSun, depending on the length of time you're in Nassau, you might want to consider a private tour. We've looked at both RCI and private operators and have found that we can get longer, less crowded, more interesting snorkeling trips for the same if not less cost than RCI's tours. We plan on snorkeling while in Coco Cay (you can rent find and a life vest for less than the $27, and we're bringing our own mask/snorkel), and then snorkeling again in Nassau on Stuart Cove's snorkeling trip. the shipwreck and the shark snorkel are something the ships excursion doesn't seem to have. And I have read excellent reviews on CC and elsewhere.

 

Have fun planning! :D

[MosaicSun]

Laura, thanks for the info...do you think you could e-mail me some more info. I have some snorkel gear, but would also need a life vests. I had thought that we could find better deals w/o RCI, but now that it is less than a week out...

 

If you could e-mail me some info, I'd appreciate it. ucfsummer@aol.com

[laurasue]

You've got mail :D

[grvdggr71]

MosaicSun, I would definitely recommend snorkeling at CocoCay. If you bring your own mask and snorkel, it only costs $15 pp to rent fins and the mandatory vest. The waters are clear and full of rays, fish, and an occaisional shark. There is a deep water area and two sunken airplanes. Bring an underwater camera. Also, I loved the fact that it is at your leisure for the entire day. This means if you get tired, you can go lie on the beach and return later. Take a break for lunch, then go right back in. Snorkeling at CocoCay was one of the main highlights of our cruise there.

 

As for Nassau, if you are looking for an alternative to snorkeling and have yet to visit Atlantis, you should consider doing so. RC has a few tours to Atlantis, or you could always get a room at the Comfort Suites.

[LKitt82566]

grvdggr71, do you know if Atlantis has a lazy river ride with all their pools?

 

Is it easy to get in out of the river?

[Crew32]

Unless you are a registered guest of either atlantis or the comfort suites next door, they will not let you use the lazy river. The do have guards posted at the pool area looking for wristbands. The wristband you get for The Dig, will not allow you access to the pool area.

[rundmg22]

Hey Crew32 & others....thanks for answering so many questions so far. I've read your threads and have a couple of my own. My parents are going on a 3 night cruise and are stopping in Coco Cay. It sounds crazy, but my mom can't swim, so I don't know if she'd be up for the kayaking and snorkeling -- she's more of a beach bum. So besides the "water activities" is there any good shopping or site seeing in Coco Cay for them?

[DEL67]

Crew32:

 

Was the dig wheelchair accessible? I think my husband would enjoy it, but he uses a wheelchair.

[grvdggr71]

DEL67 - Good news - I am pretty sure that The Dig is wheel chair accessible. It seemed nice and roomy, and it is all on one level. Call ahead and double check with Atlantis, and please don't shoot me if I'm wrong (I wasn't really thinking about 'Gee, a wheel chair could fit through here' when I was there), but if I recall correctly there shouldn't be any problems.

 

RunDMG22 - Your mom will be happy at CocoCay without the water sports. The beaches are great, especially "Wanderer's Beach" if she is looking for something secluded. Also, there is a rather lengthy nature trail if she is interested in that. As far as snorkeling goes, the mandatory snorkel vests can be partially inflated to help her float, and then all she has to do to swim is kick with the fins. Have her give it a try, if she's feeling adventurous. As far as shopping goes, there is a straw market there, but nothing like the shopping in Nassau. If she wants to do some shopping there, remember to take cash. The straw market is the only thing on CocoCay that doesn't take your SeaPass.

 

Enjoy!

[partyof8]

Going soon to cococay, can you rent the jet ski without the guided tour? Want to go on our own.

[FlaWaterFlirt]

I am new to the site and am finding all of this information so helpful!!! We have our own snorking gear with the exception of these "vest"s which everyone seems to be mentioning. Do you have to have one and if so, is this something I can purchase at a dive shop prior to my cruise? If not, can you rent the vest only?

Also, are there any other water "toys" to rent while on the island? Water bikes etc?

Thanks for any info you can share.