Please recommend a beach

[batrachian]

Will go to Roatan on Carnival Magic this May. Found a lot of good posts on beach reommendations. Since I am going with a 5 year old who just started learning swimming, can anybody please recommend a beach hopefully not too deep but still have nice fish to see in the water?

[eandj]

Your ship will port in Mahagony Bay. Carnival's man made beach day experience. You can just stay there with your little one. Obviously he/she isn't going to strap on snorkel equip. So no need to go to West Bay or other beaches. Do some research here to find out what M Bay offers. Then decide if you would need/want something different.

[crewsweeper]

I would agree with eandj. MBCC's "beach" is in a cove. Very shallow out a long ways. no real waves, unless the wind is up, in which case the Magic might not even dock. West Bay beaches will have rolling waves, not large but still, plus depending on which area of the beach you'r eon there could be a bit of boat traffic and the bottom a bit rocky.

 

As much as cruisers and some ex-pat "locals" on here disparge MBCC, Roatan usually comes toward the end of the cruise and for a lot of folks this is a great spot to just hang out and not worry about spending a lot of money.

[Guest 2000]

West Bay only has rolling waves when there is weather from the north..any other time it is bathtub calm.

[texancruzer]

I agree - West Bay beach in May should be like a bathtub.

 

As for a 5 year old snorkeling - why not ? I had mine doing it a lot younger than that. Bought a little mask and snorkel and they got used to face in water in the bathtub. Won't need fins as you will hold onto him .......

 

Put a life vest on him and go out chest deep (your chest not his) and he will be hooked for life after he sees all the wonderful things there are to see !

 

As for Mahogany Bay - I don't think there is any reef and therefore there won't be any fish (maybe 1 or 2) but nothing like at West Bay.

 

Here is a link to Infinity Bay resorts photo gallery on West Bay beach. Picture #8 is an aerial picture of the beach and reef

 

http://www.infinitybay.com/modules/photo_gallery/category/Resort

 

Hope this helps

[batrachian]

I am so attempted to go to the West bay after seeing the posts and pictures on the board. Is there a beach in West Bay works for child s who is not too good at swimming? I will bring lift vest and goggle for the little one, just hope the water is not too deep and the wave is manageable. With colorful fish will be a big plus. I reserved a local guide so going to the West Bay or anywhere on the island is not a problem.

[texancruzer]

I am so attempted to go to the West bay after seeing the posts and pictures on the board. Is there a beach in West Bay works for child s who is not too good at swimming? I will bring lift vest and goggle for the little one, just hope the water is not too deep and the wave is manageable. With colorful fish will be a big plus. I reserved a local guide so going to the West Bay or anywhere on the island is not a problem.

 

West Bay beach is where you want to go. There is a public access alongside Bananarama. It is free. If you want a chair/lounger you will have to rent one. Otherwise just plop down on a towel. The beach there is very shallow but will go deeper the further out you go. Unless there is a storm offshore there will not be any waves. More like a bathtub.

 

You might also want to have your guide take you to West End village. Quaint little village with shops, restaurants etc. Especially if you would like to do a bit of shopping. Handicraft places as well as souvenir shops and even a few galleries.

 

There are places for lunch at either place. They are about a 15 minute ride apart. The island is beautiful - lush and tropical so that will give you a chance to see some of it :)

[razor3061]

Go to Las Palmas close to the piers!!!!

[runner15km]

I was just at Mahogany Bay Beach and if you snorkel near the far dock you will see fish.

 

Mahogany Bay was know at one time as Coral Key and was privately owned and was used as a AI for visiting tourists. CCL came in and built the pier and shopping center. Just to clear things up. :)

[OCruisers]

Will go to Roatan on Carnival Magic this May. Found a lot of good posts on beach reommendations. Since I am going with a 5 year old who just started learning swimming, can anybody please recommend a beach hopefully not too deep but still have nice fish to see in the water?

 

Since you're on a Carnival cruise, you'll be right at Mahogany Bay. Not the best place to see fish but is free with beach chairs and a nice gentle beach where he could have fun and practice snorkeling. Just a thought ....

 

LuLu

~~~~

[mitsugirly]

Although I have never sailed Carnival, I have a lot of friends that have and love the beach there where they dock (I have seen pictures and would love to go there myself!).

 

As for a 5 year old not snorkeling...my now 4 year old started snorkeling at age 3 on her first 2 cruises we took that year. She LOVES it. We snorkel at every port that we can and I have even caught an awesome picture of a fish jumping out of the water and happen to snap the picture at the perfect moment when they were looking at each other eye to eye. :D

 

Another option, since you do have a young one...we just went a few months ago to Maya Key. The place is AWESOME! I would go there again in a heartbeat. It's perfect. They have a place to snorkel (if you wanted her to see fish) and a very calm beach area and the place has a pool as well. It's an animal sanctuary and has tons of rescue animals. It's like a mini-zoo. You can also hold the monkeys. They also have a replica Mayan Ruins there (maybe not so much fun for a child, but nice to see and doesn't take long).

 

If you want to see the place, I did a COMPLETE review (and it's VERY long) from our Star cruise a couple of months ago. You can find it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1755846&page=8

 

It starts at post #290 and goes on until post #348. :) Let me know if you have any questions.

[texancruzer]

As for a 5 year old not snorkeling...my now 4 year old started snorkeling at age 3 on her first 2 cruises we took that year. She LOVES it. We snorkel at every port that we can and I have even caught an awesome picture of a fish jumping out of the water and happen to snap the picture at the perfect moment when they were looking at each other eye to eye. :D

 

AWESOME ! Most likely she will develop a deep and true love of the sea and all that is in it because of this. We also had my son snorkeling at 3 years old. He is now almost 29 :eek: and has been scuba certified since he was 14.

 

On our last visit to Roatan over Christmas week we took him, his new wife (recently certified to dive) and my daughter (doesn't dive = ear issues). We dove daily and he still loves the sea (dive, surf, fish - it doesn't matter) !

[mitsugirly]

AWESOME ! Most likely she will develop a deep and true love of the sea and all that is in it because of this. We also had my son snorkeling at 3 years old. He is now almost 29 :eek: and has been scuba certified since he was 14.

 

On our last visit to Roatan over Christmas week we took him, his new wife (recently certified to dive) and my daughter (doesn't dive = ear issues). We dove daily and he still loves the sea (dive, surf, fish - it doesn't matter) !

 

She definitely has an appreciation for the sea already. She is an extremist and does everything we do. She has swam with the dolphins, stingrays and manatees, held the monkeys, starfish, she loves sea animals and animals in general. She will sit around during the day and watch shows on Netflix that pertain to the ocean. She is really hooked on "shark week"...so not just the beautiful glorified sea creatures, but she watches the other gory stuff as well and loves it. She has also been cave tubing and she zip lined in Roatan...all by herself (she insisted and refused to ride tandem with us). LOL It's all she talks about. :D

[Portas]

Will go to Roatan on Carnival Magic this May. Found a lot of good posts on beach reommendations. Since I am going with a 5 year old who just started learning swimming, can anybody please recommend a beach hopefully not too deep but still have nice fish to see in the water?

 

We were just in Roatan on March 20th ~ family group with three Grandchildren ages 8,4,3. Our van driver took us to Paradise Beach Hotel. We paid $10.00 per adult for the use of their facilities (beach chairs, showers, restrooms), kids were free. It was a fantastic beach for the little ones!! Shallow swimming area, clear beautiful water with white sand. The 3 and 4 year old children had a great time in the calm water and playing on the beach. Another plus was that the resort has a Security man on the beachfront and he does not allow all the trinket peddlers to bother you.

Definitely recommend this beach area for little ones. :)

[Nesset]

We went to West Bay last week and had a wonderful day. We didn't snorkel or look at fish ourselves, but saw a lot of people who did. We had this amazing driver that I really recommend. He advised and took us to a restaurant that charged $10 p.p. for beach chairs and to be able to use their restrooms. The food at the restaurant was also great and fairly prized for lunch.

 

He charged $20 p.p. for a return ride from Coxen Hole to West Bay (about 30 mins drive). He stayed at some friends who lived close to the beach the whole time we were there. We told that it was no problem for us if he wanted to go back to Coxen to pick up more people during the day as there was only two of us, but he politely rejected saying he was more than satisfied with what God provided him with... :) At the ride back to the ship he took us around showing some sights as we had some extra time before "all onboard" at no extra charge. (We tipped him heartly) I can tell that we saw a lot of crazy drivers at Roatan but we really felt safe with this man.

 

His name is Witsell James and he's able for advance bookings at roatanjames@yahoo.com or cel 3319-8665.