Coco Cay

[Scott and Maria]

Can someone please tell me if Coco Cay has anything besides beaches? Is there a town there? Do any people actually live there (besides perhaps RCI employees)? I just found out that Royal Caribbean changed our first port from Nassau to Coco Cay, and I'm not sure if I should be disappointed or not <grin>.

[Scott and Maria]

I found the following information on CocoCay:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=213145

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=166380&highlight=coco+cay

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=213417&highlight=coco

 

And the following picture sites:

http://members.csolutions.net/morrica/cococay.htm

http://members.csolutions.net/morrica/images/cocomap2.jpg

http://members.csolutions.net/morrica/images/cocoover2.jpg

http://community.webshots.com/album/412256218kOXCUG

 

It seems that CocoCay is exactly what I thought it was: a beach.

[die_hard]

Coco Cay is not a town. It does have tons of beaches, but much more. Every type of water sport you can think of is there. There's shopping and bars; hammocks in the trees; beach volleyball...you name it. If you want a couple of pics from there, let me know. I would be glad to send them. :D

[mommabean]

Bahamians do live there who work in their version of the "straw market". But you won't have access to the houses where they live. You will see them from the ship. You'll have access to a large area around one end of the island. You can be with people or find privace by going all the way to the end of the allowed beach area. There you will find a sign that says "no guests beyond this point" I was the only guest I saw who walked that far. I was there on Saturday.

 

Do go snorkeling if you like to hang out with the fish. Go all the way out to the "shipwreck" or "plane wreck". And do it as soon as the snorkel hut opens for equipment rental at 9am. You will have the wrecks and the fish to yourself. So cool. I could reach out and touch the tails of yellowtail fish. They's swim along with me like I was one of the school - them bumping into me as we swam. The plane wreck is just in front of the farthest out lifeguard stand on the left side.

 

There are a few shallow areas where short seaweed grows between the shore and the wrecks so you will have places to stop and stand if you can't swim that far all at once.

 

The only thing is that there are NO lockers as I've seen mentioned here. You will have to leave your stuff on a chair unattended. They claim they have had no reported thefts. I still felt weird leaving my cameras and money on my chair under a towel. But it was there when I returned.

[cruisethe7seas]

I just LOVE CoCo Cay. I have been there many times while working for Celebrity (sister to RCCL, same private island). It can be very relaxing, tons of (free!) beach chairs. Even with a full ship there were plenty of chairs available. There is an area further away to do beach sports, etc. The water is gorgeous and there are no hagglers to get your hair braided or whatever! I hate that!

 

Every week we all looked forward to CoCo Cay. Its a tender port though, so don't forget anything on the ship or it'll take forever to run back and get it.

 

Definitely be happy!!

Julie

[mommabean]

The hair braiders have actually moved into Coco Cay. There were a couple of groups of those ladies sitting outside the "straw market". They were calling to women and girls like they do in Nassau, although not quite so agressively. The straw market sellers aren't quite as pushy as the ones in Nassau either.

 

There really were plenty of beach chairs to go around. Not only on the far side of the island but even right there in the heart of the action.

[suezyq50]

When we were there in April, we saw people getting massages. Not sure if that was prearranged on the ship or walk-ups.

[star of county down]

I loved it there. Beautiful water, fish, nice people, shade if you want it, and good food. Oh, and the calypso band from the pool plays there, too. Lots of little shops right in the area where you get off and on the ship. Gives you something to do while you wait for the ferry to take you back to the ship.

[Scott and Maria]

I thank you all for the info you provided me about CocoCay. You make it sound like a fun day on a beautiful island. However, the fact remained that I was disappointed that RCCL made this port call change, so I changed from the cruise on the Mariner (that goes to CocoCay) to the cruise on the Explorer (that goes to Nassau...plus San Juan). Maria and I don't get to cruise very often, and we wanted to see Nassau (even if it *is* a dive <grin>). Thanks again for all your helpful info...maybe next time.