Harvest Caye - Pool cabana or Beach cabana?

[kuku77254]

We want to get a cabana on Harvest Caye to assure of us of shade. I have a 7 year old who loves the beach but some of the things I have read, the beach there doesn't sound so great and I'm wondering if we would be better off with a pool cabana instead. Anyone had one or both of those that could give some guidance?

[brookie848]

What are the prices for your cruise? 

 

We did a beach villa (cabana). It was great because it had a private bathroom and was air conditioned. A golf cart took us to the villa and picked us up when we were ready to leave. However, it was definitely easy enough to walk around the island since there are paved/boardwalked paths everywhere. The beach villas are also close to the kids splash pad area. 

 

The villas sit pretty far back from the beach so someone would have to go down to the water to watch your child. We didn't spend any time down on the beach. The water was rough that day and as others have mentioned, the sand isn't the nicest.

 

If we would stop at Harvest Caye again the pool cabana/beach villa would be a definite discussion. We loved the private bathroom and air conditioning. However, the villa was about 2x more expensive than the pool cabana. Plus, because you do pay so much for the villa you sort of feel like you should spend all your time there. 

 

The pool at Harvest Caye is very nice. Depending on the price difference, we might just stick with a pool cabana the next time. 

[janabanana1701]

Can't speak to the cabanas themselves, but when we were at Harvest Caye we loved the pool! We spent some time on the beach, but found it rough on our feet and lots of seaweed the day we were there. The pool was amazing - so clean and it's huge! Lots of lifeguards too - so we always felt safe. 

[kuku77254]

Brookie848, thank you for your response. I do like to sit at the cabana and watch my son so distance is something for me to think about. And the pool one is cheaper but offers less. So, does it not look like the picture in real life? These look so close to water and water and sand look beautiful. Very deceptive?

 

[brookie848]

The water may be closer than I remember, but as others have mentioned, the sand isn't the best.

 

There are several YouTube videos of the villas that might help you make your decision. 

[smplybcause]

https://www.google.com/maps/search/harvest+caye/@16.4766229,-88.4062328,924m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Looks like they're all the way to the right. So some are probably close to the water, but the horrible sand was mentioned by my friends. Enough that I didn't even venture to to the sand, just stuck by the pool. Honestly, I don't know if I'd get off if I go back there. 

 

Also, all that faces out to the gulf so there's nothing stopping the wind or waves. 

Edited January 2, 2020 by smplybcause

[kuku77254]

Thanks, I checked out YouTube. Doesn't look anything like the promo photo!

 

[Peachypooh]

We have rented pool cabanas twice. we loved them. Just steps from the pool

and very attentive service from both the women who watch over them and also the

restaurant staff.The bathrooms are close so not a big issue. We walked past

the villas and they looked beautiful. Air conditioned and a private bath sounded

great but for our needs not worth the money. And the sand is very coarse.

[Alynna715]

We just returned a few days ago and did the pool Cabana. We have 7 year old twins. They can swim but do better in the pool. The cabanas are very close to the bathroom.  The wait staff came by every 30 minutes to check on us. We ordered food and drinks all day. We went down to the beach area for a little while and it was fine but it is not powder soft sand and after a 30 minutes they wanted to go back to the pool. We thought about the beach cabanas but I think we made the right choice for us. 

[AliceIn02]

We did a pool cabana for our August 2017 cruise on the Escape.   Had we not had the cabana, we would have had no shade.   Our sailing was sold out, and there were loads of kids.   If you weren't on the Island within the first 30-45 minutes, you couldn't find seating - let alone seating in the shade.      We enjoyed our cabana, but I'm not sure that we enjoyed Harvest Caye enough to want to spend that money the next time.    The beach wasn't very pleasant, and we can swim in a pool anywhere.    The cabana itself was nice, and the attendants came around fairly often to offer drinks and food for sale.    It was difficult for the staff to keep the non-cabana guests out of the area.   Each pair of cabanas had a table with umbrella and chairs for 8 between it so you can sit and eat.    All day long people kept coming in and trying to take those seats or remove the chairs.    The staff was very busy trying to patrol the area to keep people without wristbands out.    It was a very hot, sunny day, so I'm sure those chairs in the shade looked inviting.    We were in the first cabana closest to the bathroom and beach, so we saw a lot of very annoyed people marching in and out.   It was uncomfortable for us to see that.

[MountainMermaid]

This was the view from our beach cabana.  I didn't feel like we were that far from the water. If I recall correctly, it wasn't particularly deep, soft sand.  Personally I would be comfortable letting a 7 year old play in the sand in front of the cabana, but would feel like the water was way too far away.  Different people have different comfort levels, though!  We did have those umbrellas and lounge chairs on the beach that could be dragged closer to the water's edge if desired.  We were a group of mostly adults, with an 18 year old being the youngest.  We enjoyed the space, privacy, and quiet... and as others have said, the private bathroom was pretty nice. Some people would definitely prefer the greater activity and atmosphere of the pool area.